Being There: Using Combined Experience Data Sources to Capture Tourist Interactions

Tourist-resident interactions are central to tourism experience yet notoriously difficult to capture in naturalistic settings. Drawing on Collins' interaction ritual theory, this study refines its core construct of "emotional energy" by redefining it as emotional arousal—a momentary psychophysiological response that accrues, over repeated interactions, into the more enduring attitude of emotional solidarity. We tested this two-level theoretical model using an innovative combination of continuous skin conductance recording, 360-degree camera monitoring, and questionnaires with 115 participants (49 tourists, 66 residents) across two Dutch tourism experiences designed to facilitate tourist-resident encounters. Results confirmed that interactions triggered elevated emotional arousal at the within-person level, consistent with interaction ritual theory. However, between-person effects on emotional solidarity, destination recommendation, and support for tourism were not observed, likely because interactions were remarkably few and brief. We discuss implications for tourism experience design and the methodological potential of combined psychophysiological and video-based field measurement.