A research on the memorable tourism experiences of e-sports tourists

The aim of this study is to reveal the elements that make the experiences of licensed e-sports tourists affiliated with the Turkish E-sports Federation memorable. The research group consists of licensed e-sports tourists affiliated with the Turkish E-sports Federation. Considering that the density of e-sports tourists is in Istanbul, the study was carried out in the province of Istanbul. The research was carried out in the form of face-to-face and online interviews with licensed e-sports tourists through semi-structured questionnaires. The data were analyzed by content analysis technique. The research findings were presented systematically by forming the main theme, classification and subgroups. As a result of applying content analysis to qualitative research data, 8 main themes (hedonism, novelty, refreshment, destination characteristics, social interaction, cognitive development, service quality and recognition) and 28 sub-themes were obtained for the factors affecting the memorable tourism experiences of e-sports tourists. The findings obtained from the research data were compared with the literature and the discussion and conclusion were presented. In addition, implications and recommendations for the literature and practice are presented.