Aerotainment – Toward a research agenda merging airports and theme parks in the experience economy

Abstract

In 2023, air traffic reached 88.6 % of pre-pandemic (2019) levels (IATA, 2024), with global tourism cities as key beneficiaries (Graham, 2023; Marchesani et al., 2023). Similarly, theme parks have been found to be a major attractor for urban destinations globally (Liang & Li, 2023; Luo & Li, 2024) and catalysts for economic development (see Raihan et al., 2024). Research by Tan and Huang (2020) has shown that, unlike other tourism destinations, theme park visitors have particular expectations, which tend to focus on elements of existential authenticity, such as recreating socio-cultural experiences offered by foreign destinations, without the need to travel to those destinations. In turn, a number of key global tourism cities host some of the world's most visited theme parks (see Fig. 1). For instance, Disneyland Paris has become France's most popular tourist destination, ahead of some of the city's iconic at tractions, including the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Eiffel Tower. The importance of air transport has been researched extensively by tourism scholars (see, for instance, Papatheodorou, 2021), including the links between air travel and urban tourism (Coppola et al., 2024) and visitor attractions such as museums (Florido Benítez, 2023). Visitorswho visit theme parks also may be interested in experiencing other nearby attractions. Yet, there is a gap in our understanding of how airports and nearby theme parks can jointly deliver higher levels of competitiveness for urban destinations within the context of the experience economy. In order to address this knowledge gap, “aerotainment” is suggested here as a means of conceptualising a systems-based inter pretation (Park et al., 2016) of the interaction between airports, tourism cities, theme parks and nearby visitor attractions within the context of the experience economy. Local residents and destination management organisations (DMOs) are key to this ecosystem