Original Scientific Article
Unique Destination Attributes as a Basis of Tourism
Experience
Petra Zabukovec Baruca
University of Primorska, Slovenia
petra.zabukovec@fts.upr.si
Žana Čivre
University of Primorska, Slovenia
zana.civre@fts.upr.si
In today’s highly competitive tourismmarket, tourists are not only interested in new,
unique tourism products and services, but also in unique tourism experiences, as ex-
periences represent an important competitive advantage for a destination. Therefore,
the aim of this paper is to explore the attributes of a destination’s identity that are de-
fined as unique, by analysing unique experiences in three main coastal destinations
in Slovenian Istria and defining communication strategies to promote the unique-
ness of their tourism experiences. The results of a qualitative research confirm that
the uniqueness of tourism experiences results from the attributes of the destination’s
identity. These attributes primarily relate to nature and natural resources, cultural
heritage, and culinary experiences. The unique tourism experiences are conveyed
through speciality, innovation, authenticity and various positive emotions such as
hedonism, excitement, curiosity, surprise, happiness, and pleasure to ensure memo-
rable value-added experiences and encourage tourists to visit year-round. The study
contributes to the knowledge of unique tourism experiences. Finally, theoretical im-
plications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are provided.
Keywords: uniqueness, destination, unique attributes, tourism experience
https://doi.org/10.26493/2335-4194.15.349-362
Introduction
Regardless of the destination’s competitiveness, the
tourism providers that constitute its offer must con-
stantly compete with each other to meet the increas-
ing needs of tourists. At the destination level, market-
ing practises contribute positively to the destination’s
competitiveness by providing an answer to the ques-
tion of how to attract tourists. As tourists’ behaviour
and travel motivation change due to the dynamic en-
vironment, tourists have become very demanding and
expect more than just a typical offer at the destina-
tion (Williams, 2006). Moreover, Ritchie and Crouch
(2003) state that the key to a destination’s competi-
tiveness lies in its ability to attract more tourists and
provide them with satisfying, memorable experiences
in a profitable way while improving the well-being of
the destination’s population and preserving its natural
capital for future generations. In the context of cre-
ating memorable experiences for tourists, Dwyer and
Kim (2003) have pointed out that a competitive des-
tination must be more successful than its competitors
in various aspects of the overall tourism experience.
Thus, to be competitive in the global tourism mar-
ket, destinations must be innovative, distinctive, and
constantly strive to improve the unique tourism expe-
rience. One of the most important sources of compet-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 349
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
itive advantage in this respect is the uniqueness of a
destination.
Destinations need to discover and create their own
unique identity and to differentiate themselves from
the competition. Presenting the uniqueness of a desti-
nation in a competitive tourism industry is a complex
process. It requires a lot of ingenuity and creativity
to stand out in a saturated field. Generally, the des-
tination as a place has existed for generations and is
defined by its history, culture, topography, way of life,
built and natural environment, and its people. The
aspects that make a destination distinctive and mem-
orable are derived from a variety of attributes that are
considered the dna of a destination (Anholt, 2009),
consisting of a unique physical and cultural environ-
ment, the products associated with the destination,
and the people. However, these factors are no longer
a differentiator, but have the potential to reduce sub-
stitutability. To achieve this, destination marketers are
increasingly focusing on the tourism experience, and
creating unique products based on the destination’s
identity. In addition, success also depends on market-
ing messages based on unique attributes that appeal to
the emotions of potential tourists. As regards the his-
torical, cultural and physical attributes deeply rooted
in the development of unique products such as typi-
cal local food or souvenirs, these can have emotional
attributes or signals that allow tourists to be involved
in a personal experience when buying and consuming
them (Rachão et al., 2020; Spielmann et al., 2018). In
particular, unique products, thanks to their intrinsic
and symbolic value, contribute to the creation of the
local and cultural identity of destinations and allow
tourists to approach culture in a more emotional and
participative way (Spielmann et al., 2018).
Today, many tourists most likely perceive expe-
riences as memorable (Gilmore & Pine, 2002) and
therefore demand to go beyond the typical forms of
tourism (Kim et al., 2012). They are looking for some-
thing new, unique or different that will lead to a strong
memory of the travel experience (Kim et al., 2012).
They desire to have a unique experience at the des-
tination (Brown, 2005; Cetin & Bilgihan, 2016). The
unique attributes can be found among the physically
tangible attributes as well as among the intangible and
affective attributes. In many cases, these attributes are
related to the destination experiences (Kim, 2014). For
example, Tung and Ritchie (2011) concluded that pos-
itive emotions and feelings associated with tourism
experiences, such as happiness and excitement, are
a critical component of memorable tourism experi-
ences. Therefore, the tourism experience is considered
to be diverse and subjective and represented by vari-
ous symbolic aspects. It is important for destinations
to identify unique elements that offer unique travel
experiences. Unique experiences at the destination
lead tourists to develop a positive image of the des-
tination and thus they are more likely to have an en-
grossing experience. Experiences and their meanings
usually appeal to tourists’ overarching needs, such as
novelty, excitement, enjoyment, prestige, socialisation
and learning, and contribute to the enhancing of well-
being (Dimanche, 2018).
This study examines the uniqueness of tourism
destinations from an internal supply-side perspective.
Its main purpose is to explore a theoretical framework
for analysing the unique attributes of a destination that
derive from the destination’s identity. In particular, it
aims to identify the fundamental attributes that lead
to the creation of the unique destination products that
contribute to a memorable tourism experience at the
destination, and to apply the results of the study in the
context of the tourism destination Slovenian Istria. In
this context, the main aim of the paper is to identify
attributes of the destination identity that are defined as
unique through the analysis of unique experiences at
the destination and to discuss communication strate-
gies of the uniqueness of the destination Slovenian
Istria on an expressive level of marketing communi-
cation. In this context, the main research questions of
the paper are (1)What are the attributes of the unique
tourism experiences through the destination identity?
and (2)What are the communication strategies to pro-
mote the uniqueness of tourism experiences in Slovenian
Istria?
The paper is structured as follows. First, the litera-
ture on destination uniqueness and the role of unique
tourism experiences is reviewed. This is followed by
research methodology and interpretation of research
results using the Slovenian Istria region as an exam-
350 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
ple. Finally, theoretical implications and recommen-
dations for future research are given.
Literature Review
Destination Uniqueness
A destination is a place that attracts visitors for a tem-
porary stay and is an amalgam of all tourism services
and experiences offered to consumers (Buhalis, 2000).
Tourism organizations use the unique and distinctive
characteristics of a destination as attractors that in-
crease tourists’ attention to the destination. Unique-
ness is particularly important because it affects the dis-
tinction between similar destinations in the minds of
target customers (Qu et al., 2011). Destinations with
unique characteristics tend to be viewed as attractive,
and in fact, the assertion of uniqueness has become an
institutionalized practice that is reflected in the desti-
nation’s brand, tourism products, andmarketing com-
munications. Also, asserting the uniqueness of a des-
tination has also become an institutionalized practice
to highlight the identity of a place. Prayag (2007) de-
fines a destination identity that can help create a set of
unique and positive associations in the minds of con-
sumers. This uniqueness is communicated in brand
identity, which often emphasizes the historical, social,
and cultural values of places (Richards, 2014). In recent
years, it has been recognized that a successful destina-
tion brand must convey the expectations or promise
of a memorable travel experience that is distinctively
associated with that destination (Ritchie & Crouch,
2000; Blain et al., 2005). The uniqueness of the tourist
product results from the attributes of the destination’s
identity. These attributes include not only the tourism
product, such as quality accommodation, shopping fa-
cilities, or sporting activities, but also other environ-
mentally attractive elements that in many cases are the
main attraction associated with potential tourism de-
mand and a source of tourism competitiveness. These
primary attributes of the destination offer are climate,
natural beauty and cultural heritage, hospitality, safety
andmore (Dwyer&Kim, 2003).Goeldner et al. (2000)
emphasize that successful tourism is not just a matter
of better transport and hotels, but of giving a special
national flavour to the traditional way of life and pro-
viding tourists with a favourable image of the benefits
of these goods and services. Basic and general features
are not enough for a successful destination. Preference
is given to those destinations that recognize features
with various unique elements and incorporate them as
unique tourism experiences in the destination’s offer.
In their three-dimensional model for destination
image, Echtner and Ritchie (1993) consider the di-
mension of commonality versus uniqueness, i.e. the
characteristics that are common to many destinations
and the characteristics that distinguish one destina-
tion from another. Therefore, for effective destina-
tion positioning, the attributes that are closely asso-
ciated with the destination in customers’ perception
should be considered first, as well as the other at-
tributes that are objectively unique to a destination
and can distinguish it from its competitors (Ibrahim
& Gill, 2005). It is about identifying the destination’s
distinctive characteristics and its strongest and most
competitive assets in the eyes of its potential visitors
and consistently incorporating this into all marketing
communications. Accordingly, identifying the unique
and distinctive elements of a destination is a necessary
first step for a place marketing strategy that can en-
courage tourists to choose the destination (Qu et al.,
2011). In this context, the development of a destination
brand has become a powerful strategic tool due to the
ever-increasing competition among destinations. The
destination’s competitive advantages are recognized by
potential tourists through the highlighted differences
compared to other competing destinations, which
are consistently communicated throughout market-
ing communications. Kotler et al. (2006) emphasize
that brands have become one of the most important
determinants of a destination’s success because they
can be used as tools to convey a destination’s unique
identity. The main objective of this process is to create
a desirable and appealing destination product based
on distinctive, unique attributes of the destination and
to accurately convey this image to potential tourists.
The task of destination marketing organizations is to
identify the unique assets of their destination in order
to evoke certain feelings, values, cultures and general
attitudes that people experience when visiting a place.
Jorgensen and Stedman (2001) have found that when
the identity of a place is strong enough to be felt or ex-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 351
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
perienced, we often speak of a ‘sense of place,’ which is
also often associated with the uniqueness of the desti-
nation. Similarly, Anhold (2009) uses the term ‘sense
of place’ to describe the personality of a place, which
results from a variety of factors that are considered the
‘dna of a place.’ The term ‘dna’ is used metaphor-
ically to express the unique characteristics of places:
the special attractions or attributes of a place that po-
sition it as unique compared to its main competitors.
Attributes can range from functional to psychological
(Echtner & Ritchie, 1993) or represent unique charac-
teristics of a place. The uniqueness of attributes refers
not only to physical tangible characteristics, but also
to intangible and affective characteristics such as emo-
tions, atmosphere, stories and legends.
It becomes clear that our understanding of sense
of place can help destinations to foster tourists’ at-
tachment to a place through unique attributes that are
either part of culture, history or nature. Culture, for
example, is one of the diverse and rich factors that de-
termine the overall attractiveness of a tourism region.
These include social norms and traditions, language,
style of dress, architecture, crafts, art, music, gastron-
omy, etc. In tourism, the exposed ormaterial culture of
a destination has the greatest affective power. Goeld-
ner et al. (2000) also point out that history can be one
of the most interesting dimensions of a destination
and is a rich tool to create a unique tourism experi-
ence. History is also what distinguishes a destination
from others and is one of the most important moti-
vations for visiting this or that destination. Local his-
torical sites, stories and legends create a romantic and
lasting experience for visitors to a destination. Na-
ture, landscape, natural resources and environment
are the most fundamental dimension of a destination.
In many cases, these attributes are linked to the des-
tination experience (Kim, 2014). Among the myriad
features of a destination, the uniqueness of the desti-
nation is usually an essential element of the tourist en-
counter, and destinationswith unique features are also
more likely to be perceived as beautiful and therefore
have a strong pull motivation (Kirillova et al., 2014).
Such features can help build a destination’s image as
unique (Echtner & Ritchie, 1993; Qu et al., 2011), ex-
plain tourists’ attachment and engagement with the
place, and contribute tomemorable experiences (Kim,
2014). Due to their uniqueness and distinctiveness,
typical attributes offer potential sources of differentia-
tion in positioning the destination brand.
Identifying the distinctive characteristics of a des-
tination is crucial for tourism development in terms
of product development, marketing issues and re-
source conservation. The ultimate goal is to commu-
nicate this difference as a potential competitive advan-
tage to visitors (Jarratt et al., 2019). A toolkit can in-
clude unique selling propositions, information-based
resources that can be shared with visitors, branding
guidelines and resources, visitor-based research, rec-
ommendations for improving the visitor experience,
and various other forms of information (Jarratt et al.,
2019).
In the academic sphere and in tourism practise,
destination uniqueness is associated and overlaps with
the aforementioned meanings of place identity and
sense of place, as well as with the notion of local dis-
tinctiveness and concepts such as authenticity (Casté-
ran & Roederer, 2013). Local distinctiveness is men-
tioned as one of the critical factors in developing a dis-
tinctive product, especially in the context of souvenirs,
local food and beverages, as it ensures that tourists’ vi-
sion of the destination is maintained through their
sensory engagement with the unique, distinctive and
original place-based values (Lin & Mao, 2015; Spiel-
mann et al., 2018). The marketing process to develop
a unique product for a destination is not always easy
and poses particular challenges to the art of market-
ing. These challenges are related to the complexity of
the tourism product and the number of stakeholders
involved in destination marketing. Although the facts
of a tourist’s experience are also not explicitly known,
one might assume that a good tailor-made trip must
focus on uniqueness.
Tourism Experience
Although tourism experiences have been extensively
researched in the field of tourism (Chirakranont &
Sakdiyakorn, 2022) and tourism marketing (Preben-
sen & Foss, 2011), there is still a relative lack of knowl-
edge and academic work addressing stakeholder per-
spectives on uniqueness in relation to tourism expe-
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Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
riences offered at destinations. Moreover, tourism ex-
periences are a serious concept in the field of tourism,
especially in the area of destination positioning (Oh et
al., 2007).
Due to the changing economy, society and con-
sumer needs, consumers will continue to prefer buy-
ing experiences rather than products (Kim et al., 2012).
Thus, the focus has shifted from a service-based (tour-
ismproduct) to an experience-based economy (tourism
experience), also referred to as the experience econ-
omy (Pine & Gilmore, 1999). As memorable experi-
ences have high value (Pine & Gilmore, 1998), devel-
oping and offering memorable experiences is a focus
of the service industry (Wang et al., 2020) and desti-
nation marketing (Cetin & Bilgihan, 2016).
Li et al. (2022) define tourism experience as ‘a pro-
cess of individual psychological activities, and its de-
gree of memorability depends on whether the tourism
experience meets the expectations and demands of
tourists, while high arousal often indicates that tour-
ists’ expectations are consistent with reality and that
satisfaction is high.’ Tourism experiences are particu-
larly appealing to target groups who have a desire to
experience and see different destinations and the lives
of local people at the destination (Ritchie et al., 2011).
Therefore, tourists are likely to experience pleasure
when consuming tourism experiences (Li et al., 2022).
Furthermore, experiences can be memorable in
a unique way (Pine & Gilmore, 1998). Since some
tourist segments have distinct experiences with prod-
ucts and services (Wong & Wan, 2013) and eagerly
seek unique tourism experiences (Tiberghien et al.,
2020), it is argued that the uniqueness of the expe-
rience is the main element that leads to memorable
experiences (Kim et al., 2012). Therefore, it is an im-
portant need for tourists to share their unique expe-
riences with different destinations, interaction with
locals and other travel memories. In this sense, desti-
nation managers should avoid over-commercializing
their offerings and focus on unique and authentic
tourism experiences (Yolal, 2016). In recent research,
destination-specific attributes are proved as an an-
tecedent of pro-environment tourist behaviour in the
context of tourism experience (Jia, 2015). Other re-
sults show that individuals who perceive the attributes
of the destination very positively also have a positive
memorable experience, which leads to a higher in-
tention to visit the destination again (Madhzar et al.,
2015).
Methodology
The overall objective of this article is to identify the
unique attributes of destination identity and commu-
nication strategies. Identifying such unique attributes
is very important for marketing planners in destina-
tions as they provide a competitive advantage over the
competition. To answer previously defined research
questions, a qualitative research was conducted us-
ing semi-structured interviews. Semi-structured in-
terviews are the preferred method for data collection
when the researcher’s goal is to understand the unique
perspective of the participant better than a general un-
derstanding of a phenomenon (Adeoye-Olatunde &
Olenik, 2021). Therefore, the supply side was analysed
first. The main advantage of semi-structured tech-
niques is their ability to capture the holistic compo-
nents andunique characteristics of a destination (Gov-
ers et al., 2007) and to allow respondents to freely de-
scribe in their own words their intentions in creating
and communicating products, feelings and percep-
tions about a destination.
As tourist boards in Slovenia are a central tourism
organization for each destination, semi-structured in-
terviews were conducted with representatives of the
main tourist boards responsible for marketing com-
munication in the destinations of Slovenian Istria,
who are competent for designing unique tourist ex-
periences.
Thus, three key local representatives and experts of
the tourist boards for the destinations of Piran/Porto-
rož, Izola and Koper form the sample for this research
(Table 1). The interviews were conducted between
March 9 and 18, 2022. At the beginning of each in-
terview, the researchers introduced the purpose of the
research. As each tourist board is responsible for the
development of new tourism products and their pro-
motion, its main objective lately has been the develop-
ment and promotion of unique tourism experiences.
The questionnaire referred to the Slovenia Unique
Experiences Guidebook published by the Slovenian
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 353
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
Table 1 List of Interviewees
Respondents Tourist Organization Destination
Respondent A Tourist board Portorož Portorož/Piran
Respondent B Izola Tourism
Association
Izola
Respondent C Koper Public Institute
for Youth, Culture and
Tourism
Koper
Tourist Organization (Slovenska turistična organi-
zacija, 2020). The interview consisted of two main
parts, namely unique experiences at the destination
and promotion of unique experiences at the destina-
tion. The first part of the questionnaire contained six
open-ended questions about the main unique experi-
ences, their unique elements/attributes and symbols of
destination identity. This part of the interview also in-
cludes the criteria for their development, aim, and rea-
sons for developing memorable, unique tourism ex-
periences. The second part of the interview also con-
sisted of three open-ended questions on the promo-
tional efforts of destinations to offer unique tourism
experiences. In this context, expressions/words and
feelings were identified. At the end, a short question
was asked about how to measure tourists’ impressions
of unique experiences at each destination.
Research Results
The results of the qualitative research are presented
and compared. In line with the research objectives, a
holistic view of destination uniqueness attributes is of
particular importance to this study. In order to ob-
tain a comprehensive view of destination uniqueness,
it was crucial to obtain in-depth information on the
attributes of destination uniqueness through unique
products and their promotion.
This section of the study presents the results of
the semi-structured interviews, which are divided into
two parts. The first part of the analysis focuses on the
importance of developing and offering unique experi-
ences at the destination for its tourists.
In this part, the first research question is answered
by proposing a method for identifying unique des-
tination attributes. To answer the first question, re-
spondents first listed the most unique tourism prod-
ucts/experiences at each destination. In this way, we
were able to identify several unique tourism experi-
ences offered at each destination.
In addition, respondents selected and listed a num-
ber of attributes for product uniqueness based on the
unique experiences offered by their destination. To
provide a comprehensive overview, the responses are
summarized in Table 2. For each destination, respon-
dents indicated unique tourism experiences for three
different areas, namely nature and natural resources,
cultural heritage and culinary experiences. The anal-
ysis of tourism experiences shows that the most ex-
periences can be found in the destination Portorož –
Piran, which is also the most developed tourist mu-
nicipality, followed by the destination Izola and then
Koper.
In all three destinations, it is evident that expe-
riences of all kinds are the predominant unique at-
tributes of nature and natural resources. These in-
clude natural landscapes and protected parks, and salt
pans with useful derivatives such as mud, salt, and salt
flower, which are an integral part of the experiences
that the representatives consider unique. Portorož –
Piran has the most unique experiences based on salt
and salt pans, such as the unique outdoor spa cen-
tre Thalasso Spa Lepa Vida, located on the salt pans.
Among the natural attributes, olive groves, vineyards
and truffles are often highlighted in all three destina-
tions, which are part of the unique outdoor experi-
ences related to the hinterland and typical Istrian vil-
lages. The cultural heritage is based on the unique at-
tributes of Venetian architecture, which can be found
in all three coastal towns (Koper, Izola and Piran).
Here it is all about arousing curiosity, discovering hid-
den treasures and learning stories about city life. In
the hinterland, cultural heritage is combined with the
architecture of Istrian villages, getting to know Istrian
life, nature and cuisine. An important source for learn-
ing more about the peculiarities of life in Istria are the
unique interpretations of virtual boutique museums
#butmuz, which allow visitors to experience the past
in a unique way and connect with the history of Istria.
When analysing the tourism experience, the local
and traditional cuisine of Slovenian Istria is of great
354 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
importance. The local cuisine is strongly represented
with various attributes, both in outdoor activities in
nature and cultural heritage. The interweaving of tra-
ditional cuisine with other activities and attractions is
part of the experience at this destination. In terms of
natural resources, there is a strong connection to the
sea, where the source of unique experiences is linked
to fishing and fish, which are part of the tradition, es-
pecially in the destination of Izola, which offers a mix
of Istrian and seafood cuisine due to its proximity to
the hinterland. Local attributes that create unique ex-
periences are often part of tourist gastronomic events
in Izola. Olive oil, wine and fish are typical attributes
of various culinary festivals, as well as sustainable
culinary campaigns such as Kilometre Zero (km0) in
preparing unique dishes with local ingredients from
the sea and the land. In addition, there are various
culinary events in all three destinations, outstanding
tourist culinary experiences in nature such as the ‘Vin-
tage culinary experience,’ ‘Wine experience with an
unforgettable sunset in the hinterland of Slovenian Is-
tria’ and ‘Truffle hunting and tasting.’
The culinary cultural heritage product in Izola is
also well designed. Even today, the Romans are known
for their hedonistic lifestyle and fondness for good
food, and this is part of the culinary experience when
discovering the Roman heritage in the Istrian region
as part of the tourist experience called ‘Roman tastes
under the stars in the archaeological park.’ In order to
increase tourist satisfaction, it is particularly impor-
tant to understand what attributes influence travellers’
experiences of local cuisine.
In addition, the uniqueness of tourism experiences
derives from the attributes of the destination’s identity.
Thus, Table 2 shows a unified experience of three des-
tinations in Slovenian Istria. The identity of Slovenian
Istria is primarily determined by the sea, which rep-
resents the first contact with the Mediterranean and
dominates the local history, natural environment, cli-
mate and landscape, and is probably the most distinc-
tive element for tourism experiences. The sea is not
only a point of attraction, but also offers specific ele-
ments such as beaches, wilderness, protected areas like
saltpans, fishing and local products, and allows for a
variety of outdoor activities on and by the sea. The ba-
sic symbols of identity also come from the sea, such as
the salt in the destination Portorož – Piran and the fish
in Izola. Another important element is the sun, which
is a symbol of Koper. The three destinations are very
different in terms of landscape and vitality. They dif-
fer in that Koper is a city centre with maritime, nauti-
cal, bathing and sports tourism, Izola offers cosiness
and authenticity and is based on fishing, and Piran
– Portorož is one of the most developed destinations
with salt pans and mediaeval Piran. Despite the differ-
ences, they have common unifying elements of shared
identity, such as the fact that all three cities, Koper,
Izola and Piran, were islands. All three representatives
pointed out that part of the identity of this region is
the meeting of three cultures: Slovenian, Italian and
Croatian, which is reflected in the architecture, bilin-
gualism, dialects, and customs, and translated into a
sense of place. The attribute of uniqueness also refers
to intangible and affective qualities such as emotions,
atmosphere, stories, and legends.
Next, respondents were asked to provide reasons,
goals and criteria for developing memorable, unique
tourism experiences. As far the reasons for developing
memorable experiences, the expert from the Tourist
Organization Board Portorož & Piran highlighted the
following in particular:
Each experience is characterized by its offer,
which is aimed at a specific audience, by in-
dividual elements on which the identity of the
destination is based (e.g. local artisanal prod-
ucts such as salt and salt flower, thalassother-
apy, olive oil, garlic, Piran sea bass,Malvasia and
Refošk wine, tradition, landscape, cultural and
natural heritage, sustainable elements). So they
cannot be transferred to another environment
because they would lose their added value.
The representative of Izola gave reasons for creat-
ing memorable experiences, mostly related to cultural
heritage, such as place, culture, history, the area in-
habited since 4000 bc, and the Romans. For the des-
tination of Koper, the expert emphasized that: ‘Since
unique tourism experiences are designed for small
groups, they offer a memorable and unusual experi-
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 355
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
Table 2 Unique Attributes of Destination and Examples of Unique Tourism Experiences at Destination
Attributes/Destination Portorož/Piran Izola Koper
Nature and natural
resources
Landscape and protected parks,
footpath, climate, fish, truffles,
olives, panoramas, salt pans with
useful derivates (e.g. mud, salt, salt
flower)
Sea, fish, hinterland, cliffs, nature
park, salt pans
Sea
Examples of unique
outdoor experiences
• An unforgettable day at the Fonda
Fish Farm
• Vintage Gourmet Tour
• Truffle hunting with cooking work-
shop and other active cultural and
culinary experiences with a touch
of Istria
• The unique outdoor spa centre
Lepa Vida Thalasso Spa on salt pan
• Roman tastes under the stars
• The Forgotten Secret of Izola
• Candlelit Dinner
Date
• Vintage Gourmet
Tour
• Truffle hunting
Cultural heritage Saltworks, fishing, the medieval
town of Piran, traditional events,
Venetian architecture, Istrian cus-
toms and traditions, Šavrini, leg-
ends and stories of Piran
Paranzana, shipbuilding, fishing,
boutique museums, traditional
events, Roman culture
Venetian architec-
ture, typical Istrian
villages
Examples of unique
cultural heritage
experiences
• Saltpans Feast
• Saltharvester for a day
• Discovering the secrets of Piran
• Network of boutique museums
butmuz
• The Forgotten Secret of Izola
• Roman tastes under the stars
Culinary Traditional cuisine – truffle, olive
oil, salt, fish, wine
Wine, fish, garlic Olive, wine, salt,
truffle
Examples of unique
culinary experi-
ences
• Wine experience with an unfor-
gettable sunset in the hinterland of
Slovenian Istria
• Truffle hunting and tasting
• Persimmon Festival
• Wine experience with an unfor-
gettable sunset in the hinterland of
Slovenian Istria
• Truffle hunting and tasting
• Persimmon Festival
• Vintage Gourmet
Tour
• Sweet Istria
Attributes of the
identity of Slovenian
Istria
• Sea
• Salt and salt products
• Hinterland, customs, Istrians
• Sea
• Fish
• First contact with the Mediter-
ranean – way of life, climate, con-
tact of cultures
• Sea
• Climate, Venetian
architecture, green
hinterland, delicious
local food and drink
ence. To some extent, they allow personalization and
meet the high expectations of demanding guests.’
In terms of the goals of a memorable experience,
respondents agreed that it is critical that tourists ex-
perience the uniqueness of a particular place that they
cannot experience anywhere else. In addition, they
want to highlight new, unique experiences outside of
the peak season. In this way, they want to increase
the added value of the destination and encourage off-
season consumption, as well as extend the average
length of stay per destination. In summary, an impor-
tant common goal of all three destination marketing
representatives is to encourage tourists to visit year-
round and offer them something new and memorable
with added value. Finally, respondents highlighted the
criteria for developing a memorable, unique tourism
356 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
experience, which are presented. From the responses,
we can conclude that the most prominent criteria are
boutique, innovation, authenticity, sustainable focus,
individual approach and exclusivity when it comes to
designing new, unique,memorable experiences in des-
tinations in Slovenian Istria. Examples of new, unique
tourism experiences include, for example, ‘Discover-
ing the Secrets of Piran,’ the outdoor adventure game
‘The Forgotten Secret of Izola,’ the #butmuz bou-
tique museums network and ‘Romantic Candlelight
Dinner Date.’
In the second part of the research, in order to an-
swer the second research question, respondents were
also asked about the communication terms they use to
describe unique experiences and what emotions they
appeal to when communicating unique experiences.
The experts describe the uniqueness of the experi-
ences with the following communication terms: plea-
sure, hedonism, excitement, relaxation, curiosity, sur-
prise, happiness, and joy. Also, when asked what emo-
tions are addressed when communicating unique ex-
periences, the experts mentioned the following emo-
tions: happiness, joy, excitement, pleasure, relaxation,
mystery, curiosity and surprise.
It is also interesting to note that impressions about
the attractiveness of a unique tourism experience from
the tourists’ perspective are observed primarily on the
basis of comments in social networks and personal
contacts with tourists directly on site.
Discussion
Understanding what are unique experiences at a des-
tination is a challenge for destination marketers. This
article contributes to the research questions of identi-
fying unique attributes of tourismexperiences through
the destination identity and their symbolic and expres-
sive level of marketing communication using Slove-
nian Istria as an example. In order to better under-
stand the essence of unique tourism experiences, it
is necessary to analyse their multidimensional struc-
ture for different travel experience contexts. The study
follows a qualitative approach based on open-ended
interviews with professionals from the tourist offices
of the threemain destinations in Slovenian Istria. This
allows us to gain a deeper understanding of the con-
cept of uniqueness of tourism experiences in destin-
ations.
Based on the research results from the qualitative
research, we identified important attributes of unique-
ness and its symbolic and expressive character in rela-
tion to the communication aspect.
To answer the first research question, respondents
were asked about the destination attributes of unique
tourism experiences through destination identity, fol-
lowed by goals, reasons and criteria for developing
new unique tourism experiences. It turns out that the
most frequently represented attributes are those that
are associated with nature and natural resources in
tourism experiences and which give them uniqueness.
This includes a number of unique attributes such as
sea, salt, fish, hinterland, olive trees, vines, truffles,
views, and natural parks, which are most often as-
sociated with outdoor experiences. It should be em-
phasized that cultural heritage is often highlighted in
experiences with unique attributes such as the archi-
tecture of towns and villages, Venetian history and the
Istrian people or Šavrini, which are associated with
the region of Istria and its authentic culture and cus-
toms. Unique tourism experiences based on both nat-
ural resources and cultural heritage are often comple-
mented by local taste experiences. Cuisine enhances
the touch of uniqueness of the experience based on
local culinary ingredients such as truffles, salt flower,
olive oil, wine, persimmons, asparagus, garlic, and
fish, which form the basis of traditional cuisine with
a Mediterranean touch. According to Tiberghien et
al. (2020), offering unique products, such as the ex-
ploration of culinary traditions, has a positive impact
on strengthening the tourism experience and creating
a usp (unique selling proposition). This is also con-
sistent with Stone et al.’s (2021) view that experiences
related to the culinary are associated with memories
in terms of various connections (interpersonal, social,
emotional, sensory, experimental, novel, etc.). Thus,
the authors argue that culinary experiences can have
a major impact on creating memories while travelling
to create memorable experiences.
The research results in this part confirm that the
uniqueness of tourism experiences comes from the
identity of the place. The elements that belong to the
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 357
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
unique experiences derive from the particular char-
acter of the places. The character of the place, which
includes special, attractive and recognizable attributes
of the destination, is different from others and is re-
flected in nature and culture, outdoor activities, local
products and landscapes and buildings.
Regarding the reasons for creating new unique
tourism experiences, practitioners expressed that they
associate uniqueness with a memorable and outstand-
ing experience that allows a certain level of personal-
ization andmeets the high expectations of demanding
guests. They also seek to create unique tourism expe-
riences based on the elements/attributes of the desti-
nation identity of Slovenian Istria (e.g. local products
such as salt, olive oil, wine, etc.) that are not transfer-
able to another environment because as such they lose
their added value. In addition, the goal of the three
main destinations in Slovenian Istria is to offer and
promote unique tourism experiences to visitors in or-
der to encourage them to visit outside the peak season.
According to the research findings, the most com-
mon criteria for developing new, unique, memorable
tourism experiences in destinations in Slovenian Is-
tria are boutique, innovation, authenticity, sustainable
focus, individual approach and exclusivity. This is in
line with the view of Li et al. (2022), for example, who
claim that innovation can stimulate tourists’ emotions
such as novelty, pleasure, and freshness, which leads to
a better tourism experience. Moreover, tourists look-
ing for unique and authentic tourism experiences are
more likely to look for something different from stan-
dard tourism products and services (Tiberghien et al.,
2020). Criteria for creating uniqueness include enrich-
ing the visitor’s experience at the destination, which is
often enhanced with intangible attributes such as ro-
mance, exploration, discovery, and boutique, which
aim to provide tourists with exceptional value and re-
markable experiences. These sensory experiences, de-
rived from stimuli from nature and culture, stand out
and trigger emotion and engagement. In this vein, the
first research question has been answered.
In the second part of our findings, we focused on
the symbolic and expressive levels of uniqueness as-
sociated with tourism experiences at a destination.
This is particularly important because they enhance
the quality of the experience and contribute to mem-
orable tourism experiences (Kim, 2014). Thus, this
paper also addresses the challenges from a market-
ing communications perspective in order to answer
the second research question. Following the research
findings, the uniqueness of the experiences at themain
tourist destinations in Slovenian Istria is described in
terms such as hedonism, pleasure, excitement, relax-
ation, curiosity, surprise, happiness, and joy. Similarly,
the emotions they want to evoke in their communi-
cation strategies are: happiness, joy, enthusiasm, plea-
sure, relaxation, mystery, curiosity, and surprise. Fo-
cusing on how specific uniqueness attributes help con-
sumers fulfil their hedonistic travel desires requires
a more pragmatic approach that links the notion of
uniqueness of tourism experiences to the significant
contribution that destination attributes can make to
enabling unique experiences. Involvement, hedonism,
refreshment, local culture, meaningfulness, knowl-
edge, and novelty are attributes that have the poten-
tial to connect with tourists’ emotions, leading to in-
creased attention, learning ability and happiness, ul-
timately resulting in memorability (Larsen & Jenssen,
2004; Tung & Ritchie, 2011). Moreover, this may be
consistent with the research findings of Li et al. (2022),
who argue that pleasure and excitement moderate the
relationship between night tourism atmosphere and
memorable tourism experience.
Similarly, research findings point to the following
emotions as appealing in the delivery of unique experi-
ences: happiness, joy, enthusiasm, pleasure, relaxation,
mystery, curiosity and surprise. In this vein, unique
and meaningful travel experiences are often designed
to include intangible unique attributes in addition
to tangible attributes. Emotions are therefore consid-
ered central to memorable tourism experiences (Tung
& Ritchie, 2011). We argue that uniqueness through
communication begins by focusing on methods by
which experiences are advertised, communicated, and
remembered through these domains. According to
Agapito et al. (2014), most sensory tourism experi-
ences relate to nature, from beach vacations to rural
retreats, engaging multiple senses simultaneously. It
was found that tasting local food (Stone et al., 2021;
Agapito et al., 2014) and smelling fresh air are two of
358 | Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
the most important sensory experiences for tourists,
suggesting that developing unique experiences goes
hand in hand with creating meaningful and memo-
rable sensory experiences (Agapito et al., 2014). This
finding is also consistent with the results of our re-
search.
Conclusion
With this in mind, the paper offers some observations
that can be considered as recommendations for the fu-
ture development of unique tourism experiences. This
research contributes to a better understanding of the
importance of the concept of uniqueness in tourism
experiences at the destination, with clear implications
for marketing communications that give tourism ex-
periences a unique touch and greater appeal in the
tourism market.
The research included holiday experiences related
to relaxation and fun at the destination with a more
idyllic and unique escape experience, where social
and special aesthetic dimensions stand out and trig-
ger emotions and engagement: tourism experiences
with a romantic atmosphere, fantasy, dreams, nos-
talgic moments of interaction and multisensory ele-
ments. It would be interesting to associate uniqueness
with unconventional tourism experiences, such as ad-
venture or volunteer tourism, where people seek an
unusual and attractive experience.
Finally, this study also shows that the unique at-
tributes exhibited reinforce the interest and experi-
ence, and to some extent correspond to the identity
of the place, which is important for the image of the
destination in which they are located, and therefore
are important for the destination brand. For example,
truffles are very representative of Istria, just as the salt
flower is a sign of salt pans in this area of Istria, and in
this sense helps to consolidate the image and identity
of the destination, which affects the destination brand
and loyalty and attachment to the place.
Today’s tourists are no longer satisfied with the
superficial, all-inclusive, generic, standardized offer,
but are looking for a deeper contact with the desti-
nation they are visiting (culture, landscape, people).
They want a real, original, normal, not artificial, not
made-up, not tourist experience. An experience that
has been around since time immemorial and is unique.
Therefore, practitioners and marketers in tourist des-
tinations look for the fundamental and authentic at-
tributes of the destination, which may be contained
in unique points, attractions, places or experiences.
In this regard, this study contributes to identifying a
set of unique attributes per destination that can serve
as a guide for destination managers. Identifying the
distinctive, unique characteristics of a destination is
necessary for tourism development and management
and has important implications for tourism market-
ing planners and travel suppliers. Our findings can
help marketing planners select the target constellation
of attributes and develop more efficient unique ex-
perience products for destinations and their market-
ing communication strategies for campaigns. Tourism
managers could use them to identify their own local
particularities.
The robust results suggest that combining themost
distinctive attributes with a strong emotional com-
ponent is important for a destination’s positioning
strategy. This paper clearly identifies the natural set-
ting and roles of unique and distinctive attributes, in-
tegrating them into the tourism product or experi-
ence. Therefore, it is essential that destination man-
agement and marketers focus on an image campaign
that can further promote destination uniqueness and
differentiation from other destinations and sustain
effective marketing strategies in this respect. Hence,
marketing and advertising campaigns can underline
the unique attributes of natural and cultural heritage,
which will provoke an emotional experience during
tourist visits.
As a research study, some limitations of the current
approach are obvious. First, this study investigates the
uniqueness of the tourism experience on the supplier
side using qualitative research. However, this research
method is inherently less objective than quantitative
research and therefore more limited in terms of sta-
tistical and comparative analyses. It would therefore
make sense to further investigate the tourist side and
the perception of the uniqueness of the tourism ex-
perience with quantitative research, to find out if the
attributes belonging to the tourism experience provide
the tourist with a unique experience or if there is a gap
Academica Turistica, Year 15, No. 3, December 2022 | 359
Petra Zabukovec Baruca and Žana Čivre Unique Destination Attributes
between the promises of the offer and the actual ex-
perience. The aspect of the tourist’s satisfaction with
the tourism experience is also important, as they have
a greater potential to share the experience and mem-
ories of the experience with a unique touch. Second,
in examining unique tourism experiences, the study
rely on interviews with representatives of tourism or-
ganizations in destinations that are involved in mar-
keting of tourism experiences. In this sense, some of
the criteria used for data collection may not provide
a comprehensive basis and those who conduct these
experiences may not reflect all possible unique ex-
periences. Third, this study assessed the attributes of
tourism experiences’ uniqueness for selected tourism
experiences in three destinations highlighted by re-
spondents as the most important, and not all that are
offered, or even smaller destinations in Slovenian Is-
tria such as Ankaran, which could mean that not all
attributes of destination uniqueness are covered in this
area. Fourth, the range of unique experiences does
not include a comparison between unique and non-
unique experiences, which could contribute to a more
comprehensive understanding of the unique experi-
ence. Fifth, other marketing constructs related to des-
tination uniqueness could be explored, such as dif-
ferent market segments (families, young couples, se-
niors) or destination positioning through usp, brand,
and the like. Finally, criteria at the level of symbolic
and expressive communication are important to at-
tract and effectively market unique experiences, so
the most market-effective communication approaches
and web-based marketing channels should be tested
in the market. Uniqueness as a distinctive element in
tourism experience has recently gained importance
and is used increasingly.
Therefore, future studies could explore the above
comments from each category over time. Future stud-
ies should also consider exploring the relation between
tourists’ need for uniqueness as a representation of
differentiated identity based on several target markets
and destination settings.
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