Introduction: Convergence of experience science in tourism, hospitality, and leisure

This chapter delineates a shifting paradigm in experience research in tourism, hospitality, and leisure, accentuating a flourishing epic in scientific research. Two streams of evidence underpin the proposition. The first deals with methodological innovation in experience conceptualization. These creative methods of inquiry are multidisciplinary and attuned to the rigorousness expected by scientific communities. The second pertains to the recurrence of experience studies tackling critical drivers shaping the experience. For example, consumers’ exploitation of information technology has become a riveting topic of investigation. People interaction (e.g., tourist-to-tourist interaction, tourist-to-host interaction) is a mighty mechanism facilitating experience creation. Lastly, it reveals the aim of the handbook, which is to construct an updated anthology that can eloquently transcend the evoking thoughts critical to building experience science and sparking debates and research actions in the years to come.