Since the publication of Pine and Gilmore (Harv Bus Rev 76(4):97–105, 1998), the idea of experience design has become an integral part of tourism. The model has been gradually developed and increasingly linked to the idea of staging and applied in tourism (e.g. Müller and Scheurer, Angebots-Inszenierung in Tourismus-Destinationen. In: T. Bieger, C. Laesser & P. Beritelli (Ed.), Jahrbuch 2003/2004 Schweizerische Tourismuswirtschaft. IDT-HSG. Gallen, 71–92, 2004). In the age of digitalization, the influence of digital elements in the design of tourism products has been increasing for several years. At the same time, the use of playful elements continues to develop, as digitalization gives rise to new forms of games and applications, discussed under the term gamification (Horster & Kreilkamp, Gamifikation im Tourismus. In: M. Landvogt, A. A. Brysch, & M. A. Gardini (Hg.), Tourismus – E-Tourismus – M-Tourismus: Herausforderungen und Trends der Digitalisierung im Tourismus (Vol. 20, pp. 215–230). (Schriften zu Tourismus und Freizeit). Erich Schmidt Verlag, 2017).
In this paper, the approaches of experience staging (in particular Müller & Scheurer, Angebots-Inszenierung in Tourismus-Destinationen. In: T. Bieger, C. Laesser & P. Beritelli (Ed.), Jahrbuch 2003/2004 Schweizerische Tourismuswirtschaft. IDT-HSG, 71–92, 2004) are further developed into a process model that realistically depicts the steps involved in designing the offer. In a second step, this model is linked with digital game elements, so that finally a process model of experience design with digital game elements is created. This is illustrated by an application example based on interviews with experts. For this purpose, the example of geocaching in the vineyard is used.
