Narratives come alive: enhancing cultural heritage experiences through sensorial narrative-based guiding tours

Set on the rural island of Yim Tin Tsai (YTT) in Hong Kong, this study aims to understand tourists’ perception and evaluation of narratives and sensory impressions presented in narrative-based guiding tours through a questionnaire and group discussion conducted after each tour. The narratives delivered are extracted from both primary and secondary sources and cover a wide variety of topics related to YTT, such as the daily lives of past villagers, the role of Catholicism on the island, and Hakka culture. The Sensory Experience Elicitation Protocol is employed to gauge participants’ sensory experiences in YTT. The effectiveness of narrative-based guiding in elevating tourism experiences through strengthening the memory of and the emotional connection to a destination, as well as enriching multi-sensory impressions through the integration of such elements into the narrative-based guiding experience, has been acknowledged in the study. Various strategies to further enhance the guiding tours have been put forward and discussed.