Marketing Strategies for Opera Institutions in the Experience Economy

This study examines how leading European opera houses translate the experience-economy perspective into marketing practice. A qualitative multiple-case design compares the Paris Opera, the Vienna State Opera, and Teatro alla Scala. The cases were selected through explicit criteria covering institutional prominence, comparability, public availability of recent evidence, and variation in marketing emphasis. Data were drawn from institutional reports, programme documents, streaming and ticketing pages, and official communications available for 2023–2026. A structured content analysis coded initiatives related to experience extension, audience development, digital access, pricing and inclusion, and heritage branding. The findings show a shared layered architecture: the live performance remains the artistic core, while digital platforms, educational formats, visits, workshops, and segmented offers expand the encounter before and after attendance. The three institutions nevertheless differ in emphasis. Paris develops a discovery-to-participation digital ecosystem; Vienna combines free streaming with youth-oriented mediation; La Scala links prestige branding with price segmentation and accessibility programmes. The article proposes a heritage–access–engagement framework and explains how opera managers can widen participation without treating artistic mission and market orientation as opposing goals.