Well-being, experiences and superyachts

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to review and synthesise key concepts in luxury with key concepts in well-being to provide a framework to better understand how luxury well-being propositions can be designed and delivered for the growing superyacht marketplace.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper is based on a literature review of key terms: object-related, symbolic and experiential luxury, co-creation of value and well-being.

Findings

This paper aims to observe the size, growth and opportunity of the superyacht market. Moreover, the paper observes that the locus of luxury value is shifting towards experiences and that to achieve the hedonic and eudaimonic outcomes of well-being happiness, crew have an important role to play in the co-creation of value through their interaction with guests and their use of the physical environment.

Practical implications

This paper aims to highlight the importance of combining the mechanics and humanics of the luxury superyacht experiencescape to co-create luxury value across both the dimensions of experience (education, entertainment, escapism and aesthetics) and the dimensions of well-being (body, mind, spirit and environment).

Originality/value

The paper presents a framework for the co-creation of luxury value in the context of luxury well-being on superyachts.

Citation

Williams, R. (2023), "Well-being, experiences and superyachts", Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 431-441. https://doi.org/10.1108/WHATT-03-2023-0053