Contexts of “experimental tourism” in theoretical and practical formats: comparative analysis, varieties and trends

The concept of “experimental tourism” has been used for a long time in the practical sphere. But for domestic science it is a new concept. Tourism has become a way of life for many people. But today its development is marked by creation of the so-called “anti-tourist” products that differ from traditional ones, for example excursions and walks along paths and neighborhoods unpopular in tourists, visiting famous attractions for alternative purposes, selection of non-standard travel destinations. It is this type (format) of travel, formulated as a new concept by Joel Henry in 1990, became the first manifestation of the now growing phenomenon of service personalization in tourism. In modern foreign scientific literature, in contrast to domestic, this concept finds its researchers - both supporters and critics. We can say that today a fairly wide range of concepts and terms has been formed, which describe the variety of practical forms of experimental tourism, some of which are considered in the article. The main tool for promoting these forms is the Internet, and their most important value is that the traveler gains a non-standard tourist experience. In the article, the authors try to summarize the existing types and proposals for the so-called. experimental (alternative, transformational, intellectual) travel, identify more than 30 forms, and combine they into 9 types. The article also formulates 7 key principles of experimental travel and outlines a number of problems in their positioning. As a discussion and directions for further research, the authors notice the trend for the chronological transformation of experimental types of tourism through alternative into conceptual ones in the context of the experience economy intensive development. The authors raise the problem of the correlation of this process with tourist motives and behavioral models of representatives of certain generations, which can be the object of further research.