Die offizielle Zeitschrift von IAAPA
When B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore published “The Experience Economy” in 1999, theme parks, museums, and attractions saw their business model reflected in print. The bestselling book articulated what the industry had long practiced—staging experiences to create value in people’s lives—and it reshaped how businesses far beyond attractions thought about experiences as a distinct economic offering.
Pine waited more than 25 years to write his new book. “The Transformation Economy” is not a sequel, but the natural culmination of a new way of thinking—one with direct implications for the attractions industry.
Pine contends that after commodities, goods, services, and experiences, the next frontier is transformation, where companies help people become who they want to be. “The desire for transformations will only increase over the next decade,” he says. “Great opportunities lie in guiding people to achieve their aspirations.”
This shift matters because experience alone no longer distinguishes attractions; they now compete with a growing array of experience-driven businesses. However, Pine says attractions can build on their experiential skills, dream-fulfilling abilities, and capacity to connect emotionally with audiences to make the leap into transformation possible.
In the transformation economy, experiences can become doorways through which people discover themselves. He recalls asking hundreds of museum professionals how many chose their careers because of a childhood visit to a museum. Roughly 40% raised their hands. Such moments, he argues, should not be left to chance.
“What are the possibilities if attractions deliberately designed transformations? It’s going to happen,” he says. “As Scott Trowbridge, senior creative executive at Walt Disney Imagineering, told me, ‘We foresee the day when attractions intentionally design experiences to be transformative.’”
Shifting from staging experiences to enabling transformation starts with a simple but crucial step, according to Pine. “It begins with asking, ‘Why?’ Why are guests coming to you? And then ask why again and again.” Attractions must dig deeper to uncover their audiences’ core aspirations. “You need to figure out how to cater to those aspirations in your operations,” Pine says. That insight will allow operators to design offerings that guide guests toward meaningful growth.
Pine invites companies to think differently about familiar offerings. Attractions host thousands of birthday parties each year, but most treat them as one-off events. Pine suggests starting with a conversation instead—what do parents hope their children will gain from the day? For some, it may be confidence or stronger social skills; for others, a lesson in gratitude or the chance to discover a new ability. Seen this way, a birthday party becomes less of a transaction and more the beginning of a relationship that unfolds year after year.
When it comes to attractions and games built around play and skill, “Many people aspire to become better and better,” he adds. “Helping them do so almost invariably means they will play more and spend more.”
Human flourishing, where an individual thrives instead of just survives, is a recurring theme. Pine believes attractions already foster human flourishing effectively by creating memorable experiences where people feel they spent their time well. Transformation extends that impact further, offering what he calls “time well invested,” where the benefits continue long after the visit ends.
He hopes the attractions industry embraces encapsulation, which involves preparing guests before an experience, encouraging reflection afterward, and supporting their future actions. The aim is to guide people toward achievement and beyond. “Transformations must be sustained through time, which is what follow-through accomplishes,” Pine says.
