Exploring LARP (Live Action Role Play) Tourism as a Liminal Experience

Inspired by the recent craze on LARP (live action role play) tourism, the study deconstructs LARP tourism experiences via examining the liminal experience through in-depth interviews with 21 LARP tourists. Unlike conventional tourism products that are grounded in reality, the cardinal product of LARP tourism centers on the fictitious scripts, while tourism settings become the backdrop. As the story unfolds, a hyperreal bubble is created to encapsulate the tourists in a liminal setting more real than real. The liminal space of LARP tourism is created via the use of story-pertinent venues and settings, props such as costumes, and sensorial cues, which facilitate tourists' immersion into the story and the scenes. A five-staged liminal experience of LARP tourism is delineated. A new form of communitas, communitas-by-script, is identified, which includes tourist players, non-player characters, and supporting staff. The study provides practical references to tourism operators on a viable alternative tourism form.