In recent years, a visit to a Christmas market has become a Christmas tradition for many Europeans (CRR Research, 2014). In 2014, there were 157 main Christmas markets and 2634 smaller markets in Europe, which attracted 493.7 million visitors who spent £4450.4 billion (CRR Research, 2014). A Christmas market is a street market with market stalls selling Christmas decorations, local traditional food and drinks, artisan products, toys, and other local traditional products related to Christmas. A Christmas market is not only a shopping occasion but also provides an experience for the whole family with the site especially decorated for Christmas, music, performances, and other features aiming to create a Christmas atmosphere.
Not surprisingly, most of the research related to Christmas markets has investigated visitors’ expenditures (e.g., Brida et al., 2013a, Brida et al., 2013b, Brida and Tokarchuk, 2015). The main goal of these studies is to understand what makes visitors spend and to increase their spending to increase economic value of the event to the hosting community. However, Christmas markets are an event that creates value for the visitor as well. Research has shown that tourists attend Christmas markets in order to relax, enjoy the Christmas atmosphere, spend time with family and friends, and sample local products (Brida, Disegna, & Osti, 2012). Shopping is generally a secondary motivation for tourists attending Christmas markets. The growing importance of Christmas markets in the tourism industry has created the need to estimate the value for visitors of the experience at a Christmas market that goes beyond a mere shopping occasion. In recent years, a visit to a Christmas market has become a Christmas tradition for many Europeans (CRR Research, 2014). In 2014, there were 157 main Christmas markets and 2634 smaller markets in Europe, which attracted 493.7 million visitors who spent £4450.4 billion (CRR Research, 2014).