RESEARCH ARTICLE Visitor experience of the Hong Kong trams as an unconventional attraction Jing (Bill) Xu 1 | Libo Yan 2 | Connie K.Y. Mak 1 1 School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong 2 Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macau Correspondence Jing Xu, School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong. Email: spbill@speed‐polyu.edu.hk Abstract The unconventional attractions failed to receive enough attention in academia. Although generally excluded from the tourism authority's highlight attractions, uncon- ventional attractions, such as the Hong Kong trams, are appealing to the inquisitive tourists. Employing a netnography method, this study reveals 6 themes embedded in visitor experience of the Hong Kong trams: entertainment experience, people watching, historical experience, slow tourism, unique mobility, and social interaction. This study further contributes to the literature by introducing a 2‐dimension framework that incorporates the above themes. Tourism authorities are suggested reconsidering their marketing priorities to reflect the importance of unconventional attractions. KEYWORDS slow tourism, tourist experience, transportation heritage, unconventional attraction 1 | INTRODUCTION Tourism cannot occur without attractions. Tourist attraction is an indispensable functional component of any tourist destination. A tourist attraction is a feature in an area that is a place, venue, or focus of activity and does the following: sets out to attract visitors (day visitors from residents or tourist population) and is managed accordingly; provides a fun and pleasurable experience and an enjoyable way for customers to spend their leisure time… (Walsh‐Heron & Stevens, 1990, as cited in Edelheim, 2015, p. 16). It is noted that “the size, significance and diverse nature of the visitor attraction sector of the tourism industry make it both a complex and fascinating area of study” (Dewhurst & Dewhurst, 2006, as cited in Edelheim, 2015, p. 3). However, scholars have paid insufficient attention to tourist attractions compared with other tourism sectors (Leask, 2016; Weidenfeld, Butler, & Williams, 2016). Apart, the limited studies on tourist attractions focus on traditional attractions, namely, natural attractions, cultural heritage sites, and man‐made amusement parks (Leask, 2016), neglecting the nontraditional attractions, that can provide new and unique experiences to visitors (Kolar, 2017). Although tourist experience has gained increasing attention, in‐depth exploration of visitor experiences of attractions remains lacking in academia as “[attraction] research is often management oriented and applied in nature” (Leask, 2016, p. 335). The unconventional visitor attractions with different specialties witnessed even less academic investigations that might be helpful for destination marketers to enhance their marketing strategies. To address the aforementioned gaps, this study aims to explore visitor experiences of unconventional attractions with the case of Hong Kong trams. As a living heritage, the trams have been heavily used by residents for commuting and tourists for sightseeing. Despite being rated by TripAdvisor as one of Hong Kong's top six attractions, the trams are excluded from the official highlight attractions in Hong Kong (China Highlights, 2017). In these senses, the Hong Kong trams offer an interesting case for investigating visitor experience of the unorthodox attractions. The objectives of this study are twofold: to explore how visitors perceive the Hong Kong trams as an attraction and to understand how visitors characterize the nature of their tram experiences. 2 | LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 | Unconventional attractions Visitor attractions have long been positioned and vigorously promoted as tourism products at destinations (Ho & McKercher, 2004). Received: 8 November 2017 Revised: 22 March 2018 Accepted: 22 March 2018 DOI: 10.1002/jtr.2209 Int J Tourism Res. 2018;1–8. Copyright © 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jtr 1