Sensory marketing is a recent concept that was initially considered in the field of experience marketing and retail, and later in the field of tourism, regardless of the fact that tourists have always experienced the destination with their five senses. Only in recent years has the tourism industry adopted the concept of sensory marketing as a marketing strategy in order to create a competitive advantage in the rapidly growing tourism industry, therefore empirical studies on sensory marketing in tourism are scarce. The paucity of sensory marketing studies in tourism results in insufficient research into the relationship between sensory marketing and the tourist experience, as well as the consequences of the tourist experience resulting from stimuli in the sensory environment. The reason for this is reflected precisely in the dynamism, intangibility and challenging measurement of the tourist experience, and the authors mostly limit themselves to descriptions of the dimensions of the tourist experience, singling out the sensory dimension as one of the significant ones, therefore the relationship between sensory marketing and the tourist experience remains insufficiently researched, which defines the research problem. Therefore, the main purpose of the doctoral thesis is to prove that through sensory marketing it is possible to influence the tourist experience of visitors to a tourist destination and their behavioral intentions. The main goal of the work, in accordance with the observed gap in the available scientific literature and recommendations for future research, is to develop a theoretical basis based on the theoretical and empirical findings so far and to create a valid and reliable conceptual model for assessing the impact of the implementation of sensory marketing on the affective and cognitive states of tourists and on the consequences of tourism experience, i.e. satisfaction with the tourist experience, destination attachment and tourist behavioral intentions. On the basis of previous research, a conceptual research model was formed and the following hypotheses were developed: H1: The perception of destination sensescape has a positive and statistically significant influence on the tourists' affective responses, H2: The perception of destination sensescape has a positive and statistically significant influence on the tourists' cognitive responses, H3: Tourists' affective responses have a positive and statistically significant influence on their satisfaction with the tourist experience, H4: Tourists' cognitive responses have a positive and statistically significant influence on their satisfaction with the tourist experience, H5: Satisfaction with the tourist experience has a positive and statistically significant influence on destination attachment, H6: Satisfaction with the tourist experience has a positive and statistically significant influence on the tourist's behavioral intentions. In order to test the conceptual model, a quantitative research was conducted. The survey method was used for data collection, and the form for data collection is a structured questionnaire designed on the basis of previous research and modified according to the needs of the research. Given that the measuring scales of the constructs were originally developed in English, they were therefore subjected to a content validity check performed by seven experts in the field of marketing and tourism, based on whose suggestions and comments the research instrument was improved. Furthermore, in order to check the content validity of the survey questionnaire, its clarity and comprehensibility, a pre-test was conducted on a sample of 48 respondents. The questionnaire was then translated into German and Italian with the help of one translator and three native speakers. After designing the survey questionnaire, it was tested through a pilot study on a purposeful random sample of 102 respondents in order to perform an analysis of the psychometric characteristics of the survey questionnaire, and the obtained results of the pilot study were used in the analysis of the results related to the assessment of the validity and reliability of the measuring instrument, after which shaped the final version of the survey questionnaire. The main quantitative research was conducted on a purposeful random sample of 429 respondents. Collected primary data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis methods. After conducting the quantitative research, an exploratory qualitative research was conducted. For these purposes of research, an interview method was used with 10 stakeholders in a tourist destination, and an effort was made to determine their attitudes and opinions on the knowledge of the concept of sensory marketing, the importance of the senses in the tourist experience and their influence on behavioral intentions, as well as the importance of the levels of application of the sensory marketing strategy. The processing of primary data collected through interviews was carried out using content analysis. The exploratory factor analysis of the pilot study determined the dimensionality of the scales, and the communality values of all particles within the constructs were above the limit. Also, common method bias was not established. Taking into account all the above, the main research was started using the same survey questionnaire as an instrument for data collection. Multivariate statistical analysis using structural equation modeling using partial least squares (PLS-SEM) was used to assess the validity and reliability of the measurement model, and it was determined that all indicators are reliable for further analysis, that there is a high level of reliability in the measurement of latent constructs, and that all variables agree with the construct. to which they are attached. Discriminant validity in this model was confirmed. By analyzing the higher-order constructs that are part of the reflective-reflective model, that is, by checking their reliability and convergent validity, it can be concluded that reliability and convergent validity have been confirmed for all constructs. Discriminant validity was confirmed by calculating the Fornell-Lacker criterion, while discriminant validity was confirmed for most constructs by calculating the Heterotrait-monotrait correlation ratio (HTMT). Given that the proposed model also consists of a formative construct of a higher order - the perception of destination sensescape, an assessment of the formative measurement model was carried out, i.e. its collinearity, significance and relevance of weight loads and discriminant validity. By checking the collinearity by calculating the coefficient of variation inflation (VIF), it was determined that there is no collinearity between the related constructs, which shows that the measurement is appropriate. Furthermore, in order to assess the contribution of each lowerorder construct to the formation of the higher-order construct, the weight values of the lowerorder constructs were calculated and it was observed that the hapticscape contributes the most to the formation of the perception of destination sensescape followed by the tastescape. Comparing research by Buzova et al. (2021) who developed destination sensescape index that was used in this research, the hapticscape represents the second construct that contributes the most to the formation of the construct sensescape in urban destinations, while the first refers to the visualscape, which differs from of this research. At the same time, the results of previous research on sensory marketing in the tourist context document visual impressions as the most prominent ones reported by tourists (Xiong et al., 2015; Lv et al., 2020; Kastenholz et al., 2020), while the visualscape in in this research, it is only in the third place of contribution in shaping the construct perception of destination sensescape. Another construct that contributes to shaping the construct perception of destination sensescape is the tastescape, i.e. the importance of local gastronomy in rural destinations, which in the research of Buzova et al. (2021) is in third place. These results differ from the results obtained by previous research conducted in natural environments (Agapito et al., 2014; Kastenholz et al., 2020). For example, an analysis of the content of rural tourists' reports on their sensory experience revealed that the second most frequently mentioned sensory category is the sense of hearing (Agapito et al., 2014). In this research, the soundscape contributes the least to shaping the construct perception of destination sensescape, which is also confirmed by the results of the research by Buzova et al. (2021). The smellscape as the penultimate construct that shapes the perception of destination sensescape is in accordance with the research of the author Buzova et al. (2021) in urban tourist destinations. After the assessment of the measurement model, which contained the relective-reflective model and the reflective-formative model, the structural model was assessed. The assessment of collinearity as the first criterion for evaluating the structural model was carried out by checking the internal variation inflation factors (VIF) of the latent constructs, and it was determined that there is no problem of collinearity between the latent constructs. The second step of evaluating the structural model is to examine the proposed links between the latent constructs in the structural model through the calculation of path coefficients, the values of which show that the strongest link established between the constructs is the perception of destination sensescape and affective responses (path coefficient - original sample = 0.746), followed by the link between satisfaction with the tourist experience and behavioral intentions (path coefficient – original sample = 0.720). By calculating the coefficient of determination (R²), which represents the proportion of the variance of the endogenous (dependent) variable that is explained by the independent (predictor) variables, it was observed that the constructs satisfaction with the tourist experience, affective responses, behavioral intentions show a significant relationship, while cognitive responses and destination attachment show a moderate relationship. The next criterion for evaluating the structural model is the influence size coefficient (f²), which is a measure used to assess the relative influence of an exogenous variable on an endogenous variable, and it shows that there are large influences of the variables and a moderate influence of the variable affective responses to the variable satisfaction with the tourist experience, the strongest influence has the variable perception of destination sensescape to the variable affective responses. By calculating the Q²predict value, which refers to the predictive validity of the model, i.e. how well the model can predict the values of the target variable in new, unseen data, values higher than the threshold were observed, and thus it can be confirmed that the model has a potentially useful predictive ability. The assessment of the structural model showed that there is no problem of collinearity between the latent constructs, that the strongest relationship established between the constructs is the perception of destination sensescape and affective responses, that there are mostly large influences of the variables and that the model has predictive ability. According to the data of the analysis of the structural model and the calculation of the path coefficient, t-value, p-value, it is finally concluded that all the hypotheses have been confirmed. In addition to the quantitative research, the results of the qualitative research conducted through personal structured interviews with stakeholders of the tourist offer and decision makers in rural tourist destinations indicate familiarity with the term sensory marketing (60%) and recognition of the importance of the senses (100%) when experiencing a tourist destination. However, they give the most importance to the sense of sight (60%), followed by the sense of taste (50%), all senses (40%), smell (30%), and hearing (10%) and touch (10%). It is clear that, unlike the results of the quantitative research, which showed that the sense of touch contributes the most to the perception of destination sensescape, the stakeholders in tourism believe that the sense of sight comes first. The sense of taste is in the second place of importance in qualitative research, and it occupies the same place in quantitative research, that is, the tastescape next contributes to the formation of the construct of perception of destination sensescape. Furthermore, all respondents recognize the importance of stimulating the activation of tourists' senses in a tourist destination for future behavioral intentions, and for the implementation of a sensory marketing strategy in a tourist destination, the majority of respondents see the responsibility of the tourist boards together with the stakeholders of the tourist offer. The research subject of this work is the research and assessment of a complex conceptual model of connectivity research and evaluation a complex conceptual model of the connection between the perception of destination sensescape, affective responses, cognitive responses, satisfaction with the tourist experience, destination attachment and behavioral intentions. Therefore, the research results of the doctoral thesis represent a contribution to the scientific field of social sciences, the field of economics, the field of marketing, the field of sensory marketing in a conceptual, methodological and applied sense. The scientific contribution of the conceptual part of the work is manifested in a systematic review of the literature and a critical analysis of previous conceptual and empirical research in the field of sensory marketing and tourist experience. At the same time, the contribution is visible in the design and testing of the conceptual model for measuring the connection between the perception of destination sensescape, the tourist experience and behavioral intentions, as well as in the adjustment of the measurement scales used to measure the basic constructs in the model and the testing of the relationship between the variables determined by the conceptual model. The scientific methodological contribution is manifested in the use of an innovative approach in the collection of data on the subject of research and their processing. The combination of qualitative and quantitative methods enabled a comprehensive understanding of sensory marketing and tourist experience and their connection from the point of view of tourists and decision makers in the destination. At the same time, the contribution is manifested in the adjustment of measurement scales for measuring the perception of destination sensescape, affective and cognitive responses, satisfaction with the tourist experience, destination attachment and behavioral intentions, testing of the conceptual model for determining the role of sensory marketing in the creation of the tourist experience, knowledge of the influence of the perception of destination sensescape on affective and cognitive responses, as well as on satisfaction with the tourist experience, destination attachment and behavioral intentions. In terms of application contribution, the results of the research inform meaningfully about the strategic directions that destinations can follow using sensory marketing to attract tourists, their satisfaction, attachments and recommendations in today's highly competitive tourism industry. At the same time, the contribution is visible in the practical knowledge of rural tourist destinations because previous empirical research was conducted in an urban tourist destination. The limitations of the research are visible in the selection of the research site, i.e. geographic limitation, time limitation because the research was conducted during the main tourist season, the disadvantages of using a survey questionnaire as a data collection technique (such as unintelligibility, length) and qualitative methods of data collection, i.e. interviews.