Enhancing Memorable Experiences, Tourist Satisfaction, and Revisit Intention through Smart Tourism Technologies

Zabih-Allah Torabi,Ali Shalbafian,Beniamino Murgante,Amir Khavarian-Garmsir,Zaheer Allam,Zahed Ghaderi

doi:10.3390/su14052721

Abstract

Global connectivity facilitated tourism and redefined economic landscapes, highlight an interest in better understanding tourism retention factors. Today, in view of the global COVID-19 pandemic, this is made even more important as the world prepares to lift lockdown restrictions and to re-engage in cross border circulation; reiterating needs to understand tourism satisfaction and revisit intentions. This study thus sheds light on the predictors of tourists’ intention to the explorative and exploitative use of Smart Tourism Technologies (STTs) and memorable experiences in tourism destinations via an integrated model and a self-administered questionnaire—distributed among domestic tourists visiting Tehran—employing the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The results indicated that tourists’ attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control toward STTs had significant positive impacts on their explorative and exploitative intentions. Furthermore, tourists’ explorative/exploitative intention and perceived behavioral control exercised significant, positive effects on their memorable experiences. Finally, the results demonstrate that tourists’ memorable experiences significantly influence their satisfaction and intention to revisit smart destinations. This study expands existing literature by exploring a new model for enhancing memorable experiences and revisit intention using STTs, and presents findings applicable to the city of Tehran, while adopting a model which can be replicated in other geographies looking at better understanding its tourism landscape. Finally, the results in this study can be helpful for both researchers and policy makers in their quest to rejuvenate local post-pandemic economies via tourism measures.

Highlights

The use of Smart Tourism Technologies (STTs) in travel plans has surged over the past decade [1] with a majority of tourists selecting smart destinations for their trips [2].the use of STTs is no longer regarded as a secondary requirement but as a primary, critical component that will gain even more traction after the emergence of COVID-19, as economies prepare for easing lockdown restrictions [3]
The use of STTs is no longer regarded as a secondary requirement but as a primary, critical component that will gain even more traction after the emergence of COVID-19, as economies prepare for easing lockdown restrictions [3]
To address the existing gap in the literature, and capture the new developments prompted by dynamics such as COVID-19 and emerging health protocols, especially in regard to human interactions, the present study explored an integrated model describing the quality of memorable experiences and its impact on tourists’ satisfaction and revisit intention via the use of STTs

Summary

Introduction

The use of Smart Tourism Technologies (STTs) in travel plans has surged over the past decade [1] with a majority of tourists selecting smart destinations for their trips [2].the use of STTs is no longer regarded as a secondary requirement but as a primary, critical component that will gain even more traction after the emergence of COVID-19, as economies prepare for easing lockdown restrictions [3]. Gaming Sightseeing, tourists have the opportunity to virtually sample different products that different destinations can offer [4] Such technologies improve trip flexibility in destinations because tourists can instantly change their routes, their residential areas and/or transportation type [4,5]. An interesting emerging theme relevant to this study is that of memorable tourism experiences (MTE), relating to how tourists perceive their trip in a given locality. This is often equated to how tourists experience the authenticity and aesthetic appeal via: (1) the theme of the experience, (2) positive cues, (3) eliminating negative communication, (4) mix in memorabilia, and (5) accentuating the use of all the five senses [7,8].

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion