Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of the emotional experience (EE) and the image of the tourist destination on the satisfaction of the domestic tourist and his behavioral intentions, represented through the word of mouth (WOM) and his revisit intention. Design/methodology/approach The information obtained through a personal survey to 382 local tourists was refined and subjected to structural equation analysis. Analyses conducted with SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20 software confirmed the existence of interesting significant relationships. Findings The results show that positive destination image and different experiences are considered to be the main elements that promote positive emotions and satisfaction for tourists, leading to a higher eagerness to spread WOM recommendations and to revisit a destination. The results also verify that interactions with the difficult-replacement services and with residents create strong positive EEs for female visitors, so that they are more willing to revisit a destination than males. Research limitations/implications Eco-destination managers should provide more difficult-replacement services and create an enjoyable and unique experience for tourists to enhance their satisfaction and positive behavioral intentions. Originality/value The results provide some important implications and insights about the marketing theory groundwork of EE and satisfaction, such as how they are to be conceptualized and established and how interactive relationships are formed among them in the ecotourism context.

Highlights

  • The declaration of the United Nations “International Year of Ecotourism” in 2002 contributed to sustainable ecotourism development (Ebsco, 2009)

  • The results show that gender differences have an influence on EE, satisfaction level and word of mouth (WOM)

  • Recent research efforts have shown a strong interest in exploring the role of experiences in enhancing satisfaction and promoting behavioral intentions in the tourism context (Maroofi and Dehghan, 2012)

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Summary

Introduction

The declaration of the United Nations “International Year of Ecotourism” in 2002 contributed to sustainable ecotourism development (Ebsco, 2009) It is the biggest and most proliferate industry, accounting for 10% of the world’s gross domestic product, 7% of the global tourism market and is responsible for 10% employment overall (UNWTO, 2018). Ecotourism is derived from the available potential of the region by using the natural landscape to provide unique and interesting activities such as rice field plowing, rice transplanting, buffalo riding, lychee picking, crab fishing and participate in art performances with indigenous people. All these opportunities have created unique values for Hoi An, attracting a large number of both domestic and international tourists

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