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PurposeThis paper explores travel motivations and characteristics of European ecotourists who visit ecolodges in desert areas of Iran. It also evaluates 26 ecolodge attributes from the perspective of the European patrons.Design/methodology/approachDifferent methods were adopted for the aim of this study, comprising the importance-performance analysis technique and a questionnaire survey.FindingsA survey of 386 patrons in 12 selected ecolodges found that most European ecotourists were middle-aged to old adults (36–65 years old) and highly educated who traveled with their spouses or friends. Ecotourists generally stayed in ecolodges for 2–5 days to learn and explore nature and be in the wilderness and undisturbed nature. This study also showed that the ecolodges are successful to a large extent, yet they need to focus more on their services and facilities.Practical implicationsDue to the significance of international tourists for the economy, decision-makers and managers must learn about tourists' motivations and travel satisfaction to be able to compete against their rivals in the marketplace. The result of this study may help the owners and managers of ecolodges in desert areas understand the needs and priorities of European tourists.Originality/valueThis study expanded the existing literature of motivations and satisfaction of tourists in the ecolodge industry.

Social media has become a place where travelers express their emotions and record travel experiences. However, there has been little research on sharing travel experiences on social media and happiness. The purpose of this study is to understand why people share travel experiences on social media and is to propose a conceptual framework of the relationship between sharing travel experiences on social media and happiness. A systematic quantitative literature review method was applied to explore research trends in sharing travel experiences on social media. Specifically, from the SCOPUS database, a total of 120 articles were extracted followed by the PRISMA checklist. Then, they were coded with several categories, such as publication, keywords, the research contexts, and variables, and were finally exported to a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analyzed. Results of the systematic qualitative litterateur review suggest that sharing travel experiences on social media positively influences travel satisfaction and enhances travelers’ self-esteem and happiness. Theoretically, this study developed a new theoretical framework on the relationship between sharing travel experience on social media and happiness. In particular, the framework indicates that even though individuals motivation of sharing travel expediences are different, they may experiences either Hedonia or Eudaimonia by doing so. Results of this study also imply that social media could make practical functions such as advertising travel destination and monitoring current and potential travelers'' behaviors.

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate whether cultural intelligence will influence Chinese tourists’ travel satisfaction, revisit intention and word-of-mouth communication.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey was conducted to collect data from 614 adult Chinese tourists, who have overseas travel experiences. Then, the Statistics Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and the structural equation modelling (SEM) were employed for data analysis.FindingsThe findings confirm that cultural intelligence has significant positive impacts on tourist satisfaction, revisit intention and electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) communication. Additionally, tourist satisfaction significantly affects tourist eWOM communication.Originality/valueThis study provides theoretical and practical contributions regarding the effects of tourist cultural intelligence, especially on tourist post-travel evaluation and behavioural intention, which has been merely investigated in extant tourism research.

Tourism plays an important role in the economies of countries, which is evidenced by macroeconomic studies. However, analyses highlighted the need to do research on tourist expenditure and to identify factors at the microeconomic level. The article presents an overview of the extensively investigated and validated predictors of tourist expenditure and microeconomic modeling procedures used in their analysis. While two large sets of factors, i.e. economic and sociodemographic variables, have often been the subject of microeconomic modeling of tourist expenditures, variables which are related to the subject of expenditure have been taken into account insufficiently. The overview reveals the incompleteness of the tested models and in the literature the repeated recommendations to take into account the psychological variables which are missing in the models. The study describes the current state of defining and measuring psychological variables in tourism. Terms „psychographic variables“ and „psychological characteristics of a tourist“ are used for psychological variables in tourism research however, these were generally understood as respondents' current views on travel aspects, subjective evaluation of travel satisfaction, or as reasons for travel. As psychological variables in this study were considered the complex and relatively stable psychological characteristics of the person – personal values, personality and motivational system of the person as defined and measured in psychological science. Based on this, a conceptual model is developed which integrates economic, sociodemographic and psychological variables of expenditure and recommends procedures of its testing.

This study identifies the relationship between individual's travel and their perceived Quality of Life (QoL). We consider two variables for travel reflecting its objective/quantitative and subjective dimensions. The observed one is a measure based on public transport trip frequency and travel duration obtained from smart card data. The second is the perceived level of Travel Satisfaction which is obtained by survey data. This study is conducted in Shizuoka city, a mid-size city in Japan where we could obtain and link both data sets. We focus particularly on aging effects and therefore divide the data samples into three groups, non-elderly (less than 65 year), younger-old (65–74 years), and older-old (over 75 years). Older people show in general higher travel satisfaction. Regression analysis with travel satisfaction as dependent variable indicate the importance of travel opportunity for older-old. We then identify the relative importance of mobility on QoL considering both objective and subjective one and discuss transport policy implications for an aging society based on these results. The results provide support that public transport systems are determinants of its usage, travel satisfaction and eventually QoL. These relationships are most evident for younger-old but less significant for older-old.

This study used a mixed-method research design to investigate Chinese university students' perception of crowding during travel and the positive or negative affect crowding had on their satisfaction. It also explored the strategies Chinese student travelers adopted to cope with crowding during travel. The findings suggested that Chinese college students’ perception of crowding did not directly impact their travel satisfaction, but indirectly influenced satisfaction via positive and negative affect. As a result of crowding, most students adopted displacement and product shift as coping strategies.

This study explores whether, through parasocial interaction (PSI), trust in other travel community users drives travelers’ satisfaction with those communities as well as their travel experiences. I...

In order to transform urban transport systems to get a potentially healthier and happier travelling public, it is important to understand how people perceive different urban travel modes, since this can affect their travel satisfaction, health and well-being. These perceptions were explored for five transport modes (walking, cycling, car driving, using bus and using train), in four areas in Birmingham, UK. The areas were chosen to reflect differing levels of deprivation and public transport provision. Data were collected using a postal questionnaire, which included a ‘free associations’ methodology. Respondents had to write down the first three associations that come to mind when thinking about each of the five modes, and subsequently rated how positive or negative each association felt to them. Perceptions of all modes except car driving differed significantly across the four neighbourhoods. The level of deprivation seemed to play a particularly distinctive role, as did the availability of public (rail) transport. There were strong relationships between the perceptions of a transport mode and its use, and sometimes also the use of other modes. Exploring perception using a free associations methodology provides insights into the strengths and weaknesses of transport modes as perceived by citizens from different backgrounds, as well as their predisposition to change modes.

Previous studies indicate that travel satisfaction is affected by elements such as travel mode choice and trip duration. However, how people's satisfaction levels with travel adapt after changing their travel behaviour has not yet been analysed thoroughly. In this study we analyse travel satisfaction of 1650 respondents who recently relocated to selected neighbourhoods in the city of Ghent (Belgium), and therefore changed their daily travel patterns (i.e., commute and leisure trips). Based on a two-step approach, i.e., a factor analysis followed by a cluster analysis, respondents are segmented into four clusters based on their changes in travel behaviour after they moved. Results indicate that especially clusters with respondents that decreased travel distance and duration, and increased the use of car alternatives have high levels of travel satisfaction, for both commute trips and leisure trips. Respondents from these clusters also indicated the highest levels of travel satisfaction improvements. This study provides additional motivation for policy makers and urban planners to convince more people to relocate to urban areas, or for densification and land use mixing of existing neighbourhoods, as this will not only result in more sustainable travel patterns, but also in more satisfying travel patterns.

Given the growth of pop culture tourism, fans are recognized as an important destination market segment. This study applied self-expansion theory to examine if pop star fans' self-expansion was a significant motivation to seek fan club membership and lead to a positive relationship with their favorite pop star's country. South Korea pop star fans revealed that highly self-expanded fans were more likely to belong to fan clubs and to exhibit stronger group identity, higher travel satisfaction, and greater destination loyalty. The application of self-expansion theory offers a new theoretical perspective to understand pop star fans' psychological characteristics that affect their travel behaviors. By purposefully choosing pop star fans, the study makes a unique contribution with new insights regarding pop culture tourism fans. Destination marketing organizations should recognize pop star fans as potential loyal tourists and develop tailored travel products and services to capture this market.

Numerous studies – mainly since 2010 – have found that the chosen travel mode is related with how satisfied people are with their performed trips. A consensus has been found in that active travel results in the highest levels of satisfaction, while public transport users are usually least satisfied with their trips. However, evidence of why the use of various modes results in different levels of travel satisfaction is currently lacking. In this conceptual paper, I argue that the effect of travel mode on travel satisfaction might be overestimated, and that it is not so much the travel mode itself that affects satisfaction with travel, but whether the chosen travel mode is consistent with attitudes towards that mode. Furthermore, travel satisfaction might affect travel mode choice and travel attitudes more than vice versa. In this paper a new model is proposed reshaping the links between travel satisfaction, travel attitudes and travel mode choice. I underpin the suggested relationships with travel behaviour literature and psychological theories, draw parallels with (transport-related) residential self-selection, and reflect on the difficulties and possibilities of measuring this model. Finally, I focus on the implications of the proposed model on travel behaviour research.

As the only Bus Rapid Transportation (BRT) system public transportation in Jakarta, Indonesia, travel experience factors were important factor to enhance travel satisfaction and loyalty among passengers. However, travel experience is still rare to be tested among public transportation especially for BRT System Company. This study aims to test the travel experience factors (EF’s factors) such as individual space, information provision, staff’s skills, social environment, vehicle maintenance, off-board service, ticket line service, safety, and waiting time on travel satisfaction and customer loyalty. To test the hypotheses, this study employs Structural Equation Model-Partial Least Square with SmartPLS Version 3.0 among 294 passengers. The results shows that individual space, staff’s skills, vehicle maintenance, ticket line service are positively effect on travel satisfaction, then the travel satisfaction has positive influence on customer loyalty. Hence, social environment, off-board service, safety and waiting time have no influence on travel experience. The current findings suggest the government, and management of BRT to maintain the vehicle condition, improve the ticketing service use online system, recruit higher quality drivers, adding more staffs on-board, manage the schedule of buses, and adapt modern system of location. The society must also be educated to create conducive conditions during the travel trip. Keywords: BRT System Company; Customer loyalty, Partial Least Square, travel satisfaction, travel experience

Higher education institutions are recognised as settings where the community’s awareness of sustainable mobility can be strengthened or reshaped. The first objective of the present study was to identify groups of commuters based on their modal choice in a large higher education institution in Italy. The second objective was to compare the groups on socio-demographic and psychosocial variables, specifically attitudes, personal norms, personal constraints, and travel satisfaction. The cluster analysis revealed five different types of commuters: car-oriented, two-wheeled urban users, pedestrians, long-distance commuters, and regular bus users. Attitudes, personal constraints and norms, and satisfaction differed in the five groups of commuters. The present study provides insights for behavioural change programmes and organizational policies on sustainable mobility.

Although previous studies have explored how satisfied people are with their travel, the link with the built environment and available travel options is unclear. This research investigates whether travel options influence how commute time satisfaction relates to the built environment. First, profiles among commuters in terms of commute time satisfaction (CTS) and residential built environment (RBE) were identified by performing a cluster analysis using a large European sample with the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2013 survey. Following, whether travel options (mode availability) could inform differences among CTS-RBE profiles was investigated, while accounting for neighborhood characteristics and satisfaction with life and life domains, by performing logistic regression analyses. Travel options were found to indicate CTS-RBE profiles. This research supports the idea that travel options can affect the CTS-RBE relationship, and can therefore be useful to measuring and correcting travel option unavailability or travel captivity. The contributions of this study to the travel behavior field, in addition to being the first study to examine CTS, is important to urban planning and policy to not only identify the places in which travel options can be improved, but for whom.

Previous findings have established that satisfaction with public transport service quality attributes (reliability/functionality, information, courtesy/simplicity, comfort, safety) relate to overall travel satisfaction. Recent studies propose that the importance of these attributes for travel satisfaction varies in different contexts and call for new approaches for enhancing the understanding of these relationships. We address this call by using a configurational perspective and applying fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA), to explore how satisfaction with service quality attributes relate to high travel satisfaction. By analyzing user survey data before and after an intervention in public transport services in a Swedish city, we: 1) find that high travel satisfaction occurs in the interaction between service quality attributes; 2) identify different configurations of satisfaction with service quality attributes leading to high travel satisfaction; and 3) show how context alters overall travel satisfaction. We conclude that using a configurational approach is useful for understanding the complexity of travel satisfaction.

To promote the sustainable development of urban traffic and improve resident travel satisfaction, the significant factors affecting resident travel satisfaction are analyzed in this paper. An evaluation and prediction model for travel satisfaction based on support vector machine (SVM) is constructed. First, a multinomial logit (MNL) model is constructed to reveal the impact of individual attributes, family attributes and safety hazards on resident travel satisfaction and to clarify the significant factors. Then, a travel satisfaction evaluation model based on the SVM is constructed by taking significant factors as independent variables. Finally, travel optimization measures are proposed and the SVM model is used to predict the effect. Futian Street in Futian District of Shenzhen is taken as the object to carry out specific research. The results show that the following factors have a significant effect on resident travel satisfaction: age, job, level of education, number of car, income, residential area and potential safety hazards of people, vehicles, roads, environment, etc. The model fitting accuracy is 87.76%. The implementation of travel optimization measures may increase travel satisfaction rate by 14.07%.

The rapid advancement of smart tourism technology brings new opportunities for tourism development. More travel destinations are relying on smart technology to attract more tourists to visit and enrich their travel experience. The main purpose of this study was to explore whether tourists are satisfied with their smart tourism technology experience (i.e., informativeness, accessibility, interactivity, personalization, and security). This study also investigated the impact of smart tourism technology experience on tourists&rsquo, happiness and revisit intention. This study used a structural equation method to find the relationship among smart tourism technology attributes, travel satisfaction, happiness, and revisit intention. Surveys of a total of 527 participants who traveled to Macau from Mainland China were used for the analysis. The results showed that accessibility is the most important factor affecting the smart tourism technology experience and personalization the least. Smart tourism technology experience is shown to be significantly associated with travel experience satisfaction, and travel experience satisfaction has a positive effect on both tourists&rsquo, happiness and revisit intention. Finally, tourist happiness is also shown to be positively associated with revisit intention. This study provides theoretical and practical significance for the development of smart tourism in the future.

Our society is growing older and it is important to develop the senior tourism market. Consumers aged 55 and older are a fastest growing market segment and a major business opportunity. The purpose of this research is to develop and test a model to investigate the characteristics of the senior tourists that affect the factors of travel motivation and travel satisfaction. We intent to explore the existence of statistically significant differences in satisfaction between groups of senior tourists using the same categories. A path analysis is carried out in order to describe direct dependencies among a set of variables. In this study (n=537 senior tourists visiting the Azores islands) a model is proposed to identify the senior tourists’ characteristics which significantly affect each of the dependent variables (motivation factors and satisfaction) and which types of effects explain the association among variables. Travel satisfaction depends both on age group and perception of health status by the senior tourists. New opportunities can be found for both public and private sectors to develop and marketing new tourism products that can attract the right senior market segments. Projeto AÇORES-01-0145-FEDER-000044 – TU SÉNIOR 55+ “Turismo sénior e bem-estar no destino Açores: criação de um produto cultural”. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Contemporary research linking children’s daily travel with the psychological and cognitive domains of wellbeing is emerging. In this chapter, we explore these two domains of wellbeing by reviewing the literature to see how the domains are operationalized, and what the empirical findings claim. One major aim is to reflect upon where research has taken us, and to identify what future research needs to focus on. Findings show that psychological measures include a large palette of measurements, for example, mood, wellbeing (sometimes operationalized as life satisfaction or happiness), travel satisfaction, independency, and confidence, which are all related to travel. Measures related to the cognitive domain can be categorized as either academic achievement or cognitive abilities, also identified as being affected by travel. Only three studies were identified as capturing the relationship between travel and both domains of wellbeing. One conclusion which we draw is that, although the findings are still somewhat anecdotal and in need of replication, researchers in this emerging field have indeed acknowledged the importance of examining the psychological and cognitive domains of wellbeing when it comes to studying children’s everyday travel. We also find that the studies reviewed have applied a plethora of methods and measures, making it somewhat difficult to generalize the findings. We therefore emphasize that we must constantly ask ourselves if we are measuring the relevant factors, and if we are measuring them in a valid way.

Understanding the link between mode choice and travel satisfaction is essential for promoting sustainable travel by expanding utility theory to include also the eudaimonic value of travel. The study focuses on the hypothesis that more then it’s functional value of arriving from A to B, mode choice creates travel experiences that answer high-order needs such as relatedness, autonomy and competence. This study enhances the framework for representing travel mode choice by incorporating the model of human needs as the missing link between mode choice and travel satisfaction. By developing and analysing a large-scale survey from the Greater Copenhagen Area in Denmark, this study empirically proves that commuting mode choice relates to travel satisfaction by answering functional, relatedness and growth needs. The Greater Copenhagen area represents a region where transit, bicycle and car each have large modal shares, hence enabling to validate the approach in a multi-modal environment. Higher bicycle satisfaction relates positively to cycling self-concepts and self-efficacy and negatively to car self-concepts. Greater car use satisfaction increases with car self-concepts and transit use difficulties, and decreases with functional difficulties in car use and better cycling self-efficacy. Higher transit satisfaction mainly relates to experiencing difficulties with other modes. These insights can be used when formulating transport policies and prioritising resources aimed at achieving sustainable mobility patterns.

Over the past years a substantial amount of studies has indicated that travel satisfaction is affected by a wide range of elements such as trip duration, travel mode choice and travel-related attitudes. However, what is less explored is that this travel satisfaction is not only an outcome of travel-related preferences and choices, but that travel satisfaction can also be a predictor of travel-related components. In this conceptual paper we tend to fill the gaps in the existing − albeit rather fragmented − literature concerning travel satisfaction. We provide an overview of the elements explaining travel satisfaction, and possible outcomes of travel satisfaction, with a focus on (i) subjective well-being, (ii) travel mode choice, (iii) travel-related attitudes, and (iv) the residential location. Furthermore, we suggest a continuous cyclical process including the four above mentioned elements in which travel satisfaction plays an essential role; a process which can result in the formation of travel habits.

As the educational travel market is growing rapidly, it is fundamental to explore the role of international students in sustainable tourism. By improving the relationship between international students as tourists and local people, travel destinations can be easily recognized globally through promotion by international students. The aims of the current study were to identify important attributes of local people in developing rapport with international students during their travel experience and investigate the structural relationships among international students’ rapport with the local people, satisfaction with travel experiences and willingness to share their travel experiences online and offline. Data were collected from 220 international students currently studying in South Korea who have traveled to South Korea for the purpose of being international students. As a result of structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, among the sub-dimensions of the attributes of local people that international students met, physical attractiveness and displaying positive emotions positively influenced the rapport between international students and local people. On the other hand, helpfulness did not affect the rapport between local residents and international students. In addition, the rapport between local people and international students has positive effects on travel satisfaction and willingness to share travel experiences online and offline. Study findings also found that travel satisfaction has a significant positive impact on the willingness to share travel experiences online and offline. Therefore, theoretical and practical implications of these results are discussed.

Travel satisfaction refers to people’s evaluation of transport services and their experience during travel. This topic has recently become of increasing interest within the transportation research community. Previous studies on travel satisfaction have typically tried to understand the effects of trip-related objective attributes such as travel mode, travel time and travel cost on people’s travel satisfaction. The interpretation of these results may be biased if studies ignore people’s psychological dispositions such as mood and personality traits because these factors likely influence satisfaction ratings. The effects of travel attributes may then be confounded with omitted, but likely correlated, effects of personality and mood. The aim of this study is examine whether personality and mood are systematically related to travel satisfaction. More specifically, the direct and indirect effects of personality and mood on ratings of travel satisfaction of each trip stage are investigated using path analysis. Results show that mood directly influences travel satisfaction, while the effects of personality are both direct and indirect. It implies that studies of travel satisfaction that have ignored these factors may have reported biased effects of travel attributes on travel satisfaction.

Introduction The aim of the present study was to examine differences in public transport use, quality perceptions, and travel satisfaction and their relation to life satisfaction across five generations. Methods Self-report questionnaires (online or by phone) were collected from 3257 respondents (aged 16–90) with varying degree of public transport use, across five cities in northern Europe (Stockholm, Helsinki, Oslo, Copenhagen, Bergen). The data were analyzed in three steps: (i) explorative using Kruskal-Wallis Anovas, (ii) conceptual model testing using PLS-SEM, and (iii) analyses of generational differences regarding public transport quality dimensions, travel satisfaction and life satisfaction through Analyses of variance. Results In line with our hypothesis and previous research, we find that satisfaction with travel had a positive relationship with life satisfaction, showing once again the importance of acknowledging people's travel satisfaction. Levels of satisfaction linearly increased with generation, but the effect of travel on life satisfaction did not, thus indicating that travel satisfaction is equally important to all. Security/safety was furthermore an important quality attribute directly related to both satisfaction with travel and to life satisfaction. We observed, using multigroup analyses, that the youngest generations are very similar with respect to the importance of quality attributes. People in these generations also travel frequently and have active lifestyles, and are hence very dependent on the transport system. Conclusions It is concluded that, we need to improve travel experiences and emphasize secure and safe travel, especially for the young, as this is related to their life satisfaction.

IntroductionAn increasing number of studies in transportation research have recently focused on well-being and travel satisfaction. These studies argue that satisfaction with travel is an indicator of the trip's contribution to subjective wellbeing of the traveler. Although the attention on satisfaction with travel is increasing, relatively few studies have considered satisfaction with travel of children. As children's travel is strongly linked to distance and the built environment, they would be important additional considerations to such research. Therefore, this study looks into the household, built environment and trip characteristics influencing satisfaction with travel and mood among Dutch children attending primary school. Additionally, the study considers the mediating effect of parental safety perception on satisfaction with travel and the relationship between satisfaction with travel and mood.MethodsIn order to study these relationships, survey data were collected in the Netherlands from 660 children (7–12 years) and their parents. The data were analyzed using a path analysis.ResultsFindings show that parental safety perceptions are related to the age of the child, income, perceptions of neighborhood infrastructure and social cohesion. Satisfaction with school travel is higher when parental safety perception is higher, when it is sunny, when traveling with a friend and when traveling by bike when this is the favorite transport mode. Satisfaction with travel is related to children reporting a better mood.ConclusionThese insights can be used by policy makers to create safe school environments stimulating active travel, which in turn will improve satisfaction with travel, well-being and health among primary school-going children.

This study aims to explain how traveling affects the duration of happiness. As a result of analysis on data collected from 225 tourists in Korea through longitudinal measurements, life satisfaction and affect decreased in a negative slope. However, life satisfaction and affect had risen 15 days before travel and lasted for about 1 month after travel. This means that some factors concerning travel prevent hedonic adaptation and make happiness last longer. To understand the cause of inhibition of hedonic adaptation, an additional analysis was performed using the latent growth model. Travel satisfaction had a significantly direct effect on the change rate of life satisfaction after travel, and expectation and serendipity had a significantly indirect effect on the change rate of life satisfaction after travel, mediated by travel satisfaction. Thus, we provide evidence that travel experience reduces hedonic adaptation, and especially, expectation and serendipity are important for prolonging happiness.

Using a structural equation model, this article examines to what extent subjective well-being or life satisfaction is influenced by travel satisfaction. To avoid confounding, satisfaction with other life domains, personal characteristics and personality traits are included in the model. In addition, the reverse effect of well-being on travel satisfaction is considered. To collect the data needed to estimate the model, a survey was designed and administered face-to-face in January 2015 in Xi’an, China using a random sampling procedure. After controlling for personality traits and significant socio-demographic variables, results indicate that travel satisfaction has a relatively small impact on subjective well-being. The reverse relationship is considerably stronger.

This exploratory research has been developed to explore the international tourists’ satisfaction of an overseas travel experience by the influence of internet. In this study, four independent variables, namely “functional benefits”, “complexibility”, “perceived risks” and “costs” were being employed to determine the satisfaction level of 211 international tourists who were visiting Malaysia in between January to April, 2013. The research findings by multiple linear regression and logistic regression have indicated that all variables were significantly influencing their satisfaction except perceived risks. Although this research is preliminary in nature, it acts as a stepping stone for various travel and hospitality industry players, potential academicians and tourism researchers to study further on the importance of internet towards tourists’ decision making while selecting their vacation trips and determine their revisit intention in the long run. Besides, this paper would also provide some insightful information on how tourism industry in Malaysia should “serve” their customers based on the several significant dimensions as discussed in the paper.

Previous studies show that a superior tourist experience would lead to travel satisfaction and develop loyalty towards a destination. However, the role and influence of experience quality on tourist behavioural intentions have yet to be thoroughly scrutinized. This study aims at examining the experience quality of Pangkor Island tourists and its effect on their satisfaction and destination loyalty. This research applied the convenience sampling method whereby the survey data were collected conveniently from the tourists visiting Pangkor Island. The data obtained were examined via Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The structural model assessment proposed that the natural attraction of Pangkor Island, the local behaviour, destination value, safety and cleanliness influence the tourists' satisfaction and destination loyalty. This study contributes to a better understanding of how the quality of tourist experience affect their behavioural mechanisms: travel satisfaction and destination loyalty. The research findings contribute to the literature on island tourism and enrich the existing knowledge of experience quality components and their effect on tourists’ satisfaction and destination loyalty.Keywords: Destination loyalty, experience quality, Pangkor Island, satisfaction, Tourist. Cite as: Hanafiah, M. H., Jasmi, A. F., Razali, A. H. M., & Sulaiman, M. S. (2019). The structural relationships of experience quality, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: The case of Pangkor Island, Malaysia. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 4(1), 186-210. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol4iss1pp186-210

Purpose of the paper: The study aims to develop a theoretical framework to analyze tourist loyalty relative to choice of destination. Methodology : The research model proposed is tested by means of an empirical study conducted on a sample of students who travel regularly for pleasure or leisure. To verify reliability relative to the measurement model, a confirmatory factor analysis was carried out. The path analysis was conducted using a structural equation model (SEM). Findings : The paper confirms the hypothesis that in addition to traditional motives of push and pull, tourist fidelity is also influenced by commitment. Research Limits : The main limitation is the sample population, in that it is not representative of all tourist segments. Practical implications : The paper helps organizations, managers and politicians to better manage tourist services and tourist destination offer, in particular with respect to actions to put in place relative to destination and communication models. Originality of the paper: The work attempts to integrate various models in order to study tourist fidelity, in particular incorporating and combining in the model of push (internal) and pull (external) factors the theory of commitment.

The extensive literature has consistently acknowledged the central role of services in travel satisfaction and behaviors (Pritchard and Howard 1997). Yet, there remains a scarcity of research examining the drivers of tourist travel experience as well as the outcomes of this experience. In fact, there is a paucity of empirical research investigating the linkage between various destination services and travel experience, especially in gaming destinations. This gap in research has limited scholars and practitioners alike in advancing tourism and hospitality theories, especially when we are moving toward an experience economy as some researchers suggest (Pine and Gilmore 1998). If services are the key ingredients in tourism and drivers for tourist travel experience, the linkage between destination services and travel experience deserves more attention.

Tourism is one of the main income generator for the Singapore’s economy. Since China is the second largest tourist group to Singapore in the past 15 years which is due to the newly middle class and the appreciation of Chinese Yuan, this study attempts to explore the market potential by understanding Chinese tourist’s repeat visit intention. A sample of 192 Chinese tourists is collected at Singapore Chiang International Airport to study eight selected satisfaction attributes using systematic random sampling techniques. The mean scores indicate that all attributes are above the average. In addition, transportation and environment/safety are tied as the most satisfactory attribute. Further, a logistic regression model identifies which attributes lead the Chinese tourists’ likelihood to revisit Singapore. Three attributes entailing lodging, attraction and environment and safety, are significant. The managerial implications are also discussed.

Subjectively experienced well-being has recently attracted increased attention in transport and mobility studies. However, these studies are still in their infancy and many of the multifarious links between travel behaviour and well-being are still under-examined; most studies only focus on one aspect of this link (i.e. travel satisfaction). In this paper, we give an overview of studies concerning travel and well-being, focusing on results, methods and gaps in present research. We suggest that travel behaviour affects well-being through experiences during (destination-oriented) travel, activity participation enabled by travel, activities during (destination-oriented) travel, trips where travel is the activity and through potential travel (or motility). The majority of empirical studies to date have been based on hedonic views of well-being, where pleasure and satisfaction are seen as the ultimate goal in life. They have paid little attention to eudaimonic views of well-being, which emphasise the realisation of one's true potential, although this form of well-being can also be influenced by travel behaviour. We also argue that longer-term decisions, such as residential location choices, can affect well-being through travel. Travel options differ between different kinds of neighbourhoods, which can result in different levels of (feelings of) freedom and consequently different levels of subjective well-being. Since studies at present only show a subset of the travel behaviour–well-being interactions, we conclude the paper with an agenda for future research.

The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the impacts of the Internet on travel satisfaction and ultimately the overall sense of well-being and/or quality-of-life (QOL). This chapter suggests overall life satisfaction as an operationalized dependent variable to measure an individual’s sense of well-being and QOL, and satisfaction in need constructs as an independent variable. Two conceptual models are proposed to explore the impacts of the Internet on travel satisfaction and overall life satisfaction. The first model focuses on the Internet role when it is considered as a tool for travel planning at a pretrip stage, and the second model focuses on the Internet role when it is considered as a social platform on a Web 2.0 environment where people share travel information after a trip, communicate, and socialize with others. Two significant roles of the Internet in satisfaction formation and satisfaction modification are found. In terms of satisfaction formation, the greater amount of transparent and reliable information collected through the Internet at the pretrip stage helps individuals adjust expectations to be realistic, and the realistic expectation leads to reduce the negative satisfaction disconfirmation and maintain a higher level of satisfaction. In terms of satisfaction modification, postconsumption experiences at the social platform reconstruct previous memories and accordingly modify satisfaction. The modified satisfaction eventually influences overall life satisfaction.