Investigating the Leisure Behavior in Iranian Trekking Tourists: The Structural Model of Serious Leisure, Travel Intention and Place Attachment.

The present study aimed to examine the effect of serious leisure on travel intention and place attachment among Iranian trekking tourists. The participants of the study were the trekking tourists of Mount Tochal that stayed at least 12 nights a year in this mountain resort. PASS software was used to determine the sample size of the study. Finally, 275 people participated in the present study. The questionnaires of serious leisure, travel intention, and place attachment were used to collect the data. The descriptive and inferential statistical methods were applied to analyze the data. The results showed that serious leisure and place attachment can predict approximately 24% of the changes in travel intention. Therefore, place attachment is one of the important factors to increase the travel intention of individuals for leisure activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]