Understanding of cultural heritage tourists' emotional experiences: How place attachment and satisfaction determine behavioral intentions

Comprehensive literature recognizes the importance of emotions in tourism and hospitality; however, cultural heritage destinations (CHDs) have received less empirical attention. This study explores tourists' emotional experiences in predicting recommendation intentions via place attachment and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hanliang Li, Sughra Bibi, Shahida Kanwel, Asif Khan, Bahar Hussain
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-09-01
Series:Acta Psychologica
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825007425
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Summary:Comprehensive literature recognizes the importance of emotions in tourism and hospitality; however, cultural heritage destinations (CHDs) have received less empirical attention. This study explores tourists' emotional experiences in predicting recommendation intentions via place attachment and satisfaction at cultural heritage destinations by using the theory of tourism consumption systems. This study was operationalized using data collected from 499 international tourists who visited the World Heritage Site of Jaulian Taxila. We applied confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling to analyze the structural and mediation relationships. Emotions of joy, love, and positive surprise show a direct positive influence on place attachment, satisfaction, and recommendation intentions. Positive surprise has a stronger partial indirect influence on recommendation intentions than others via place attachment. The emotion of joy reveals higher indirect partial impacts on recommendation intentions to CHDs than others via satisfaction. This research makes theoretical contributions to CHD's literature and enriches positive psychology horizons. Theoretical and practical implications for practitioners are provided for enhancing visitations to CHDs.
ISSN:0001-6918