Determinants of Revisit Intention to a Hot Springs Destination: Evidence from Taiwan

Abstract

This study develops a structural model for understanding the effects of destination personality, cuisine experience and psychological well-being on tourists' revisit intentions to a hot springs destination. An on-site questionnaire was administered to 315 Taiwanese tourists at Bei-Tou hot springs. The results indicated that destination personality, cuisine experience and psychological well-being were important determinants of revisit intention. In addition, ‘health’ was the strongest dimension for cuisine experience, and ‘healthy’ was the dominant dimension for destination personality. The findings suggest that future efforts to understand the revisitation decision-making process should consider tourists' aspirations for the pursuit of health. Implications for theory and practice are provided.

Keywords:

• health tourism
• hot springs
• cuisine experience
• psychological well-being
• destination personality
• revisit intention

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by the National Science Council of the Republic of China, Grant No. NSC 97-2410-H-035-003-MY2.