Ecotourist revisit intent: predicting visit intentions for sustainable travel experiences

Today tourist destinations are facing the pressure of accommodating travellers. Ecotourism, an alternative to mass tourism, may turn out to be a solution to this problem. Though the potential of ecotourism may look lucrative, however, it is important to know whether consumers or takers of this form of tourism exist, and if they do, then what are their motivations. In this regard, an attempt has been made to understand the demand for ecotourism in emerging economies. Motivation as the driving force behind the decision-making process is used as a determinant to predict future visit intention. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted on 389 responses to find out latent motivational factors. The result of the study revealed eight factors viz. 'nature', 'culture', 'freedom/relaxation', 'adventure', 'simple-lifestyle', 'learning', 'shopping' and 'novelty'. Further, these factors were used to predict future visit intention using discriminant analysis.