THE IMPACT OF SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC FACTORS ON TOURISM EXPERIENCE: THE ROLE OF SENSE OF PLACE, MEMORABILITY, AND AUTHENTICITY

Tourists’ satisfaction and post-travel experiences are impacted by sense of place, memorability and authenticity. These concepts have been thoroughly studied, but not from a socio-demographic perspective. The present study contributes to the growing literature regarding sense of place, memorability, authenticity and destination satisfaction in the context of socio-demographics (age, income, and gender). This paper employed a survey using a sample of 648 respondents. Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney and Linear Regression were applied. Findings show that sense of place varies according to age, with younger people more prone to develop ties with visited place. Memorability differs according to income and gender, where women tend to have a more memorable tourism experience. Authenticity differs according to gender and income, with women and high-income groups reporting higher authenticity; lastly, destination satisfaction variations were present across gender and income groups. In addition, regression results showed that sense of place, memorability and authenticity have a positive influence on tourist destination satisfaction. These findings contribute to travel experiences studies by integrating a sociodemographic context into destination satisfaction.