Journey of the soul: participants’ event experience satisfaction, and psychological well-being during a Pilgrimage tourism event

Religious tourism events are becoming an increasingly significant and diverse segment within the global tourism industry. This study explores pilgrim event experience constructs by adopting the Centre for Health Promotion (CHP) model within pilgrimage events. Building upon the bottom-up spillover theory, this article examines the theoretical relationships among participants’ pilgrimage event experience, event satisfaction, psychological well-being, and behavioral intention. The research confirmed the applicability of the CHP model and bottom-up spillover theory in the context of pilgrimage tourism events. Furthermore, the results suggest that the pilgrimage event experience indirectly contributes to individuals’ psychological well-being, offering event organizers insights into attracting more participants by emphasizing non-religious factors and promoting well-being.