Destination experience and design: impacts on visitor satisfaction, engagement, and revisit intention

This study examines the effects of destination experience and perceived destination design on visitor satisfaction, engagement behavior, and revisit intention. While past research emphasizes satisfaction as a key factor for revisit behavior, this study also considers visitor engagement behaviors such as augmentation (e.g. social media posting), co-development (e.g. providing ideas), influence (e.g. peer recommendation), and mobilization (e.g. convincing/helping others). Data were collected from 1,500 domestic tourists to five Japanese coastal destinations. Using structural equation modeling, results show that visitor engagement has a stronger effect on revisit intention than satisfaction. Destination experience and perceived destination design significantly enhance visitor engagement, with destination experience also contributing to satisfaction.