From Ritual to Memory: How Tea Tasting Ritual Interaction Creates Memorable Experiences in Tea Tourism Through Experiential Satisfaction and Meaning of Tea Tasting

ABSTRACT This study integrated ritual interaction framework with the concept of memorable tourism experience and adopted a mixed‐methods approach to explore how ritual elements can generate memorable tourism experiences in the context of tea tourism. By personal interviews, a 20‐item ritual interaction scale of tea tasting was developed, encompassing four dimensions. The results of structured equational modelling revealed that contextual elements, scripted processes, shared emotions and ritual symbols influence experiential satisfaction. Four dimensions of ritual interaction influence the meaning of tea tasting. Experiential satisfaction and the meaning of tea tasting help to develop memorable tea tourism experiences.