The Influence of Government Regulation on Tourist Motivation in Indonesia's Religious Tourism: The Mediating Role of Marketing Communication Strategies

Religious tourism is a significant economic sector in Indonesia, yet how government regulation and marketing communication jointly shape tourist motivation remains underexplored. Grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior, this study treats government regulation as an exogenous antecedent linked to perceived behavioral control and institutional credibility, and marketing communication as the proximal lever acting on attitudes and subjective norms. Government regulation was operationalized through policy implementation, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder engagement; marketing communication through advertising, publicity, word-of-mouth, on-site interpretation, and direct and interactive marketing; and tourist motivation through cultural interest, spiritual significance, and recreational opportunity. An online survey was completed by 402 non-pilgrim visitors who had visited an Indonesian religious heritage site in the previous 12 months; 81.9% reported one of five focal sites (Borobudur Temple, Istiqlal Mosque, Tanah Lot Temple, Uluwatu Temple, and Jakarta Cathedral). Ordinary least squares regression showed that government regulation predicted marketing communication ($\beta = 0.676$, $p < .001$), while marketing communication ($\beta = 0.385$) and government regulation ($\beta = 0.355$) both predicted tourist motivation, together explaining 45.8% of its variance. The Sobel test ($z = 7.02$, $p < .001$) and a 5,000-resample bootstrap (95% CI [0.183, 0.344]) indicated a significant indirect effect, with 42.3% of the total effect transmitted through marketing communication (partial mediation). Regulation is therefore associated with motivation along two routes: directly, through credible site conditions, and indirectly, through the communication environment. The study offers a TPB-informed account of sacred-heritage visitation and a replicable framework for multi-religious tourism destinations.