The role of emotional experience and destination image on ecotourism satisfaction

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of the emotional experience (EE) and the image of the tourist destination on the satisfaction of the domestic tourist and his behavioral intentions, represented through the word of mouth (WOM) and his revisit intention. Design/methodology/approach The information obtained through a personal survey to 382 local tourists was refined and subjected to structural equation analysis. Analyses conducted with SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20 software confirmed the existence of interesting significant relationships. Findings The results show that positive destination image and different experiences are considered to be the main elements that promote positive emotions and satisfaction for tourists, leading to a higher eagerness to spread WOM recommendations and to revisit a destination. The results also verify that interactions with the difficult-replacement services and with residents create strong positive EEs for female visitors, so that they are more willing to revisit a destination than males. Research limitations/implications Eco-destination managers should provide more difficult-replacement services and create an enjoyable and unique experience for tourists to enhance their satisfaction and positive behavioral intentions. Originality/value The results provide some important implications and insights about the marketing theory groundwork of EE and satisfaction, such as how they are to be conceptualized and established and how interactive relationships are formed among them in the ecotourism context.