Tourist loyalty to hot springs destination: the role of tourist motivation, destination image, and tourist satisfaction

ABSTRACT Natural hot springs tourism is one of the least researched areas in tourism literature. This research aims to observe tourist loyalty to natural hot springs tourism through the roles of tourist motivation, destination image, and tourist satisfaction. A self-administered questionnaire was distributed to the respondents and a total of 404 valid responses were used for the analysis. The results show that all variables tested have positive and significant effects on tourist destination loyalty. Satisfaction is the most influential variable. Destination image does not directly affect loyalty, but it has a significant indirect effect through satisfaction. Tourist push motivation does not directly influence satisfaction; however, these two variables are indirectly and positively linked by destination image. These findings indicate that tourist satisfaction and the destination image are important variables that contribute to hot springs tourist destination loyalty. Therefore, destination managers should establish a higher tourist satisfaction level to sustain tourist loyalty.