Determinants of Visitors' Revisit Intention to the Philippines' Creative Tourism Attractions

Abstract

Creative tourism has been a growing trend even before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is designed for small groups and is well-placed to contribute to post-pandemic tourism because it aligns with sustainable tourism and the growing focus on domestic tourism. However, a lack of literature focused on the visitors' consumption psychology of "creative tourism," implying a limited understanding of consumer revisits intention within the creative tourism setting. Studies on consumers' revisit intention are the tip of tourism development. There's still a literature gap on whether cultural and creative tourists are willing to revisit. Thus, more studies are required to understand the factors influencing consumers' intention to revisit creative tourism attractions. Focusing on the intention of creative tourism consumers will help the tourism supply-side bounce back during and after the pandemic. The researcher utilized a conceptual framework built on the Theory of Planned Behavior and the Experience Economy model. The quantitative study determined the effect of visitors' attitude, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and education, esthetic, entertainment, and escapism experiences on their revisit intention. The study area was the creative tourism attractions in Baguio City, Philippines, that offer the visitors activities that allow them to develop their creativity. The research participants who visited the creative tourism attractions were selected using a convenience sampling technique. Data collection was conducted from February to March 2021. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to the research respondents. A total of 145 valid responses were analyzed using SmartPLS 3. The study results showed that visitor's attitudes and perceived behavioral control had a significant and positive influence on their revisit intention. The visitors' subjective norms, education, esthetic, entertainment, and escapism experiences did not influence their revisit intention. Study results suggest that attempts to increase visitor revisit intention must positively alter visitors' attitudes toward visiting a creative tourism attraction. After visiting the creative tourism attraction, visitors must perceive it as enjoyable, meaningful, and attractive. Moreover, study results suggest that creative attraction managers must target creative tourists with high perceived behavioral control concerning visiting creative tourism attractions. Based on the demographic analysis, these visitors fall within the age group 22 to 40 years old, who are monthly income earners, and resides near the location of the creative tourism attractions. The present study contributed to filling the literature gap on "Creative Tourism" in the Philippines.