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Tourist motivation and place attachment: the mediating effects of service interactions with hotel employees |
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| Authors: | Girish Prayag Craig Lee |
| Institution: | 1. Department of Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship, University of Canterbury Business School, Te Kura Umanga University of Canterbury, Christchurch 8140, Private Bag 4800, New Zealand;2. Department of Tourism, University of Otago, Dunedin 9054, POBOX 56, New Zealand |
| Abstract: | Using social facilitation theory, this study evaluates the mediating effects of service interactions with hotel employees on the relationship between tourist motivation and place attachment. The moderating effects of nationality and hotel star-rating on these relationships are also examined. The overall model tested on a sample of 545 international visitors to the island of Mauritius showed that service interactions mediated the relationship between tourist motivation and place attachment. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) multi-group analysis found that the relationships among the constructs differed according to tourists’ nationality and the hotels’ star rating. The findings have important implications for hotel managers and destination marketing and management. |
| Keywords: | Tourist motivation service interactions place attachment hotel employees star rating Mauritius tourist nationality PLS-SEM multi-group analysis hotel management |