Antecedents of Rural Tourism Experience Memory: Tourists’ Perceptions of Tourism Supply and Positive Emotions

Abstract

Tourism experiences bring about physical or psychological feelings in tourists, which can not only leave tourists with deep memories, but also affect their behavioral intentions. Tourism experiences are meaningful only if they can be remembered and influence word of mouth and decision making. A better understanding of what influences tourism experience memory will help optimize the supply and further development of tourism destinations. This study explores the antecedents of rural tourism experience memory from the tourism supply perspective, revealing the mechanism of effect of these antecedents on tourists’ tourism experience memory formation through a questionnaire-based survey of 556 participants in Xidi Village, China, and correlation and multiple regression analyses. The results show that perceptions about the supply of rural tourism destinations trigger positive emotions that, in turn, affect the formation of rural tourism experience memory. Through the mediating role of positive emotions, there is a significant correlation between perception of rural tourism destination supply and the formation of rural tourism experience memories.