A Study on the Effect of Emotional Solidarity on Memorable Tourism Experience and Destination Loyalty in Volunteer Tourism

Abstract

Memorable tourism experience is regarded as an important concept in understanding tourists’ travel experiences; however, emotional solidarity toward local residents and its influence on volunteer tourists has not been studied in the field of volunteer tourism. To fill this research gap, this study proposes a theoretical model that integrates emotional solidarity (which consists of three dimensions: feeling welcomed, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding), with memorable tourism experience and destination loyalty. The results show that volunteer tourists’ perceptions of emotional closeness and sympathetic understanding with residents directly affect tourists’ loyalty to the destination. In particular, the relationships involving volunteer tourists’ feeling welcomed by residents, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding with residents, and destination loyalty were all mediated by memorable tourism experience. This study contributes to the revitalization of volunteer tourism by examining the impact of emotional factors developed with local residents on the tourism experience of volunteer tourists while visiting the area.