The Role of Customer Delight, Engagement, Experience and Place Identity on Revisit Intention in the Tourism Sector in the Western Province, Sri Lanka

Abstract

This study examines the impact of factors such as Customer satisfaction, Customer delight, Engagement, Memorable experiences and Place identity on visitors' Revisit intention in tourism sector of the Western Province, Sri Lanka, which is a key component of sustainable tourism. Tourists are more inclined to plan further visits when they are thrilled by interesting activities, meaningful encounters that are consistent with Place Identity. This study emphasizes the importance of these elements in encouraging repeat visits, ethical tourism, and supporting the longterm sustainability of the location and provides a comprehensive understanding of how these elements impact the overall growth of the tourism industry in Sri Lanka. The objectives of the study are to investigate the levels of Customer Delight (CD), Customer Engagement (CE), Customer Experience (CX), Place Identity (PI) & Revisit Intention (RI) in tourism Sector in the Western Province, to identify the relationships between CD, CE, CX, PI & RI, evaluate the impact of CD, CE, CX, PI on RI & the fourth objective is to evaluate how CX & Pl mediate the relationship between CE & RI. Based on the literature review, this research establishes a conceptual framework for investigating the relationships among Customer delight, Engagement, Experience, Place identity, Revisit intention, and impacts on each other. Primary data were collected through a well-structured questionnaire from 400 local and foreign tourists in Western Province by using the convenience sampling method. This study has used univariate (descriptive), bivariate (correlation), multivariate (regression), and mediation analysis to achieve the objectives. The findings of the study reveal that there are significant relationships among the variables and a significant impact of Customer delight, Engagement, `Experience and Place identity on Revisit intention. Moreover, Customer experience and Place identity partially mediate the relationship between Customer 84 SEUSL SEUSL Journal of Marketing, Vol. X, No.1, 2025 ISBN 2513 – 3071 Page Number 84 -102 engagement and Revisit intention in the tourism sector. Overall, this research contributes to the existing knowledge by examining the critical role that Customer delight plays in the tourism industry, facilitating successful interactions.