Exploring Tourist Behavior in Active Sports Tourism: An Analysis of the Mediating Role of Emotions and Moderating Role of Surfing Identification

Abstract

Despite increased attention toward sports tourist experiences, the concept of natural soundscapes and memorable tourism experience (MTE) are under-researched topics of study in sports tourism literature. This study explores the structural relationship between natural soundscapes, MTE, emotions, and destination loyalty in the context of active sports tourism. Furthermore, it investigates the mediating effects of emotions between “natural soundscapes and destination loyalty” and “MTE and destination loyalty” and examines the moderating effects of surfing identification on the relationships between “natural soundscapes and destination loyalty,”“MTE and destination loyalty,” and “emotions and destination loyalty.” The results indicate that there is a positive impact of (a) natural soundscapes on emotions and destination loyalty, (b) MTE on emotions and destination loyalty, and (c) emotions on destination loyalty. Moreover, emotions were found to partially mediate the aforementioned relationships and surfing identification moderated the aforementioned paths. Positioning natural soundscapes as a novel active sports tourism attractor and emphasizing the importance of MTE and emotions as important antecedents of sporting destination loyalty, when sports tourists were interested and partook physically and actively in sports, the aforementioned relationships were stronger. This study presents the theoretical and managerial implications of these results.