Open Access

Understanding Memorable Tourism Experience: Long-Term Memory System and Revisit Intention

Danni Wang
Danni Wang
, 
Adrienne Tingyao Liu
Adrienne Tingyao Liu
 and 
Catherine Cheung
Catherine Cheung
   | Jan 31, 2024
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Article Category: Research Article
Published Online: Jan 31, 2024
Page range: 125 - 141
Received: Jun 07, 2023
Accepted: Aug 16, 2023
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2023-0011
Keywords
© 2023 Danni Wang et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Figure 1:

Research Methodology
Research Methodology

Figure 2:

Retrieval of MTEs by the Long-Term Memory System (Modified from Tung et al., 2017)
Retrieval of MTEs by the Long-Term Memory System (Modified from Tung et al., 2017)

j.ejthr-2023-0011.apptab.002

Theme I: Attraction and Atmosphere Impressiveness

Destinations: Lake District, London, Penzance, Highlands, Cotswolds, Edinburgh, Glasgow, York, Cornwall, Weymouth, Grassholm, Bristol, Swansea, etc.

Features: forest, lake, stone city, architecture, beach, museum, castle, cathedral, exhibition, animal farm, festival, fireworks, sea, sky, etc.

Memorable Scenes: Rainy day in the Highlands, Ancient and traditional architecture in Edinburgh, Llama farm near Sheffield, Interior design of York Cathedral, Stone houses in Cotswolds, etc.

Emotions: fresh, clean, rural, unique, historical, distinctive, novel, sunny, traditional, typical, quiet, isolated, beautiful, blue, rainy, modern, aged, windy, lively, indulged, exotic, decent, touristy, niche, diverse, similar, disappointed, etc.
Theme II: Activities and Events Engagement

Christmas market

Christmas service in the cathedral

Football match

Balloon festival

New Year fireworks

Sunset with white houses

British afternoon tea (British Museum and library-themed cafe)

British food (black pudding, Yorkshire pudding, etc.)

Cycling by the beach in Swansea

Lodging inside the Lake District

Countless collections in the British Museum

Emotions: meaningful, free, romantic, lazy, surprised, amazed, unforgettable, easy life, slow, expensive, cheap, tasteless, boring, interesting, self-beneficial, exclusive, special, rare, extraordinary, vivid, long-lasting, grand, rocked, thrilled, etc.
Theme III: Relationship and Friendship Development

Communication with the local people

Travel with unfamiliar people

Cooking at Airbnb with travel partners

Happy moments with friends

Walking long distances with luggage and girlfriend

Family traveling together

Dinner with Airbnb host

Lifestyles of local people

Emotions: happy, connected, friendly, tired, stress relief, relaxed, full rest, away from normal life, relieved, warm, comfortable, valuable, familiar, closer, etc.

Revisit Intention to MTE Destinations (Binary Logit Model)

Independent variables Revisit intention to MTE destinations (n = 151) VIF
Constant 1.105**
MTE factors (odds ratio)
Relationship and Friendship Development 0.77* (1.464) 1.158
Attraction and Atmospheric Impressiveness −0.017ns (0.983) 1.027
Activity and Event Participation 0.094ns (1.099) 1.021
Recollection and Vividness of Experience 0.442** (1.556) 1.060
Demographic and travel characteristics (odds ratio)
Male 0.339ns (1.404) 1.072
Length of MTE trip 0.160** (1.173) 1.023
Frequent travellers (once a week during the study time) −1.444* (0.236) 1.047
Experienced COVID-19 pandemic when studying in the UK 0.626ns (0.535) 1.188
26 to 30 years old −0.551ns (0.576) 1.199
−2 log likelihood (full model) 148.366
Nagelkerke’s pseudo-R-square 0.163
Chi-square 18.531**

j.ejthr-2023-0011.apptab.001

Characteristic Frequency
Gender
  Male 8
  Female 15
Age
  20–25 9
  26–30 11
  31–35 3
Occupation
  Full-Time Work 17
  Others 6
Current Marital Status
  Single 16
  Married 6
  Unrevealed 1
Level of Program attended (Cumulative)
  High School and Foundation 3
  Undergraduate 9
  Postgraduate 23
Average Year of Study in the UK 2.6
Average Year after leaving the UK 2.3

Participant Profile (n=184)

Demographic Characteristics Frequency %
Age
  18–20 1 0.5
  21–25 38 20.7
  26–30 88 47.8
  31–35 46 25.0
  36–40 5 2.7
  41–45 6 3.3
Gender
  Female 125 67.9
  Male 59 32.1
Marital Status
  Single 117 63.6
  Married without child(ren) 28 15.2
  Married with child(ren) 35 19.0
  Divorced 4 2.2
Occupational Status
  Full-time employment 164 89.1
  Study 10 5.4
  Unemployed 10 5.4
Travel Frequency During Study Time
  Once a week 8 4.3
  Once every 2 to 3 weeks 30 16.3
  Once a month 40 21.7
  Once every 2 to 3 months 61 33.2
  Once every 4 to 6 months 29 15.8
  Once every 6 to 12 months 11 6.0
  Once a year or more than a Year 5 2.7
Length of the MTE trip (n = 176 with 8 missing values)
  Weekend trips (3 days or less) 66 37.5
  Short trips (4–7 days inclusive) 83 47.2
  Vacations (8–15 days inclusive) 20 11.4
  Longer period leave (more than 15 days) 7 4.0
Travel companion of MTE trip(s)
  Solo 16 8.7
  With partners 17 9.2
  With family members 9 4.9
  With friends 83 45.1
  With schoolmates 59 32.1

Factor Development by Principal Component Analysis (n=184)

MTE Factors Factor Loadings
Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 Factor 4
Relationship and Friendship Development
I enjoyed the trip very much because I was with a wonderful group of travellers. c 0.873
The trip enhanced my existing bonds with my travel companions. c 0.851
I highly enjoyed the comradeship amongst my travel companions during the trip. c 0.814
It was an unforgettable trip for my travel companions and I. a 0.801
I met friendly people during the trip. a 0.770
I always mention this trip with my travel companions until now. a 0.665
I made friends with my travel companions or other people in this trip. a 0.634
Attraction and Atmospheric Impressiveness
I learned a lot about the UK from what I saw on this trip. a 0.776
I saw awe-inspiring landscapes. b 0.772
The destination(s) had typical British features. a 0.756
The destination(s) had unique characteristics, which I could not find in other places. a 0.700
I visited the places where I wanted to go. c 0.619
The destination(s) was safe and clean. a 0.618
Activity and Event Participation
I attended interesting and special events in the destination(s). b 0.802
I closely experienced actual local cultures from the activities.c 0.777
I attended activities that I cannot usually participate in in my mundane life. b 0.762
I could immerse myself in local festivals and other cultural ceremonies. c 0.722
I engage in activities that I wanted to do. c 0.615
Recollection and Vividness of Experience
I still remembered the scenario of that event or activity I went to. a 0.820
The event or activity I attended provided me various emotions and memories. a 0.735
The event or activity was meaningful to me. a 0.719
The event I attended was an unforgettable experience. a 0.686
The event or activity was exclusive to the destination(s). a 0.672
Eigenvalue 9.192 3.133 1.965 1.109
% variance explained 20.263 16.486 15.295 14.909
Cronbach’s alpha 0.905 0.848 0.879 0.882
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