Factors that affect the reason for visiting a tourist destination: the case of Mindo - Ecuador

Abstract

Tourism is one of the sectors of high interest in academic studies after the COVID-19 pandemic, which also affected Latin American countries. Hence, the importance of researching tourist destinations. Therefore, this document aims to find out the influence that general services, hotel services and restaurant services have on the intention of tourists to visit a destination. A structured questionnaire was applied to a sample of 220 Ecuadorian tourists, while visiting the tourist destination of Mindo in Ecuador. The hypothesized relationships were tested through the structural equation modelling (SEM) using the statistical software SmartPLS. The empirical study guarantees that general services influence the satisfaction of lodging and gastronomy services that tourists experience in the destination. In turn, general services through hotel services impact the motivation of tourists to visit the destination again. Meanwhile, the catering services do not affect tourists to return to the destination. It is concluded that in destinations with recreational environments and extraordinary natural spaces, gastronomy is not among the main reasons for visiting a tourist destination.