Wellness tourism experience, well-being, and loyalty relationship

Changes in healthcare and individuals' growing awareness of health issues have led to the development of a wellness philosophy. These developments are also influencing individuals' travel behaviour in terms of protecting and improving their health and increasing their well-being. As a result of these individuals choosing businesses that offer health-related services for their holidays, wellness tourism has begun to develop. At this point, questions regarding how tourists who have experienced wellness tourism evaluate their well-being and how this affects their loyalty have become important in terms of wellness tourism marketing. Based on these questions, the aim of this study is to examine the impact of the wellness tourism experience on well-being and how this affects tourist loyalty within the framework of top-down and bottom-up theories. Additionally, another aim of this study is to examine the role of leisure satisfaction in the relationship between tourists' wellness tourism experience and their well-being. The convenience sampling method, one of the quantitative research methods, was used in the study. A total of 320 surveys were obtained by reaching individuals who had previously received services from wellness hotels in Türkiye via social media through an online survey application. The data obtained from the participants were analysed using the PLS-SEM technique. The analyses revealed that the wellness tourism experience and the entertainment and physical experience dimensions of this experience had a significant effect on tourist well-being. Furthermore, it was observed that well-being had a positive effect on tourist loyalty. In addition, it was concluded that leisure satisfaction played a mediating role between the wellness tourism experience and tourist well-being. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications for the literature, decision-makers and the tourism sector were presented.