Abstract
In the field of tourism, authenticity, because of its close link to the tourism experience, has recently been considered a factor favouring an increased quality of life for tourists. Despite this, little is known about the link between authenticity and quality of life. The main objective of this study was to determine, in the context of nature-based tourism experiences, to what extent authenticity perceived by tourists during their tourism experience contributes to increasing their quality of life and how these perceptions of quality of life differ for first-time and repeat visitors. Using a sample of 172 tourists who have participated in international nature-based tourism experiences and the Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) technique, the effect of constructive and existential authenticity on quality of life was assessed. The results revealed that existential authenticity influences quality of life and, in turn, mediates the relationship between constructive authenticity and quality of life. Tourists’ perceptions of quality of life was also found to be different between first-time and repeat-visitors.
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Project co-financed by the European Social Fund and Junta de Extremadura within the framework of the “Financing aids for pre-doctoral contracts for the training of Doctors in the public R&D centers of the System of Science, Technology and Innovation of Extremadura for the year 2018” (Reference No. PD18013).
The diffusion of the results of this research is funded by European Regional Development Fund and Junta de Extremadura (Consejería de Economía, Ciencia y Agenda Digital) (Reference No. GR21096).
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Campón-Cerro, A.M., Pasaco-González, B.S., Hernández-Mogollón, J.M., Di-Clemente, E. (2023). Exploring the Role of Authenticity and Frequency of Participation on Tourists’ Quality of Life in Nature-Based Experiences. In: Uysal, M., Sirgy, M.J. (eds) Handbook of Tourism and Quality-of-Life Research II. International Handbooks of Quality-of-Life. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-31513-8_17
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