The mediating role of experience quality on authenticity and satisfaction in the context of cultural-heritage tourism

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating role of experience quality between the dimensions of authenticity and satisfaction in the context of cultural-heritage tourism. This paper investigates the direct influences of these variables on satisfaction and the indirect influences of two dimensions of authenticity on satisfaction through quality of experience. This study is a pioneer in analysing the influence of each of the two dimensions of authenticity on satisfaction via quality of experience in a cultural-heritage context. A questionnaire survey administered to 205 visitors in the City of York, United Kingdom, was analysed using the structural equation modelling technique. The findings confirmed the direct and indirect influence of the variable authenticity in its double perspective (objective and existential authenticity) on satisfaction. The findings also identified the mediating role of quality of experience on authenticity and satisfaction. It is therefore recommended that cultural tourism attractions should be offered that provide visitors with a high quality authentic and personal experience in order to enhance visitor satisfaction.