Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

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Tourism Management
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tourman

The impact of tour quality and tourist satisfaction on tourist loyalty: The case
of Chinese tourists in Korea
Sangjae Lee a, Sungil Jeon b, *, Doyoung Kim c
a

College of Business Administration, Sejong University, 98 Kunja-dong, Kwangjin-gu, Seoul 143-747, South Korea
School of Business, Chonnam National University, 300, Yongbong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju 500-757, South Korea
c
School of International Tourism, Hanyang Womens University, 17 Heangdang-dong, Seongdong-Gu, Seoul 133-793, South Korea
b

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Received 23 April 2006
Accepted 22 September 2010

This study examines the causal relationship between tourist expectations, tourist motivations, tour
quality, tourist satisfaction, tourist complaints and tourist loyalty of Chinese tourists in the Republic of
Korea using path analysis. It was found that tourist expectations have a negative effect on the perceived
experiential quality of the tour, yet tourist motivation has a positive effect on the perceived tour quality.
In turn, the perceived tour quality has a positive effect on tourist satisfaction. Similarly there is an inverse
relationship between satisfaction and tourist complaints, and a positive relationship exists between
satisfaction and loyalty. Equally, the higher is the number of complaints, the lower are the loyalty levels.
These results will provide potential guidelines for inbound tour agents who plan to attract Chinese
tourists to Korea and enable them to formulate appropriate strategies. This study also seeks to contribute
to conceptual and policy formation by understanding the determinants of tourist satisfaction and loyalty.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords:
Tour quality
Tour satisfaction
Tourist satisfaction structure model
Chinese tourists

1. Introduction
China is one of the largest potential tourism markets for the
Republic of Korea (hereafter referred to as Korea). The growth of
Chinas outbound tourism has become the focus of worldwide
attention from researchers and practitioners (Cai, Li, & Knutson,
2007). Outbound travel from China is expected to reach an
approximate 100 million individuals by 2020 (World Tourism
Organization, 2003). Li, Harrill, Uysal, Burnett, and Zhan (2010)
attempted to empirically estimate the size of this market, using
a demand-based incidental target-market approach; the current
Chinese (Mainland) outbound travel market was reported to
comprise approximately 22 million city residents. In 2007, 41
million Chinese participated in outbound travel (China National
Tourism Administration, 2008), and China has been identied as
one of the two most important emerging outbound tourism
markets in the world (WTTC, 2006). There is general consensus that
the growth of Chinas economy is leading to a rapid increase in
international travel by a burgeoning middle class. In 2003, 539,466
Chinese tourists entered Korea. This represented 10% of the total
number of foreign entrants and corresponded to an overall increase

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: sangjae@sejong.ac.kr (S. Lee), sijeon@chonnam.ac.kr (S. Jeon),
iroadman@naver.com (D. Kim).
0261-5177/$ e see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2010.09.016

of 11.9%. The percentage of Chinese tourists among total inbound

tourists to Korea has increased more than nine times since 1990
(Kim & Prideaux, 2005). On the other hand, the above number of
Chinese entrants equaled just 3.3% of the total tourists from China.
On the whole, this represents a minor gure in the domestic entry.
The consumption pattern of the Chinese is undergoing a transition
with increases in income and leisure time, resulting from the high
economic growth rate over the past eight or more years.
Despite the enormous market potential of Chinese outbound
travel, relatively little research has been conducted thus far on the
perceptions of Chinese outbound tourists. Some recent studies have
focused on Chinese outbound tourists attitudes and behaviors. For
example, Sparks and Pan (2009) attempted to determine how
attitudes, constraints, inuences, and information sources are
related to the intentions of potential Chinese tourists to travel
outside their homeland. Interest in researching outbound Chinese
tourists has also grown in recent years (Guo, Kim, & Timothy, 2007).
While the Asian region has emerged as a major tourist hub in recent
years, studies regarding Asian travel motivations have not been
conducted or referenced at nearly the level of studies addressing
European and US travel motives. As most of the studies cited were
conducted in Australia, Europe, or the US, there remains a paucity of
empirical ndings associated with Asian regions. Thus, given the
importance of study on Chinese tourists outbound to Korea, it is
important to devise a tourist satisfaction model and to plan realistic
strategies to engender tourist satisfaction. Until now, only a few

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S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

reliable or signicant studies have been conducted using the Korea

Tourist Satisfaction Frame Model emphasizing the diversity of
Chinese tourists. The objective of this study, then, was to lay
a foundation of the tourist satisfaction model for Chinese tourists in
Korea.
The study model and information demonstrated in the ndings
of this study will contribute to the establishment of a development
strategy for Chinese tourists in Korea. To accomplish this, rst, this
study will analyze the factors relevant to tourist satisfaction using
theoretical research as it relates to the structure of tourist satisfaction. Second, the study surveys theoretical constructs of tourist
satisfaction via a leading research theory. The difference in this
study is that it develops questions and standards to be supported
for a Korea Tour Satisfaction Structure Model of the Chinese. Third,
this study interprets the suitability of research models via an
inspection of the tourist satisfaction model, analyzing the causal
relationships among variables.
In particular, this study is premised on the development of
a basic research foundation for policymakers, based on the Korea
Tour Satisfaction Structure Model of Chinese. Tourists will be
surveyed regarding their satisfaction or dissatisfaction with diverse
experiences after a visit.

useful in explaining the desire to go on vacation (Crompton, 1979).

Therefore, this need accurately reects a fundamental motivational
force or intrinsic motivation (Weissinger & Bandalos, 1995). From
this perspective, consumers are pushed by their emotional needs
to employ a tour service. Consequently, emotional needs are relevant to pleasure seeking and behavior choice (Goossens, 2000). In
addition, Dann (1988) insists that it is meaningless to research
tourism if the motivations of a tourist are not considered. The
quality of a tour must be able to be judged via an inspection of the
extent of the motivations.

3. Research model
The research model is designed to conrm the causal relationship among tourist expectations, tourist motivations, tour quality,
tourist satisfaction, tourist complaints, and tourist loyalty of
Chinese tourists in the Republic of Korea. The research model is
shown in Fig. 1.
The study model is based on some theories in the study of
consumer behavior, such as balance theory (Heider, 1958), multiattribute model on attitude (Fishbein, 1967), perceptive inconsonant theory (Knox & Inkster, 1968), passive learning theory
(Ginter, 1974), assimilation/contrast theory, social judgment theory
(Sherif & Sherif, 1964), reinforcement theory (Raj, 1982), and the
theory of imputation. The theory of personality refers to Freudian
psychoanalytic theory, social theory, self-construct theory, and trait
theory. The study model conrms the causal relationship among
tourist expectations, tourist desire, quality of tour experienced,
tourist satisfaction, discontent behavior, and loyalty through
testing the hypothesis.
The Expectancy Disconrmation Paradigm (EDP) holds that
consumer satisfaction or dissatisfaction is a function of the
disconrmation arising from discrepancies between prior expectations and actual performance. Higher performance relative to
expectations results in satisfaction, and vice versa (Weber, 1997).
When the anticipated service, i.e., tourist expectation, is greater
than the perceived service, the perceived quality will be higher or
better than satisfactory. Thus, when tourist expectations are high,
tourists are more likely to evaluate the tour quality less favorably.
Previous explanations suggest that expectations and motivations may be determinants of tour quality; tourist expectations
negatively affect perceived tour quality, whereas tourist motivations positively affect perceived tour quality. Tour quality is a result
of the degree of congruence between the tourists expectations and
the environmental settings of the tour offering certain activities
that can meet these requirements. Therefore, in such cases, the
travel expectations may exert a negative effect on tour quality.
Tourist motivations, however, are related to past experience or
impressions of prior tourists to Korea. As tourist image positively
affects tour quality (Chen & Tsai, 2007), tourist motivations may
contribute to positive evaluations of tour quality when tourists are

2. Theoretical background
Olson and Dover (1979) denes customer expectations as
pretrial concepts in regard to a specic product or service. Expectations are crucially important to service quality and customer
satisfaction, according to the literature on dissatisfaction (Boulding,
Kalra, Staelin, & Zeithaml, 1993). Recently, several researchers have
evaluated managing service quality (Bitner, 1990; Bolton & Drew,
1991a, 1991b; Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1985, 1988).
Previous studies of service quality have demonstrated the existence
of one type of expectation (Tse & Wilton, 1988; Zeithaml, Berry, &
Parasuraman, 1991). One type was a normative expectation of
future events (Miller, 1977; Prakash, 1984; Swan & Trawick, 1980).
Boulding et al. (1993) proposed that customers form a normative
expectation of future events regarding what is appropriately
deserved. This expectation serves as a precedent for measuring
overall service quality. Additionally, since service perceptions are
xed, the consumer perceives overall service quality by comparing
expectations and actual service. This suggests higher expectations,
but lower perceived quality (Parasuraman et al., 1985).
According to Mill and Morrison (1985), motivation arises
whenever an individual wishes to satisfy a need. Recently, motivation has emerged as one of the most interesting research areas in
the tourism eld (Fodness, 1994). To satisfy increasing conscious
needs, customers must be aware of a product or service, and then
purchase it (Mill & Morrison, 1985). From the perception of tourism,
motivation having the concept of push is important. A push motive
is a sociopsychological motive which has traditionally proven

Tourist
Expectations

H1
H4

H3

Tourist
Motivations

H5
Tour Quality

Tourist
Satisfaction

H7

H6

H2

Fig. 1. Research model.

Tourist
Complaints

Tourist
Loyalty

S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

interested in or have good experiences with their tours in Korea.

Even those who have not actually experienced tourism in Korea are
still likely to provide favorable ratings on the tour in Korea when
they have great interest in touring Korea due to their specic
preferences forfor instanceKorean culture, foods, and geographic
characteristics.
Tourist expectations can affect tourist motivations and vice
versa; when tourists are greatly interested in touring Korea, they
anticipate great pleasure and good experiences from a prospective
tour. Further, when they have high expectations, they tend to be
more willing to search for tour information and acquire knowledge
regarding Korean culture, language, or other information. Thus,
tourist expectations and motivations are interrelated. These statements give rise to the following three hypotheses:
Hypothesis 1. The tourist expectations negatively affect the
quality of tours.
Hypothesis 2. The tourist motivations affect the quality of tours.
Hypothesis 3. The tourist expectations and the motivations are
correlated with each other.
Unlike the quality of manufactured goods, service quality is
abstract and elusive because of features like intangibility, heterogeneity, and inseparability of production and consumption
(Parasuraman et al., 1985). However, Parasuraman et al. (1985)
suggest that the quality of a rms service is to measure the
perception of quality by the consumer. Therefore, perceived quality
is dened as the consumers judgment about a tour organizations
overall value/quality/excellence (Zeithaml, 1987). Thus, the service
literature has two main objectives. First, how should service quality
be conceptualized and measured? Until now, the rst question has
been answered using a performance-based scale developed
(SERVPERF) for comparison with the SERVQUAL scale (Bitner, 1990;
Bolton & Drew, 1991a, 1991b; Cronin & Taylor, 1992; Parasuraman
et al., 1985, 1988). Second, what was the causal order of the relationship between service quality and consumer satisfaction? The
important relationships between service quality and customer
satisfaction remain largely unexplored.
However, the importance of this issue has led to several recent
efforts to clarify the relationship between service quality and
satisfaction (Bitner, 1990; Bolton & Drew, 1991a, 1991b; Cronin &
Taylor, 1992; Parasuraman et al., 1985, 1988). According to
Parasuraman et al. (1985, 1988), higher levels of perceived service
quality result in better consumer satisfaction. Cronin and Taylor
(1992) have suggested that service quality is an antecedent of
consumer satisfaction. Baker and Crompton (2000) have dened
satisfaction as an experiential quality (an emotional state of the
tourist) attained after the tour experience. Spreng, Mackenzie, and
Olshavsky (1996) insist that the satisfaction of the tourist is the
result of experienced quality. This logic leads to the following
hypothesis:
Hypothesis 4. The tour quality affects tourist satisfaction.
Day and Landon (1977) proposed classifying consumer
complaints (CCB) into a two-level hierarchy. The rst level represents the distinction between behavioral and non-behavioral
responses. The second level distinguishes public from private
action. In terms of the preceding proposal, Day (1984) denes
consumer complaints (CCB) as a set of multiple behavioral and nonbehavioral responses triggered by some feelings or emotions of
perceived dissatisfaction.
Although several denitions have been proposed (Day, 1980;
Jacoby & Jaccard, 1981; Landon, 1980), the development of
the CCB concept has been minimal. However, researchers and

1117

practitioners recently have begun to pay attention to the precedents of consumer complaint intentions and behaviors (Singh,
1988). Landon (1980) insists that a primary determinant of complaining behavior is consumer dissatisfaction, and that consumer
action directly conveys expressions of dissatisfaction. As a result, in
CCB research, it is commonly accepted that a certain level of
consumer dissatisfaction must exist for a complaint to occur (Day &
Landon, 1977). In addition, the satisfaction factor is a variable that
inuences consumer complaints (Baker & Crompton, 2000).
Consequently, we propose the following testable hypothesis:
Hypothesis 5. The tourist satisfaction factor negatively affects
tourist complaints.
Tellis (1988) denes loyalty as repeated purchasing or relative
volume of same brand purchasing. Newman and Werbel (1973)
proposed that loyal customers who bought a brand or service
many times considered only the same brand, and made no efforts to
seek out related information of another brand. Although there
are many denitions of loyalty, loyalty is generally regarded
as a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred
product [or] service consistency, thereby causing repetitive same
brand or same brand set purchasing. [This occurs] despite situational inuences and marketing efforts having the potential to
cause switching behavior (Oliver, 1997).
Thus, researchers are conducting new studies of loyalty by
devoting more time to understanding customer satisfaction
(Oliver, 1999). Both practitioners and academics understand that
consumer loyalty and satisfaction are inextricably intertwined. In
their efforts to elucidate the linkage between satisfaction and
loyalty, many researchers have attempted to determine whether
loyalty responses are related to the satisfaction component. Oliver
(1999) insists that satisfaction is a necessary step in the formation
of loyalty. Customer loyalty is subdivided into two distinct types.
The rst of these are behavior factors, which are due to strong
loyalty and repeat purchases, etc. The second are attitude factors,
which include brand preference, commitment, and intention to
buy (Lee, Lee, & Feick, 2001). In terms of research, customer
satisfaction positively affects the above two factors (Anderson &
Sullivan, 1993; Fornell, 1992; Reichheld, 1996; Reichheld &
Sasser, 1990). As a result, customer satisfaction affects customer
loyalty in many industries (Fornell, 1992). From this result is
derived Hypothesis 6:
Hypothesis 6. Tourist satisfaction affects tourist loyalty.
Generally speaking, customer loyalty is dened as the feeling of
commitment or affection for a particular product or service. By the
way, the manner in which customer loyalty is measured is also
important. According to Narayandas (1996), customer loyalty can
be measured by a customers willingness to recommend a preferred
product. Additionally, Jones and Sasser (1995) have proposed that
spreading the word is an extremely important form of consumer
behavior for a company. Word of mouth was identied as one of
the most important factors in measuring customer loyalty for
almost all industries. According to research into the precedents and
consequences of consumer complaints, word of mouth is
a consequence (Singh, 1988). Consumer complaints are the principal focus of traditional behavior responses (Landon, 1980). Day
(1980) and Richins (1983) both insist that negative word of
mouth communication is a category of behavioral responses. Thus,
Day and Landon (1977) have proposed that word of mouth
communication indicates typical examples of private action, which
is an important attribute of hierarchical classication of consumer
complaints. As a result, several studies of consumer complaints and
their consequences appear to have made some critical inroads into

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S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

explaining and predicting brand loyalty, including word of mouth

(Day, 1984; Engel & Blackwell, 1982; Richins, 1983). Thus, we
formulated the seventh hypothesis:
Hypothesis 7. Tourist complaints negatively affect tourist loyalty.

4. Research methods

Table 1
Demographic characteristics of respondents.
Characteristics

4.2. Measures
The measurements were adapted from the theories discussed
in the literature review above and included the following 28
items (Table 2): tourist expectations (4 questions), tourist motivations (4 questions), tour quality (8 questions), tourist satisfaction
(4 questions), tourist complaints (4 questions), and tourist loyalty
(4 questions). The questionnaire included questions regarding the
demographic characteristics of respondents concerning their
Korean tour (12 questions) and general tourist complaints
(1 question). The items were scored on a seven-point Likert scale

Percentage
(N 500)

Gender

Male
Female
Total

340
160
500

68
32
100

Age

20e29
30e39
40e49
50 and Higher
Total

40
55
215
190
500

8
11
43
38
100

Education

Less than middle,

high school
2-Years college
Post-secondary
or higher
Total

20

290
190

58
38

500

100

Marital status

Single
Married
Loner care
Total

150
310
40
500

30
62
8
100

Annual income
(1 CNY 145 WON)

Less than 20,000 CNY

20,001e30,000 CNY
300,001e400,000 CNY
400,001 CNY and higher
Total

245
200
25
30
500

49
40
5
6
100

Occupation

Salary
Businessman
Public servants
Senior white-collar
worker
Professional
Tourism business
Wholesale/retail
Sales/services
Others
Total

20
245
185
10

4
49
37
2

5
10
15
5
5
500

1
2
3
1
1
100

4.1. Research design

This study employs as a target sample a group of Chinese
tourists during their visits to Korea. As a population sample, the
Convenient Sampling and the Purposive Sampling non-probability
sampling methods refer to the present state of Chinese entry in
2002. A pilot survey for valid and reliable measurement items was
conducted with 200 China tourists who had entered Korea via
Incheon International Airport between Nov. 1 and 30, 2003. Using
the results from the pilot survey, the questionnaire was revised and
supplemented.
The nal questionnaire was distributed to Chinese tourists using
the airlines KE (Korean Air), OZ (Asiana Air) and CA (China
Air) ying between Incheon Airport and Beijing International
Airport three times a month, from Jan. 1 to Mar. 31, 2004. The
fundamental rule of surveying was to conduct as many face-to-face
interviews as possible with individual tourists who fullled the
selection criteria. For this study, 600 copies of the questionnaire
were distributed. A total of 513 completed questionnaires were
ultimately collected.
The number of questionnaires used in the analysis conducted
in this study was 500 responses, excluding the 13 unavailable
questionnaires. The sampling design places emphasis on the
demographic proles of Chinese tourists. Visits to Korea by
Chinese were principally for ofcial business and social &
economic background rather than for general sightseeing
purposes. This led the design of the pilot survey toward target
population selection and question administration. The questionnaire was revised three times during the pilot study. Chinese
tourists for ofcial business purposes were not excluded from the
target sample, as it proved difcult to compose the sample only
from those for pure general sightseeing.
A frequency analysis was employed to survey the distribution of
various variables based on demographic proles. To evaluate
general sample traits, we conducted frequency analyses of gender
traits, occupation, age, and income levels. 68% of the respondents
were male. 43% and 38% of the respondents were between the ages
of 40e49 and 50e59, respectively. 96% of respondents had graduated from college or post-secondary institutions. 62% of the
respondents were married, and 89% had an average income not in
excess of 30,000 (CNY). With regard to occupational status, 49% of
the subjects were businessmen and 37% were civil servants,
respectively. Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics of the
respondents.

Frequency

according to whether respondents agree or disagree with each

statement.
The items for tourist expectations were adapted from the work
of Baloglue and McClearly (1999), and Whipple and Thach (1988).
The items for tourist motivations are adapted from measures used
in Bign, Snchez, and Snchez (2001), and Spreng et al. (1996).
Tour quality was measured using items adapted from those
employed by Baker and Crompton (2000). A great deal of research,
such as the work of Baker and Crompton (2000), Bign et al. (2001)
and Van Raaij and Fracken (1984) have been reviewed to compose
the measurement items for tourist satisfaction and complaints. The
items regarding tourist loyalty are adapted from the work of Baker
and Crompton (2000), Noe (1987), and Van Raaij and Fracken
(1984).
However, no perfect method exists for measuring psychological
traits and attitudes. Several methodologies have been used to
assess satisfaction, including a semantic differential method,
a multi-attribute model and a multidimensional scale method. The
multi-attribute attitude model assesses whether attitudes are
composed of recognition and value on a subject, reecting the
evaluation by attributes held by a subject.
After adapting the items from previous studies, the measurement items of tourist satisfaction are rened from a review of 77
types of brochures, public relations magazines, Internet sites, and
related literature including daily, weekly and annual magazines
published by the Korean government, KNTO, and related tourism
organizations.

S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

Table 2
Items for variables.

1119

Table 3
Measurement properties of variables.

Variables

Items

Variables

Items

Loadings

Cronbach a

Tourist expectations

I expect to see very beautiful scenery

from the tour (TE1).
I hope to see historical and cultural legacy
from the tour (TE2).
I hope to see comfortable and safe city environments
from the tour (TE3).
I expect to see various souvenirs from the tour (TE4).

Tourist expectations

TE1
TE2
TE3
TE4

0.899
0.824
0.689
0.976

0.863

Tourist motivations

TM1
TM2
TM3
TM4

0.681
0.828
0.835
0.595

0.837

Tour quality

TQ1
TQ2
TQ3
TQ4
TQ5

0.796
0.768
0.782
0.653
0.828

0.798

Tourist satisfaction

TS1
TS2
TS3

0.875
0.759
0.683

0.756

Tourist complaints

TC1
TC2
TC3

0.550
0.557
0.820

0.824

Tourist loyalty

TL1
TL2
TL3

0.629
0.623
0.534

0.875

Tourist motivations

Tour quality

Tourist satisfaction

Tourist complaints

Tourist loyalty

I expect to get mental rest from the tour (TM1).

I hope to enjoy amusements from the tour (TM2).
I hope to get a number of new experiences
from the tour (TM3).
The tour will be more valuable than its cost (TM4).
The tour has provided experiences of
beautiful scenery (TQ1).
The tour spot was lled with historical and
cultural legacy (TQ2).
The tour was comfortable and safe (TQ3).
I have had many new experiences from the tour (TQ4).
The tour was more valuable than its cost (TQ5).
I am satised with the tour (TS1).
I have enjoyed myself from the tour (TS2).
I am positive in participating in the tour in the
future (TS3).
I will tell uncomfortable experiences from the tour
to my friends and relatives (TC1).
I will wrote uncomfortable experiences from the tour
in the newspaper and magazines (TC2).
I will ofcially argue uncomfortable experiences from
the tour to travel agencies or authorities (TC3).
I will tell good experiences from the tour to
other people (TL1).
I will recommend the tour to other people (TL2).
I will revisit the country and participate in the tour
in the future (TL3).

or more), AGFI (adjusted goodness-of-t index: 0.9 or more), RMSR

(root mean square residual: 0.05 or below), of p-value (0.05 or
more), and can be regarded as having convergent validity.
In order to evaluate the discriminant validity of measures,
correlation analysis among inherent variables was conducted.
Correlation analysis assesses the strength of the correlation among
inherent variables, regardless of the subordinate or independent
relationship of variables. The correlation among inherent variables
is signicantly lower than unity, thereby indicating discriminant
validity of the variables (Table 5).

5. Results
5.1. Reliability and validity of measures

5.2. Test of research hypotheses

To analyze the reliability of scales, this study employed the

analysis of Cronbach alpha coefcients using SPSS 11.0. All scales
evidenced sufcient reliability as they exceeded Nunnallys (1978)
reliability guidelines of 0.7. Thus, all measuring factors had high
inner consistency and scale reliability of scales.
To evaluate the validity of questions for each factor comprising
the independent variables, factor analysis was conducted. In this
study, we employed exploratory factor analysis (Table 3) and
conrmatory factor analysis using AMOS (Table 4) to analyze the
relationships among variables suggested in the research model.
The principal component factor analysis on the structural
constructs of this study was conducted via oblique rotation analysis, which did not assume independence among factors. The
values of the factor loadings were greater than 0.5, whereas the
variance extracted was greater than 0.6, thus indicating high
convergent validity (Hair, Anderson, Tatham, & Black, 1998), as
a consequence of the principal component factor solution with
oblique rotation separately loaded on the same factor as the stated
operational denition. This indicates that both the convergent and
discriminant validity were high.
To evaluate the convergent validity on all latent variables,
conrmatory factor analysis was conducted using AMOS. Because
the factor loading values were high, the measurement model had
high model tness. As a result of the factor analysis, the factors
were shown to have high values of GFI (goodness-of-t index: 0.9

This study focused on testing the structural relationships among

latent variables or constructs suggested in the research model. They
are supported by the Structural Equation Modeling using AMOS
(Analysis Moment of Structure), which proved useful for testing
relationships among constructs, via covariance structure modeling.
This study tested seven hypotheses in the developed research
model. The results of the goodness-of-tness test (Bentler & Bonett,
1980) are summarized in Table 6.
The structural model for the research model is represented as
Fig. 2. The observed variables are enclosed in squares or rectangles.
The latent variables are enclosed in circles or ellipses. A one-way
path between variables is indicative of a hypothesized direct effect
of one variable on another. The non-existence of an arrow between

Table 4
Conrmatory factor analysis.
Factors

GFI

AGFI

RMSR

c2

p-Value

Cronbach a

TE
TM
TQ
TS
TC
TL

0.955
0.943
0.957
0.968
0.916
0.945

0.934
0.921
0.946
0.949
0.892
0.925

0.021
0.025
0.035
0.056
0.088
0.075

6.10
5.30
8.11
7.29
6.25
7.50

0.192
0.115
0.075
0.091
0.186
0.173

0.863
0.837
0.798
0.756
0.824
0.875

GFI goodness-of-t index, AGFI adjusted goodness-of-t index, RMSR root

mean square residual.

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S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

Table 5
Correlation analysis among inherent variables.
Inherent variables

TE

TM

TQ

TS

TC

TL

Tourist expectations (TE)

Tourist motivations (TM)
Tour quality (TQ)
Tourist satisfaction (TS)
Tourist complaints (TC)
Tourist loyalty (TL)

1
0.314
0.359*
0.296
0.185
0.293

1
0.323
0.353
0.124
0.344

1
0.385
0.335
0.430

1
0.385
0.223

1
0.356

two variables indicates that one variable does not have a direct
effect on another. The test results of the model are summarized in
Fig. 2 and Table 7.
The chi-square is 6.74 and the p-value is 0.035. The model
goodness-of-t index (GFI) is 0.975, which is a measure of the
relative amount of variables and covariances jointly accounted for
by the mode. The adjusted goodness-of-t (AGFI) is 0.962. The root
mean square residual (RMSR) is 0.014, which indicates the average
of the residuals. These measures of overall tness reect the
explanatory power of the model.
The study results are as follows. First, this study assessed the
manner in which the expectations of tourists affect the quality
experience. As the result of the analysis of Hypothesis 1, the tour
expectations had a negative effect on the quality of tour experience.
The path-coefcient was 0.084 (CR value 2.471) and the
p-value (0.014) was smaller than the signicance level (0.05). Thus,
the hypothesis that the tour expectations exert a negative effect on
the quality of experienced tour is accepted. Second, this study
assessed how the desire for tourism inuences the quality of the
tour experience. According to the result of our test of Hypothesis 2,
the path-coefcient was 0.112 (CR value: 3.612). The p-value
(0.000) was lower than the signicance level (0.05). Thus,
Hypothesis 2 e that the motivations of tour have a positive effect on
the quality of the tour experience e is accepted. Accordingly, the
higher the tour motivations are, the higher the quality of the tour
experience will be. Third, according to the result of our analysis of
Hypothesis 3, the path-coefcient was 0.087 (CR value: 2.559). The
p-value (0.000) was smaller than the signicance level (0.05). Thus,
the third hypothesis is accepted.
The tourist expectations and tour motivations were positively
correlated. Fourth, this study assessed how the quality of tour
experience affects tour satisfaction. From the result of our analysis
of Hypothesis 4, the quality of the tour experience will exert
a positive effect on the tour satisfaction factor, and the pathcoefcient was 0.266 (CR value: 5.911). The p-value (0.000) was
smaller than the signicance level of 0.05. Thus, conrming our
hypothesis, the quality of tour experience did indeed exert a positive effect on satisfaction with the tour.
Fifth, this study assessed how the quality of tour experience
affects tour complaints. According to the result of our analysis of
Hypothesis 5, the tour satisfaction factor exerted a negative effect on
tour complaints. The path-coefcient was 0.279 (CR value: 6.975).
p-Value (0.000) was smaller than the signicance level of 0.05. Thus,
the hypothesis, the tour satisfaction factor exerted a negative effect
on tour complaints.
Sixth, this study evaluated the relationship between tour satisfaction factors and loyalty. As a result of the analysis on Hypothesis
Table 6
Fitness of models.
Model

c2/df

Model (1)
Adjusted Model (2)
M1:M2

94.941
6.741
88.200

9
2
7

p-Value

GFI

AGFI

RMSR

0.000
0.035

0.945
0.975

0.871
0.962

0.044
0.014

6, the tour satisfaction factor produced a positive effect on loyalty.

The path-coefcient was 0.111 (CR value: 3.828). The p-value
(0.083) was larger than the signicance level of 0.05. Thus, the
hypothesis that the tour satisfaction factor positively affected
loyalty was not signicant. However, if the signicance level was
not 0.05 but 0.1, this hypothesis would have been signicant. Thus,
it is difcult to conclude that it was not, in fact, signicant.
Therefore, the hypothesis that the tour satisfaction factor will exert
a positive effect on loyalty produces a positive effect on service
value if the signicance level is 0.1.
Seventh, this study surveyed the relationship between the factor
of tour complaints and loyalty. According to the results of our analysis of Hypothesis 7, the tour complaints exerted a negative effect on
loyalty. The path-coefcient was 0.320 (CR value: 5.079). The
p-value (0.000) was smaller than the signicance level (0.05). Thus,
the hypothesis that tour complaints had a negative effect on loyalty
was rejected. Accordingly, tour complaints and loyalty were
inversely correlated. The results of testing on the Adjusted Model of
this study are summarized in Fig. 2.
6. Discussion
The most common approach to service quality is that of the
disconrmation paradigm (Robledo, 2001), which asserts that
quality can be dened as the gap between customers expectations
and perceptions (Parasuraman, Zeithaml, & Berry, 1990). Tour
quality is affected negatively by tourist expectations, as perceived
tour quality is the consequence of the consumers comparison of
expected service with perceived service. Sparks and Pan (2009)
suggested that Chinese people learn about target destinations to
form beliefs such as: (1) how inspiring it is, (2) the opportunity for
social self-enhancement, (3) the prospect of interacting with locals,
and (4) shopping opportunities. Chinese tourists obtained their
information on tours to Korea through travel agencies and through
mediums such as television programs and fashion magazines. Thus,
programs designed to provide incentives to travel agency
employees may prove an effective measure to attract Chinese
tourists.
Chinese tourists compare prior expectations of service provision
with post-experience perceptions, and thereby determine tour
quality. Chinese tourists depend heavily on the information available in the marketplace and salespeoples recommendations. In
forming their prior expectations, they are profoundly susceptible to
the inuence of reference groups, and adhere to social norms (Hsu,
Kang, & Lam, 2006). Chinese tourists generally expect quality
service when in Korea. The shopping motives of many Chinese
tourists include buying what they want and obtaining information.
Considering that Chinese culture is characterized by a high degree
of uncertainty avoidance, the role of tourist expectations on tourist
satisfaction becomes important. When performance exceeds
expectations, emotional satisfaction is frequently the result. On the
other hand, emotional dissatisfaction occurs when expectations
exceed performance. The study results demonstrate that the higher
a tourists expectations of a tour are, the less the tendency of
perceived quality of the experienced tour will be. Therefore, as
Chinese tourist expectations increase and in order to compensate
the negative inuences of tourist expectation on perceived tour
quality, Koreas tourism industry must create more novel and
competitive tour services in areas strategically designed to increase
tour quality and tourist satisfaction. This will enable the Chinese
tourists to experience a more relaxing, enjoyable time. This will also
prove more economically benecial, allowing for the creation of
a more valuable tour. Identifying and reducing gap differences
between expectations and performance is the key to improving
tour quality and tourist satisfaction level.

S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

1121

Fig. 2. Test results of structural equation model.

Additionally, the higher the tourist motivations are, the higher

the quality of the tour experience will be. Further, a signicant
relationship exists between tourist expectation and motivation.
Thus, when tourist expectations are higher, Korean travel agents
should focus on improving tourist motivations and developing
higher-quality and more competitive travel products in order to
cope with high expectations of Chinese tourists. This must be
a starting point for raising the value of tourism by promoting
tourism cultural events. The combination of well-known tourism
brands inside and outside the country improves the response of the
Chinese tourists, enhancing their motivations and interest in Korea.
According to the study results, the higher the tour quality is, the
higher the tour satisfaction will be. Therefore, we recommend the
establishment of specialized shopping stores for souvenirs and
native produce, as well as the development of hot springs benecial
for health and relaxation. This includes cultural arts festivals and
the development of tour goods with enough entertainment,
thereby keeping the Chinese tourists sufciently stimulated.
Accordingly, the lower the tour satisfaction was, the higher the tour
complaints were. It was necessary to develop a specialized tourism
commodity and to establish close cooperation among the federal
government, local governments, and tourism industry, taking into
consideration the interest and satisfaction of the Chinese tourist. It
is also recommended that educational training, such as language

and tourist services for Chinese tourists, be expanded. This would

help in implementing a systematic policy to increase tourism, thus
strengthening the competitive power in quantity and quality,
including a variety of tourist satisfaction factors. Additionally, this
would enable the Chinese tourist to select Korea as their primary
destination.
The more tour complaints there were, the lower the loyalty was.
This result is consistent with the results of a study conducted by
Choi, Liu, Pang, and Chow (2008) showing that complaint handling
would affect the Chinese tourists purchasing behaviors for fashion
products. Sales service is a critical factor affecting Chinese tourists
purchasing decisions on fashion products. On every occasion
including a Chinese tourist, the tour complaints were inversely
proportional to loyalty. Some issues remain to be taken into
account, such as enlargement of tourist facilities, development of
roads, harbors, port facilities, and visa issue services. However,
extensions of stay are necessary as part of a long-term policy in
cooperation among each related bureau in the government, selfgoverning communities, and private organizations. The insignicant effect of tourist satisfaction on tourist loyalty indicates that
simply having satised customers is not sufcient. Although
Chinese tourists may be satised with tours in Korea, they may
choose to travel to other countries rather than revisit Korea. The
relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty

Table 7
Test results of research hypothesis.
Research hypothesis
H1:
H2:
H3:
H4:
H5:
H6:
H7:

Tourist expectations / tour quality

Tourist motivations / tour quality
Tourist expectations 4 tourist motivations
Tour quality / tourist satisfaction
Tourist satisfaction / tourist complaints
Tourist satisfaction / tourist loyalty
Tourist complaints / tourist loyalty

Path-coefcients

CR value

p-Value

Results of analysis

0.084
0.122
0.087
0.266
0.279
0.111
0.320

2.471
3.612
2.559
5.911
6.975
3.828
5.079

0.014**
0.000**
0.000**
0.000**
0.000**
0.083
0.000**

Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Supported
Not supported
Supported

c2 6.741, p-value 0.035, GFI 0.975, adjusted GFI 0.962, RMSR 0.014.
*p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

1122

S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

does not necessarily always exist due to consumer indifference, the

availability of competitive substitutes, and low switching costs
(Solomon, 2002). The Korean government should differentiate tour
services compared with other countries in order to encourage
Chinese tourists to revisit Korea. Because customer satisfaction has
a notable impact on repeat visits, customer loyalty is actually
required if Korea is to remain one of the preferred travel destinations for Chinese tourists.
7. Conclusions and implications
As the Korean inbound market is dominated by Japanese visitors, there is an urgent necessity for the Korean tourism industry to
look beyond Japan to increase visitor arrivals from Asia. Among
several groups of tourists visiting Korea, this study evaluated the
motivations and satisfaction of Chinese tourists in Korea. An
understanding of the processes that determine Chinese tourists
destination choices are important for Korean government, Korean
tourism organization, and tourism operators as competition for
tourist numbers and dollars increases. Using a path analysis technique, this study evaluated the causal relationship among the
expectations and motivations of Chinese tourists in Korea, tour
quality, tourist satisfaction, tourist complaints, and loyalty.
Attracting tourists to revisit and/or recommend the destination to
others is critically important for the success of destination tourism
development. The Korean tourism industry should be developed
further to differentiate its range of experiences and services
according to different national cultures (Kim & Prideaux, 2005). In
order to promote the loyalty and satisfaction of Chinese tourists,
Korean travel marketers should principally focus both on increasing
tourist motivations and fostering the tour quality while attempting
to avoid excessive tourists expectations in Korea. A thorough
understanding of tourist expectations and motivations will
contribute to improvements in tour quality and tourist satisfaction
reducing tourist complaints.
An increase in tourist motivations and quality would generally
induce increases in marketing and service costs. The results of this
study demonstrate that, interestingly, the quality in practice is of
little use and its induced cost is not wasteful. The results of this
study might generate new insights as to tourists satisfaction with
their tour experiences; tourism managers could be enabled to
develop more effective marketing strategies and service delivery to
increase tourist motivations and actual quality.
The domestic travel agents should provide promotional activities to make Chinese tourists more interested in and motivated
from specic traits of tours in Korea by emphasizing Korean culture,
society, history, and tradition. Korean travel agents should exercise
caution not to create expectations in tours in Korea, and should
provide natural characteristics of tours in Korea. They should
focus on increasing motivations of potential tourists by promoting
the particular attractiveness of Korean tours. This includes carrying
out a broad variety of activities to attract tourists, such as active and
various marketing campaigns, developing specialized tourist
commodities, constructing close relationships among the federal
government, local government and business, and maintaining an
effective evaluation system. It is necessary to favorably promote
Korea as a tourism destination through TV or radio. There exists
a substantial opportunity to boost yield during periods of low
demand by offering special promotional travel packages on the
Chinese market.
This study shows that tour quality affects tourist satisfaction,
which indirectly inuences tourist loyalty by lowering tourist
complaints. This indicates the importance of tour quality in Korea
for Chinese outbound tourists. In particular, Seoul, Koreas modern
and cosmopolitan capital, will benet if the service quality of its

tourism industry remains in high regard. The results of this study

should constitute an important instrument for domestic travel
agents who plan to attract Chinese tourists to Korea to examine the
present state critically and to establish plans for the future.
The key destination attributes affecting tour quality that are
likely to be attractive to outbound Chinese tourists include safety,
beautiful scenery, well-equipped tourism facilities, different
cultural/historical resources, and good weather (Kim, Guo, &
Agrusa, 2005). Perceptions of these key attributes will greatly
inuence the decision as to whether to visit Korea. For example, it
appears that Chinese tourists are highly safety conscious (Sparks &
Pan, 2009), and they are reluctant to take risks in travelling to
places perceived as dangerous. Hence, safety assurance is an
important tour quality to be recommended when marketing to
Chinese tourists. Further, younger Chinese tend to be more
autonomous during their travel, possibly because they have a great
deal of leisure time to explore the destination. Further, Chinese
tourists evidenced a marked tendency toward leisure facilities and
gaming (Kim & Prideaux, 2005). The Korean National Tourist
Organization (KNTO) should concentrate its marketing efforts on
casino gambling and amusement theme parks. It appears evident
that Chinese tourists travel behaviors and lifestyle are changing,
and this is especially true for the younger generation of Chinese.
Chinese tourists are generally price-conscious and would be
attracted by appropriate promotional activities (e.g. discounting
week) (Choi et al., 2008). In order to induce them to repurchase
during their next visits and to foster brand loyalty, cash coupons
can be issued exclusively to Chinese tourists. Retailers can construct
a simplied-Chinese version of their websites in order to provide
more timely information regarding promotional activities and
products to Chinese tourists.
Once tourists perceive their tour experiences as valuable,
satisfaction levels will rise, thus reducing tourist complaints. The
satisfaction of Chinese tourists can be improved by the quality of
beautiful scenery, cultural and historical heritage sites, diverse
souvenir shops, and native products. This is important, since
a dynamic and sustainable tourism industry will contribute
signicantly to Koreas economic and social well-being. The
development of the tourism satisfaction model is of profound
importance in regard to travel agent management or attracting
foreigners to Korea. As is generally known, the most popular
countries for tourism include France, Spain, and the USA. The cases
of other countries can teach us important lessons, preparing Korea
to enter the tourism industry as Asias next tourist hub. Korea must
be faithful to principles, such as actively and openly creating new
ways to attract tourists, continue systematic political efforts, and
continue innovation via systematic evaluation and feedback. There
is also a need to consider the following factors: design and training
of public ofcials including police, health workers, and others who
have contact with visitors; the development and introduction of
new tourist products and services; service standards of hotels,
shops and restaurants; operation of destination infrastructures and
public services; and designs of education programs.
This study has several limitations and future subjects of study
and tasks can overcome it. First, this study is limited in its general
aspects. The questionnaire was administered to groups of tourists
rather than to individual tourists and only to Chinese tourists from
the local Beijing area, rather than the entire country. Therefore,
successive studies should be conducted on the subject by district,
race, and FIT by the north part based on Shenyang and the central
part based on Shanghai. They should include the major ethnic races
in China and the 55 minority races by generation (youth, middle
age, old age).
Second, this study conducts analysis within the limitations of
observing satisfaction after the completion of a Korean tour. It is,

S. Lee et al. / Tourism Management 32 (2011) 1115e1124

therefore, necessary to evaluate the effects of tourists expectations

and desires prior to the beginning of a tour. Third, as a limitation of
questionnaire survey, there must be a measurement against error
in assessing the respondents honesty.
This study may be the rst attempt at a Study of the Travel
Satisfaction Model: a Structural Analysis for Chinese Tourists to
Korea. Therefore, future studies must supplement the survey
methodology and enlarge the scope of the survey subject, enabling
its practical application, as well as more in-depth theoretical
research and the development of new and better models. As tourists from different countries evidence different preferences for
signicant variables accounting for tourists overall satisfaction
level (Hui, Wan, & Ho, 2007), any attempts to generalize the study
results to tourists from other countries with different cultural
backgrounds should be conducted with great caution. The study
results can help to explain tourist satisfaction, complaints, and
loyalty using tour quality, tourist expectations, and motivations
among Asian tourists from Asian countries with similar tourist
expectations for travel attributes such as overall convenience,
accommodation and food, culture, and climate and image. The
differences in tourist expectations and motivations with their
effects on tour quality, tourist satisfaction, complaints, and loyalty
should be assessed for different countries in future studies.
Appendix. Supplementary data
Supplementary data associated with this article can be found in
the online version at, doi:10.1016/j.tourman.2010.09.016.
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