Introduction. Perceived quality combined with tourist motivation, tourist experience and other variables were identified as important antecedents of tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty. However, few studies have examined factors influencing a tourist’s perception of the service quality in a destination, especially in specific destinations. The main purpose of this study was to investigate whether tourist motivation and tourist experience influence how tourists perceive quality and to analyse complex relationships between the constructs of perceived quality, tourist experience, tourist motivation and tourist satisfaction in the context of historical and cultural destinations.
Material and methods. A survey of 1,389 tourists who visited an ancient town in the center part of China served as the basis for analysis. Structural equation modelling was employed to test the proposed hypotheses.
Results. The empirical results showed that tourist motivation and tourist experience exerted a significant positive influence on perceived quality. These three variables had a simultaneous significant positive impact on tourist satisfaction. The results also revealed the mediating effects of tourist experience and perceived quality in the proposed model.
Conclusions. The article verified a model regarding the relationships between tourist motivation, tourist experience, perceived quality and tourist satisfaction. According to the results, a historical and cultural destination could improve a tourist’s perceived quality and satisfaction by enhancing tourist experience and providing tourist stimuli.
