The findings are relevant as tourism destinations increasingly compete not only through attractions, but through the quality of the experiences they provide. For TMSBK, which combines wildlife conservation, education, history, and Minangkabau culture, the results point to visitor satisfaction as a key factor in building long-term loyalty.
Visitor Experience Matters Beyond Attraction Numbers
Tourism management has increasingly shifted from focusing primarily on visitor numbers toward creating memorable experiences that encourage people to return and recommend destinations to others. Experience quality, perceived value, and destination image have therefore become important considerations in determining whether visitors remain loyal to a destination.
TMSBK Bukittinggi presents a distinctive combination of attractions, including the Kinantan Zoo, Fort de Kock, and the Limpapeh Bridge. However, visitor numbers fluctuated between 2021 and 2025. The researchers noted that external factors such as the COVID-19 pandemic and natural disasters contributed to changes in visitor numbers, but visitor reviews also indicated concerns about environmental quality, animal-enclosure cleanliness, tourism facilities, comfort, and the overall visitor experience.
These conditions led Febriani and Wardi to examine how three factors—experience quality, perceived value, and destination image—relate to tourist satisfaction and loyalty at TMSBK.
Study Surveyed 260 TMSBK Visitors
The researchers used a quantitative approach and collected primary data through direct surveys. The 260 respondents were tourists who had visited TMSBK within the previous six months. Participants were required to have spent at least 24 hours in Bukittinggi for recreational purposes and to have visited the Limpapeh Bridge, Kinantan Zoo, and Fort de Kock.
The questionnaire used a five-point response scale. The researchers first tested the research instrument with 30 respondents before conducting the main survey. The collected data were then analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling with the Partial Least Squares approach through SmartPLS 4.0.
Among the respondents, 71.9 percent were women. Visitors aged over 40 represented the largest age group at 36.9 percent, followed by those aged 31–40 at 30 percent. Bachelor’s degree or Diploma IV holders accounted for 40.4 percent of participants, while 54.2 percent of respondents lived outside West Sumatra.
Experience, Value and Image Increase Satisfaction
The analysis found that all three factors significantly improved tourist satisfaction.
- Experience quality had a positive and significant effect on satisfaction, with a coefficient of 0.239.
- Perceived value had the strongest effect on satisfaction, with a coefficient of 0.387.
- Destination image also significantly improved satisfaction, with a coefficient of 0.263.
The results indicate that tourists are more satisfied when they perceive their visit as enjoyable and informative, believe they receive worthwhile benefits for the time and money spent, and hold a positive impression of the destination.
However, perceived value produced a different result when tourist loyalty was examined directly.
Experience quality significantly increased tourist loyalty, with a coefficient of 0.454, while destination image also had a significant positive effect, with a coefficient of 0.207. In contrast, perceived value did not have a significant direct effect on loyalty, producing a p-value of 0.799.
Tourist satisfaction itself significantly increased loyalty, with a coefficient of 0.324. In practical terms, visitors who are satisfied with the attractions, facilities, services, recreational opportunities, and educational experiences at TMSBK are more likely to return and recommend the destination.
Satisfaction Connects Positive Experiences to Loyalty
The mediation analysis provides one of the study's most important findings. Tourist satisfaction significantly mediated the relationships between all three factors and tourist loyalty.
Experience quality affected loyalty through satisfaction with an indirect coefficient of 0.077. Perceived value affected loyalty through satisfaction with a coefficient of 0.125, while destination image affected loyalty through satisfaction with a coefficient of 0.085.
The overall model explained 79.6 percent of the variation in tourist loyalty and 63.5 percent of the variation in tourist satisfaction.
For TMSBK management, this means that offering good value alone may not be enough to create loyal visitors. The value needs to translate into a satisfying overall experience.
As Febriani and Wardi of Universitas Negeri Padang explain through their findings, tourist satisfaction is the key mechanism through which experience quality, perceived value, and destination image contribute to loyalty. Their results suggest that improving visitor happiness can be more effective for building long-term loyalty than relying on perceived value alone.
Implications for Tourism Management
The research provides practical recommendations for TMSBK Bukittinggi. Destination managers can strengthen visitor loyalty by improving attractions, facilities, cleanliness, comfort, security, atmosphere, and professional services. Maintaining a positive destination image is also important because visitors' perceptions influence both satisfaction and loyalty.
The findings may also benefit broader tourism management. Destinations that combine conservation, culture, education, and recreation can use visitor satisfaction as an important indicator when evaluating tourism services. Rather than measuring success only through visitor numbers, managers can pay greater attention to whether visitors leave with positive and memorable experiences.
The researchers recommend that future studies examine additional factors such as service quality, destination attachment, electronic word of mouth, destination trust, perceived authenticity, and memorable tourism experiences. They also suggest comparing different regions and tourism sectors to determine whether the findings apply to other destinations.
Author Profile
Rini Febriani — Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia. The journal article does not state her academic degree or a specific field of expertise.
Yunia Wardi — Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Padang, Indonesia, and the corresponding author of the article. The journal article does not state his academic degree or a specific field of expertise.
Research Source
Article: “The Effect of Experience Quality, Perceived Value, and Destination Image on Tourist Loyalty with Tourist Satisfaction as a Mediation Variable on Tourists to Kinantan Wildlife and Culture Park (TMSBK) Bukittinggi”
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