Exploring the Relationship Between Motivations, Satisfaction, and Loyalty: Insights from the Galápagos Islands, a World Heritage Site

Mauricio Carvache-Franco, Miguel Orden-Mejía, Tahani Hassan, Orly Carvache-Franco and Wilmer Carvache-Franco ()
Additional contact information
Mauricio Carvache-Franco: Universidad Bolivariana del Ecuador, Campus Durán Km 5.5 Vía Durán Yaguachi, Durán 092405, Ecuador
Miguel Orden-Mejía: Facultat de Turisme i Geografia, Universitat Rovira I Virgili, Carrer Joanot Martorell, 15, 43480 Vila-seca, Spain
Tahani Hassan: Brunel Business School, Brunel University London, London UB8 3PH, UK
Orly Carvache-Franco: Universidad Espíritu Santo, Km. 2.5 Vía a Samborondón, Samborondón 092301, Ecuador
Wilmer Carvache-Franco: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Campus Gustavo Galindo Km 30.5 Vía Perimetral, Guayaquil 090902, Ecuador

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: Motivations for traveling to World Heritage natural destinations shape important theories for academic research. This study aims to analyze the influence of motivational factors on tourist satisfaction in the Galápagos Islands. The quantitative study was conducted in situ; a total of 407 valid questionnaires were collected at Mann Beach on San Cristobal Island in the Galápagos Islands, Ecuador. Through structural equation modeling, the analysis identified key motivations contributing to satisfaction, with novelty-seeking and social interaction emerging as key determinants. In contrast, motivations such as learning and authentic coastal experiences were found to have an insignificant impact on tourists’ overall perceptions. The findings also confirmed a strong positive relationship between satisfaction and loyalty, demonstrating that satisfied tourists are more likely to return and spread positive word-of-mouth about the destination. These results highlight the importance of designing tourism experiences that align with visitors’ expectations for social interaction and novelty, thereby enhancing the sustainability and reputation of the Galápagos Islands as a unique destination.

Keywords: motivation; satisfaction; loyalty; tourism; coastal; marine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/3034/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/7/3034/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:7:p:3034-:d:1623245

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().