THE FACTOR STRUCTURE OF TOURIST SATISFACTION IN FOREST RECREATION TOURISM: THE CASE OF TAIWAN

Previous studies have identified overall tourist satisfaction as a function of satisfaction with multiple destination attributes and examined the asymmetric relationship between attribute-level satisfaction and overall tourist satisfaction in a variety of tourism contexts. However, this issue has not been empirically tested in the context of forest recreation tourism. This study aims to fill this literature gap by examining the perceptions of Chinese tourists toward the determinants of tourist satisfaction in a specific context, the Alishan National Forest Recreation Area, Taiwan. Alishan is one of the attractions Chinese tourists consider a "must see" in Taiwan. However, there has been insufficient provision of tourism infrastructure to accommodate the steady influx of Chinese tourists. To achieve long-term sustainability, forest managers are requested to allocate their limited resources to those sector-specific attribute-level satisfaction factors that potentially enhance overall tourist satisfaction the most. According to the three-factor theory of tourist satisfaction, "information services" and "recreation facilities" were classified as basic factors, whereas "safety and emergency system" was considered as an excitement factor. It is concluded that the top priority of improvement should be paid to the existing provision of recreation facilities, because they are identified as a sector-specific basic factor with low satisfaction.