Cultural Contact as a Catalyst: Determinants of Revisit Intention Among Phnom Penh Tourists to Siem Reap
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study examines the determinants of revisit intention among domestic tourists from Phnom Penh visiting Siem Reap, with a focus on the mediating role of cultural contact. A quantitative survey was conducted among 504 prior visitors, and the data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) against a model that incorporated destination attractiveness, image, accessibility, hospitality, and authenticity. Results confirm that all five destination factors significantly and positively predict revisit intention. The strongest direct drivers were Hospitality (β = 0.359) and Authenticity (β = 0.291). Crucially, Cultural Contact was identified as a vital experiential mediator. Its most substantial mediating effect was observed between authenticity and revisit intention (βindirect = 0.130, p = 0.003), and it also significantly transmitted the effects of attractiveness (βindirect = 0.082) and accessibility (βindirect = 0.050). These findings confirm that strategies prioritizing hospitality and authentic cultural engagement are essential for tourism managers and policymakers to cultivate long-term loyalty and sustainable tourism growth in Siem Reap.
Highlights
This study validates the Theory of Planned Behavior and the S-O-R model in Cambodian domestic tourism, highlighting cultural contact as a key mediator that transforms positive destination perceptions into revisit intentions. Destination attractiveness and authenticity are the strongest predictors, while hospitality has a direct influence on revisit intention. These insights highlight the importance of combining authentic cultural experiences with enhancements to destination attributes to foster tourist loyalty in Siem Reap.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Copyright: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
References
Ab Hamid, M. R., Sami, W., & Mohmad Sidek, M. H. (2017). Discriminant Validity Assessment: Use of Fornell & Larcker criterion versus HTMT Criterion. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 890(1), 012163.
Abbasi, G. A., Kumaravelu, J., Goh, Y.-N., & Dara Singh, K. S. (2021). Understanding the intention to revisit a destination by expanding the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Spanish Journal of Marketing - ESIC, 25(2), 282-311.
Ajzen, I. (1991). The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 50(2), 179-211.
Al-Sulaiti, I. (2022). Mega shopping malls, technology-enabled facilities, destination image, tourists’ behavior, and revisit intentions: Implications of the SOR theory. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 10, 965642.
Amini, A., Khodadadi, M., Nikbakht, A., & Nemati, F. (2024). Determinants and indicators for destination competitiveness: the case of Shiraz city, Iran. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 10(4), 1507-1532.
Ariesta, D., Sukotjo, E., & Suleman, N. R. (2020). The effect of attraction, accessibility and facilities on destination images and it’s impact on revisit intention in the marine tourism of the Wakatobi regency. International Journal of Scientific and Technology Research, 9(3), 6605-6613.
Baniya, R., Dogru-Dastan, H., & Thapa, B. (2021). Visitors’ experience at Angkor Wat, Cambodia: evidence from sentiment and topic analysis. Journal of Heritage Tourism, 16(6), 632-645.
Bastaman, A., & Yodfiatfinda, Y. (2021). Local People Hospitality at Tourism Destination: A Study of Tokyo Metropolitan Train Customers. Journal of Entrepreneurship, Business and Economics, 9(2), 96-112.
Benjamin, S., Bottone, E., & Lee, M. (2021). Beyond accessibility: Exploring the representation of people with disabilities in tourism promotional materials (pp. 153-171). In Jamal, T., & Higham, J. (Eds.). Justice and Tourism. United Kingdom: Routledge.
Biddulph, R. (2020). Tourism and Southeast Asian rural livelihood trajectories: the case of a large work integration social enterprise in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Journal of Qualitative Research in Tourism, 1(1), 73-92.
Biswas, C., Omar, H., & Rashid-Radha, J. Z. R. R. (2020). The impact of tourist attractions and accessibility on tourists’ satisfaction: The moderating role of tourists’ age. GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites, 32(4), 1202-1208.
Burton-Tairu, Z. O. (2020). Ecotourism potential in a developing nation–An integrated assessment of prospects for a sustainable ecotourism industry in Papua New Guinea (Doctoral dissertation). Australia : University of New England.
Carpio, N. M., Napod, W., & Do, H. W. (2021). Gastronomy as a factor of tourists’ overall experience: a study of Jeonju, South Korea. International Hospitality Review, 35(1), 70-89.
Carreira, V., González-Rodríguez, M. R., & Díaz-Fernández, M. C. (2022). The relevance of motivation, authenticity and destination image to explain future behavioural intention in a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Current Issues in Tourism, 25(4), 650-673.
Cham, T.-H., Lim, Y.-M., Sia, B.-C., Cheah, J.-H., & Ting, H. (2021). Medical tourism destination image and its relationship with the intention to revisit: A study of Chinese medical tourists in Malaysia. Journal of China Tourism Research, 17(2), 163-191.
Chen, H., Wang, Y., & Li, N. (2022). Research on the relationship of consumption emotion, experiential marketing, and revisit intention in cultural tourism cities: A case study. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 894376.
Conner, M. (2020). Theory of planned behavior (pp. 1-18). In Tenenbaum, G., & Eklund, R. C. (Eds.). Handbook of sport psychology (4th eds.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Efthimiou, S. G. (2024). The Adaptation of tourism industry and COVID-19. Theoretical Economics Letters, 14(6), 2081-2094.
Eijdenberg, E. L., Thirumaran, K., & Mohammadi, Z. (2024). Luxury hospitality revisited: A Cambodian perspective. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management, 58, 409-418.
Fan, C.-W., Chen, I.-H., Ko, N.-Y., Yen, C.-F., Lin, C.-Y., Griffiths, M. D., & Pakpour, A. H. (2021). Extended theory of planned behavior in explaining the intention to COVID-19 vaccination uptake among mainland Chinese university students: an online survey study. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics, 17(10), 3413-3420.
Fatema, K., Sinnappan, P., Meng, C. S., & Watabe, M. (2024). Technological advancements and innovations in the tourism industry: driving sustainable tourism (pp. 121-149). In Singh, P., Daga, S., Yadav, K., & Jain, A. (Eds.). The need for sustainable tourism in an era of global climate change: Pathway to a greener future. Bingley, United Kingdom: Emerald Publishing Limited.
Fusté-Forné, F. (2024). The food experience at a conference: The Nordic Symposium on Tourism and Hospitality Research. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 25(2), 1-7.
Genc, V., & Gulertekin Genc, S. (2023). The effect of perceived authenticity in cultural heritage sites on tourist satisfaction: the moderating role of aesthetic experience. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 6(2), 530-548.
Guo, X., Pesonen, J., & Komppula, R. (2021). Comparing online travel review platforms as destination image information agents. Information Technology & Tourism, 23, 159-187.
Hair, J. F., Risher, J. J., Sarstedt, M., & Ringle, C. M. (2019). When to use and how to report the results of PLS-SEM. European business review, 31(1), 2-24.
Hair Jr, J. F., Matthews, L. M., Matthews, R. L., & Sarstedt, M. (2017). PLS-SEM or CB-SEM: updated guidelines on which method to use. International Journal of Multivariate Data Analysis, 1(2), 107-123.
Hossain, M. S., Hossain, M. A., Al Masud, A., Islam, K. Z., Mostafa, M. G., & Hossain, M. T. (2024). The integrated power of gastronomic experience quality and accommodation experience to build tourists’ satisfaction, revisit intention, and word-of-mouth intention. Journal of Quality Assurance in Hospitality & Tourism, 25(6), 1692-1718.
Hudson, S. (2025). Hospitality Management: International Introduction. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis.
Huong, P. T. L., Van Anh, T. T., & Bao, T. D. Q. (2022). The influence of memorable tourism experience to revisit intention of domestic tourists: A case study for Danang City, Vietnam. Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science-Economics and Business Administration, 12(1), 125-138.
Hussain, K., Raman, M., Falahat, M., & Siddiqui, Y. A. (2024). Thai cultural tourism attributes: Emerging trends and sustainable practices (pp. 103-114). In Wong, T.-C., See, H.-P., & Milligan, M. (Eds.). Cultural tourism in the Asia Pacific: Heritage, city and rural hospitality. Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature Switzerland.
Irwin, H. (2020). Communicating with Asia: Understanding people and customs. New York, NY: Routledge.
Jebbouri, A., Zhang, H., Imran, Z., Iqbal, J., & Bouchiba, N. (2022). Impact of Destination Image Formation on Tourist Trust: Mediating Role of Tourist Satisfaction. Front Psychol, 13, 845538.
Jung, J.-H., Ha, J.-Y., & Shin, J.-I. (2022). The relationship between attractiveness, convenience, experiential quality, tourism satisfaction, and revisit intention in a local tourism destination: After the easing of the COVID-19 quarantine guideline. 관광연구저널, 36(10), 37-52.
Kazmi, S. H. A., Raza, M., & Ahmed, J. (2020). Impact of Destination Service Quality on Revisit Intention in Tourism. Journal of Organisational Studies & Innovation, 7(3), 26-45.
Keo, L., & Banhidi, M. (2023). The effects of COVID-19 on the sport tourism sector in the main cities of Cambodia. City, Territory and Architecture, 2(32), 1-26.
Kim, M. J., Lee, C.-K., & Jung, T. (2018). Exploring Consumer Behavior in Virtual Reality Tourism Using an Extended Stimulus-Organism-Response Model. Journal of Travel Research, 59(1), 69-89.
King, V. T., & Chin, W. L. (2024). COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 transitions: case study on the Lao PDR. Southeast Asia: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 24(2), 150-163.
Kock, N. (2016). Non-normality propagation among latent variables and indicators in PLS-SEM simulations. Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods, 15(1), 16.
Kock, N. (2017). Common method bias: A full collinearity assessment method for PLS-SEM (pp. 245-257). In Latan, H., & Noonan, R. (Eds.). Partial Least Squares Path Modeling: Basic Concepts, Methodological Issues and Applications. Cham, Switzerland: Springer International Publishing.
Kou, Y., & Xue, X. (2024). The influence of rural tourism landscape perception on tourists’ revisit intentions—a case study in Nangou village, China. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 11(1), 1-14.
Li, H., Lien, C.-H., Wang, S. W., Wang, T., & Dong, W. (2021). Event and city image: the effect on revisit intention. Tourism Review, 76(1), 212-228.
Li, S., Ma, S., & Zhang, J. (2022). Building a system dynamics model to analyze scenarios of COVID-19 policymaking in tourism-dependent developing countries: A case study of Cambodia. Tourism Economics, 29(2), 488-512.
Lin, E. (2024). Language and tourism in Cambodia: a multi-case study of the linguistic landscape in Phnom Penh hotels. Asian Englishes, 26(2), 475-497.
Lin, M. (2024). Understanding the influencing factors of tourists’ revisit intention in traditional villages. Heliyon, 10(15), e35029.
Liu, Y., Shi, H., Li, Y., & Amin, A. (2021). Factors influencing Chinese residents’ post-pandemic outbound travel intentions: an extended theory of planned behavior model based on the perception of COVID-19. Tourism Review, 76(4), 871-891.
Luo, L., & Ratasuk, A. (2024, July 23). Contributions of Key Opinion Consumers’ Attributes to Drive Gen Z Tourist Travel Intention in Guangzhou City, China (pp. 117-130). In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Aviation, Tourism, and Service Business 2024, Bangkok. Bangkok, Thailand: Organized.
Luong, T.-B. (2023). Destination image and loyalty: examining satisfaction, place attachment, and perceived safety. Journal of Policy Research in Tourism, Leisure and Events, 17(3), 1-22.
Lyu, J., Li, Y., Mao, Z., & Huang, H. (2023). The effect of innovation on tourists’ revisit intention toward tourism destinations. Tourism Review, 78(1), 142-158.
Lyu, J., & Ratasuk, A. (2024). Determinants of customer trust in rural e-commerce in Zhengzhou, China: A case study of Taobao Villages. Panyapiwat Journal, 16(2), 105-124.
Mohamed Al Matris, A. (2023). The Challenges of Rural Tourism Development. International journal of eco-cultural tourism, hospitality planning and development, 6(2), 29-45.
Mongtoeun, Y., Sousan, L., Reasey, H. S., Pasicolan, T., & Pasicolan, P. N. (2023). Current situation of municipal solid waste management in the urban and peri-urban of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ann. Civ. Environ. Eng, 7, 67-72.
Müller, S., Huck, L., & Markova, J. (2020). Sustainable community-based tourism in Cambodia and tourists’ willingness to pay. ASEAS-Austrian Journal of Southeast Asian Studies, 13(1), 81-101.
Mursid, A., & Anoraga, P. (2022). Halal destination attributes and revisits intention: the role of destination attractiveness and perceived value. International Journal of Tourism Cities, 8(2), 513-528.
Naing, N. L., & Ratasuk, A. (2024, July 23). Assessing the impact of SERVQUAL sub-dimensions on patients’ revisit intentions: A study of private hospitals in Yangon, Myanmar (pp. 78-97). In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Aviation, Tourism, and Service Business 2024, Bangkok. Bangkok, Thailand: Organized.
Nghiem, X.-H., Pham, H. T., Nguyen, T. G., & Nguyen, T. K. D. (2024). The tourism–climate nexus: A conceptual review of their interactions. In The Emerald handbook of tourism economics and sustainable development. Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Limited.
Nguyen Viet, B., Dang, H. P., & Nguyen, H. H. (2020). Revisit intention and satisfaction: The role of destination image, perceived risk, and cultural contact. Cogent Business & Management, 7(1), 1796249.
Nguyen, X. T. (2020). Factors that influence the intentions to revisit Korea of Vietnamese tourists. The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business, 7(4), 247-258.
Niu, Y., Ratasuk, A., & Sitthipo, P. (2025). The impacts of live broadcasting on purchase intention through perceived value and customer trust: Case of beauty products in Taobao live platform in Nanjing, China. วารสารปัญญาภิวัฒน์, 17(1), 79-104.
Nugroho, I., Hanafie, R., Rahayu, Y., Yuniar, H., Azizah, R., & Hasanah, R. (2021). Sustainable hospitality and revisit intention in tourism services. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 1776(1), 1-7.
Osman, H., Brown, L., & Phung, T. M. T. (2020). The travel motivations and experiences of female Vietnamese solo travellers. Tourist Studies, 20(2), 248-267.
Pan, C., Ratasuk, A., & Piyarom, T. (2024). Determinants of revisit intention of domestic snorkeling tourists in Hainan, China (pp.27-44). In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Aviation, Tourism, and Service Business 2024. Bangkok, Thailand: Organized.
Peng, J., Yang, X., Fu, S., & Huan, T.-C. T. (2023). Exploring the influence of tourists’ happiness on revisit intention in the context of Traditional Chinese Medicine cultural tourism. Tourism Management, 94, 104647.
Phon, S., Phon, S., & Touch, V. (2024). Factors Influencing the Community-Based Ecotourism Development in Cambodia: Structural Equation Model Analysis. Utsaha: Journal of Entrepreneurship, 3(1), 87-107.
Rasoolimanesh, S. M., Chee, S. Y., & Ari Ragavan, N. (2025). Tourists’ perceptions of the sustainability of destination, satisfaction, and revisit intention. Tourism Recreation Research, 50(1), 106-125.
Ratasuk, A. (2022). The role of cultural intelligence in the trust and turnover of frontline hotel employees in Thailand. Sciences, 22(2), 348-358.
Ratasuk, A. (2023a). Impact of food hygiene on purchase intentions and its mechanism in Bangkok street food under the influence of COVID-19. Medical Research Archives, 11(8), 4263.
Ratasuk, A. (2023b). Roles of emotional intelligence in promoting the innovative work behavior of restaurant employees. Thammasat Review, 26(2), 44-73.
Ratasuk, A. (2024a). The importance of food hygiene in building customer trust and repurchase intentions in Bangkok street food for sustainable development. NIDA Development Journal, 64(2), 49-76.
Ratasuk, A. (2024b). The structural equation model development of how mindfulness promotes employee creativity in the restaurant business. Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Studies, 24(2), 326-340.
Ratasuk, A., & Gajesanand, S. (2023). Does food safety build customer trust? The mediating role of perceived risk in food delivery service in Bangkok during the COVID-19 pandemic. Asia Social Issues, 16(2), e253719-e253719.
Rickly, J. M. (2022). A review of authenticity research in tourism: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research Curated Collection on authenticity. Annals of Tourism Research, 92, 103349.
Şahin, A., & Kılıçlar, A. (2022). The effect of tourists’ gastronomic experience on emotional and cognitive evaluation: an application of S-O-R paradigm. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 6(2), 595-612.
Sánchez-Rivero, M., Miguel-Barrado, V., Rodríguez-Rangel, M. C., & Pérez-Calderón, E. (2024). Evolution of transport, accessibility and tourism competitiveness in Extremadura (Spain): a benchmarking analysis. European Transport Research Review, 16(1), 66.
Saut, M., & Ly, Y. (2023). Influences of destination image, place attachment and service expectation on ecotourism destination satisfaction: a case of Cambodian tourists visiting Mondulkiri. Journal of Ecotourism, 23(1), 1-22.
Sio, K. P., Fraser, B., & Fredline, L. (2024). A contemporary systematic literature review of gastronomy tourism and destination image. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(2), 312-328.
Sirimongkol, T. (2022). The effects of restaurant service quality on revisit intention in pandemic conditions: an empirical study from Khonkaen, Thailand. Journal of Foodservice Business Research, 25(2), 233-251.
Soliman, M. (2021). Extending the Theory of Planned Behavior to Predict Tourism Destination Revisit Intention. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration, 22(5), 524-549.
Sophat, I., Saroeun, T., & Hong, S. (2024). An investigation of factors influencing tourists’ loyalty to revisit Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Srawung: Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 3(22), 54-70.
Sophea, D., Sungsuwan, T., & Viriyasuebphongp*, P. (2021). Factors Influencing Students’ Behavioral Intention on Using Mobile Learning (M-Learning) in Tourism and Hospitality Major in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Current Applied Science And Technology, 22(2), 1-22.
Stankov, U., Vujičić, M. D., Orero, P., & Gretzel, U. (2024). Accessibility of tourism 4.0—designing more meaningful and inclusive tourist experiences. Universal Access in the Information Society, 23(4), 1503-1506.
Sugiama, A. G., Suhartanto, D., LU, C. Y., Rediyasa, I. W., Sulaeman, R. P., & Renalda, F. M. (2024). Tourist satisfaction and revisit intention: the role of attraction, accessibility, and facilities of water park tourism. GeoJournal of Tourism and Geosites, 52(1), 257-266.
Terasaki, S., Hara, T., & Ikegami, J. (2023). Mediating role of the country image in enhancing memorable experiences and revisits: an Analysis of US tourists in Japan. Tourism Recreation Research, 49(6), 1-13.
Thea, T., & Mardy, S. (2023). Agro-tourism development in Cambodia: A literature review. International Journal of Sustainable Applied Sciences, 1(5), 479-494.
Thipsingh, S., Srisathan, W. A., Wongsaichia, S., Ketkaew, C., Naruetharadhol, P., & Hengboriboon, L. (2022). Social and sustainable determinants of the tourist satisfaction and temporal revisit intention: A case of Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 2068269.
Tosyali, H., Tosyali, F., & Coban-Tosyali, E. (2025). Role of tourist-chatbot interaction on visit intention in tourism: the mediating role of destination image. Current Issues in Tourism, 28(4), 511-526.
Vanchan, V. (2021). An ordinary but extraordinary city: Siem Reap Angkor, Cambodia (pp. 135-152). In Bryson, J. R., Kalafsky, R. V., & Vanchan, V. (Eds.). Ordinary Cities, Extraordinary Geographies: People, place and space Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Wara, K.-u., Jan, S., & Ihsan, A. (2022). Examining the influence of affordability and accessibility on tourist delight. Sarhad Journal of Management Sciences, 8(1), 1-18.
World Travel and Tourism Council. (2025).What is the economic impact of Travel & Tourism? Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=https://wttc.org/research/economic-impact/%23:~:text%3D10%2525,to%2520reach%2520US$%201.9%20trillion
Woyo, E., & Slabbert, E. (2023). Competitiveness factors influencing tourists’ intention to return and recommend: Evidence from a distressed destination. Development Southern Africa, 40(2), 243-258.
Yang, X., & Ratasuk, A. (2024). Determinants of Gen Z customers’ loyalty in the restaurant business in Dongguan City, China: a case study of Haidilao Hotpot restaurant. Panyapiwat Journal, 16(3), 29-44.
Yuan, F., & Vui, C. N. (2023). The influence of destination image on tourists’ behavioural intentions: explore how tourists’ perceptions of a destination affect their intentions to visit, revisit, or recommend it to others. Journal of Advanced Zoology, 44(S6), 1391-1397.
Zhao, S., & Tan, C. C. (2023). A Comparative Analysis of the Japanese Overseas SEZ in Phnom Penh and the Chinese Overseas SEZ in Sihanoukville, Cambodia: from the Perspective of Porter’s Diamond Model. International Journal of China Studies, 14(1), 171-209.
Zheng, K., Kumar, J., Kunasekaran, P., & Valeri, M. (2024). Role of smart technology use behaviour in enhancing tourist revisit intention: the theory of planned behaviour perspective. European Journal of Innovation Management, 27(3), 872-893.
Zhu, Q., & Ratasuk, A. (2024). Impacts of key opinion consumers on customer purchase intention: A study of social commerce platforms in China. Journal of ASEAN PLUS Studies, 5(2), 55-74.
Zulfiqar, U., Aman-Ullah, A., Mehmood, W., & Singh, H. (2024). Destination image and revisit intentions: A mediation-moderation study through tourist satisfaction and place attachment. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, 73(8), 182-202.
