Determinants of wellness tourists’ destination choice and word-of-mouth behaviors

Wellness tourism is very popular because modern society imposes a range of stressors. This research is designed to examine the drivers of tourist revisit and word-of-mouth intentions for Thailand as a wellness destination, using necessary condition analysis (NCA) and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). Perceived price and perceived quality were identified as the most salient core conditions that induce Chinese tourists’ repeat visit and word-of-mouth. Furthermore, a combination of perceived price, perceived quality, hedonic wellbeing, and destination love contributed to Chinese tourists’ revisit and word-of-mouth intentions for Thailand. These findings not only provide academic and industrial implications relating to wellness tourists’ experiences and psychological mechanisms, but also offer practical implications for wellness tourism development in Thailand.