Experience, service quality, and behavioral intentions in adventure tourism

Creative Commons License

Şen N.

Tourism and Recreation, sa.8, ss.200-212, 2026 (TRDizin)

Özet

The 2025 World Downhill Skateboarding Championship was held at Ergan Mountain Ski Center (Erzincan, Türkiye) and is considered one of the most challenging courses in this field. Hosting an international event in a niche area such as downhill skateboarding creates an important arena for experience. While efforts to improve the tourist infrastructure at the Ergan Mountain Ski Resort continue, visitor experiences are also a matter of interest. This study aims to determine the service quality perceptions of visitors attending the championship, examine the effects of these perceptions on customer satisfaction and intention to recommend, and assess the impact of a memorable tourism experience on customer satisfaction and intention to recommend. Quantitative research methods were employed in the research. Within the scope of the research, data were obtained from a sample of 234 people using a questionnaire administered in face-to-face interviews with visitors attending the championship. The results indicate that visitors' perceptions of service quality at international adventure events positively affect both customer satisfaction and intention to recommend. Additionally, a memorable tourism experience has a positive impact on customer satisfaction and intention to recommend. Furthermore, it has been concluded that satisfaction is a crucial mediating variable in the transformation of a memorable tourism experience into an intention to recommend. These results present the relationships between factors that will be focused on in the international adventure tourism literature, local governance and event management practice.