Abstract:
This study investigates the impact of push and pull motivational factors on tourist engagement in tea tourism, specifically in the Nuwara Eliya district in Sri Lanka. A quantitative approach and convenience sampling method are employed to collect data from 384 tourists who visited tea tourism destinations in the district. A conceptual framework is used to test 12 hypotheses, and the data is analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics 25 and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with Smart PLS. The findings indicate that both push and pull factors positively affect tourist engagement, destination image, and familiarity, with destination image and familiarity positively associated with tourist engagement. The study also explores the mediating effects of destination image and familiarity on the relationship between push/pull factors and tourist engagement in tea tourism. The results suggest that destination image mediates the relationship between pull factors and tourist engagement, while familiarity mediates the relationship between push factors and tourist engagement. Additionally, there are significant direct and indirect paths between push and pull factors and tourist engagement, with familiarity partially mediating the relationship between push factors and tourist engagement and destination image mediating the relationship between pull factors and tourist engagement. These findings have practical implications for developing tea tourism in the Nuwara Eliya district and other similar destinations.
