TOURISM MOTIVATION: DETERMINANTS OF INTENTION TO VISIT THE CITY PILLAR SHRINE IN NAKHON SI THAMMARAT

Abstract

This study aimed to examine Tourism Motivation: Determinants of Intention to Visit the City Pillar Shrine in Nakhon Si Thammarat. A quantitative research design was employed, and data were collected through a structured questionnaire administered to 400 tourists in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. The participants were selected using a non-probability sampling method, specifically accidental sampling. The instrument’s content validity was confirmed with an Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC) ranging from 0.75 to 1.00, and the overall reliability coefficient was 0.97. The results indicated that the overall level of motivation to visit and pay homage at the City Pillar Shrine was at a high level of 4.43. Among the two motivational dimensions, pull motivation demonstrated the highest mean score, 4.57, whereas push motivation yielded a mean score of 4.29. Tourists’ intention to visit and pay homage was also at a high level, 4.46. The highest mean score was found for the intention to revisit the shrine, 4.50, followed by the intention to recommend and share information through personal networks or social media, 4.45. At the same time, the perceived value of travel expenses had the lowest mean score, 4.43. The results of the multiple regression analysis indicated that the two motivational factors jointly accounted for 59 % of the variance in tourists’ intention to visit and pay homage to the City Pillar Shrine in Nakhon Si Thammarat Province. The model was statistically significant at the 0.01 level. Pull motivation exerted the strongest influence (Beta = 0.53), followed by push motivation (Beta = 0.29). Multicollinearity diagnostics confirmed the appropriateness of the regression model, as tolerance values exceeded 0.10 and variance inflation factor (VIF) values were below 10 (Tolerance = 0.47; VIF = 2.12), indicating no multicollinearity among the predictor variables.