Immersive expereince for wellness tourism within Thailand context
Authors:   , Kongtaveesawas Natnisha 
Published: May 2024

The emerging immersive tourism technology has contributed to development of the tourism field since it provides an interactive computer-generated medium that allows participants to create simulated experiences of both real and unreal situations. Immersive tourism technology provides travelers with the unique experience of the destination and can play a significant role in encouraging actual visitation and engaging both travelers and destinations in particular travel activities.  The previous research on a theoretically integrated PMSE experience framework and immersive tourism technology within Thailand context has not previously been conducted with respect to wellness tourism. To address this gap, this study develops and investigates a conceptually comprehensive model of immersive wellness tourism experience from the fundamental validated study of PMSE wellness experience attributes framework.

For preliminary study, research on the theoretical integration of attributes of wellness tourism in the form of the physical, mental, spiritual, and environmental (PMSE) attribute framework and the effect of cultural differences on the framework validation has not been conducted before. The fitness of the PMSE attribute framework model within the context of Thailand wellness tourism was confirmed through a survey design with a quantitative approach from the generalities of the sample groups. The entire dataset was statistically tested with descriptive statistics and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). After adjustments, the four-factors with a 28-item model substantiated the data. The results validated that the mental experience attributes accounted for the most variance, with an indicator value of 0.99 in the framework, predicting the effective wellness tourism experience better than the other attributes. The result has been used as the fundamental concept for the wellness tourism experience testing.

Thus, the purposes of this research were to develop immersive wellness tourism experience model within the context of Thailand from synthesizing those validated attributes with four experience dimensions in the form of immersive experience. In testing for content validity, the indicators were screened and examined by five tourism experts. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) with empirical data was utilized to test for construct validity. The sample of this research were 446 Thai Travelers derived from non-purposive sampling method. The research instrument was an online questionnaire with a prototype vdo clip length 4 minutes based on the result of preliminary study. The basic data was analyzed by using descriptive statistics and reported as Means, S.D., C.V., Skewness, and Kurtosis. In addition, the Confirmatory Factor was analyzed by utilizing the LISREL 9.30 program.

Regarding Four Experience Dimensions, namely Educational, Experience, Esthetic and Escapist Experience, it is found that the model shows a goodness-of-fit with empirical data, given that the chi-square value of 95.59 is statistically different from zero at the 0.05 level of significance, the probability (p) value of 0.06 is at the degree of freedom of 76 and the relative chi-square ( /df) value of 1.26 is less than 2. As for the adjusted goodness-of-fit index, the root mean square residual (RMR) value of 0.048 and the root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) value of 0.028 are both acceptable since they are less than 0.05. On account of the absolute fit index, the comparative fit index (CFI) value of 1.00, the goodness-of-fit index (GFI) value of 0.98 and the adjusted goodness-of-fit index (AGFI) value of 0.94 are all acceptable since they are greater than 0.90. In view of the fact that all fit indices are in conformity with the criteria, the model is a good fit with empirical data. The order confirmatory factor analysis result of Attitudes Regarding Four Experience Dimensions shows that all indicators have positive factor loadings between 0.86 and 0.99 that are statistically significant at 0.01 level. In descending order, indicators with the greatest factor loadings are Esthetic Experience Dimension and Entertainment Experience Dimension, both at 0.99, Escapist Experience Dimension at 0.97 and Educational Experience Dimension at 0.86, and their respective covariance values are 99, 97, 94 and 74. To confirm the result, the mock up session of prototype usage with 10 participants were also hosted.

In conclusion, the four experience dimensions are appropriate immersive wellness tourism experience indicators for Thailand context with validity in indication. Esthetic Experience and Entertainment Experience are the most significant experience dimensions in indicating the wellness tourism experience within the context of Thailand.