The effects of past and expected experiences on revisit intention: a study of Australian and Indonesian tourists

Purpose This study aims to better understand tourists’ revisit intention from their perspectives of past and expected experience and to investigate whether the formation of revisit intention differs between tourists from different nationalities. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 250 Indonesian tourists who have visited Australia and 275 Australian tourists who have visited Indonesia. The data were analysed by conducting structural equation modelling and multi-group analysis with group comparisons. Findings Indonesian tourists’ intention to revisit Australia was influenced by past feeling experience and expected experience, while Australian tourists’ intention to revisit Indonesia was influenced by past feeling and relating experiences and expected experience. Both samples differ significantly in terms of relations between experiences and revisit intention. The relationship between past thinking experience and revisit intention was positive for Indonesians but negative for Australians. The relationship between past relating and expected experience was positive for Australians but negative for Indonesians. In addition, the influence of expected experience on revisit intention was stronger for Australian than Indonesian tourists. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study, for the first time, enriches tourism literature in understanding revisit intention by investigating revisit intention in relation to both past and expected experiences, along with examining nationality differences in the revisit intention formation.