Can the Quality of Hospitality Services Play a Role in Sustainable Equestrian Tourism in Slovenia? Mediations, Effects, and Implications
1
Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, University of Maribor, Pivola 10, 2311 Hoče, Slovenia
2
Economics Institute a. d. Belgrade, Kralja Milana 16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
3
Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad, Trg Dositeja Obradovića 3, 21000 Novi Sad, Serbia
4
Institute of Sports, Tourism and Service, South Ural State University, 76 Lenin Ave., Chelyabinsk 454080, Russia
5
Geographical Institute “Jovan Cvijić” SASA, Djure Jakšića 9, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Sustainability 2019, 11(21), 6155; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11216155
Received: 28 September 2019 / Revised: 20 October 2019 / Accepted: 27 October 2019 / Published: 4 November 2019
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Contemporary Trends in Sustainable Development: A Double-ECO (edged) Sword)
This study investigates the relationship between the quality of hospitality services and sustainable equestrian tourism development in Slovenia. The focus will be on the relations between equestrian tourism motivations, hospitality services quality, overall service quality, equestrian tourists’ satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. The target population was equestrian tourists who stayed in one of 30 tourism farms in Slovenia and used both accommodation and food and beverage services. Face-to-face surveys with convenience sampling were used for the data collection. The results show that equestrian tourism motivations are positively associated with both hospitality services quality and the overall service quality in equestrian tourism. Moreover, the overall service quality in equestrian tourism is positively related to equestrian tourists’ satisfaction, while equestrian tourists’ satisfaction is positively related to behavioral intentions. In addition, accommodation service quality and food and beverage service quality both mediate the association between equestrian tourism motivation and overall satisfaction. The study provides both theoretical and practical implications. For one thing, it fills the research gaps present in the literature. In addition, it gives practical guidelines to farmers and tourism practitioners regarding equestrian tourism development as one of the popular areas of sustainable tourism development in rural settings.
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MDPI and ACS Style
Pavić, L.; Blešić, I.; Petrović, M.D.; Radovanović, M.M.; Prišenk, J. Can the Quality of Hospitality Services Play a Role in Sustainable Equestrian Tourism in Slovenia? Mediations, Effects, and Implications. Sustainability 2019, 11, 6155.
AMA Style
Pavić L, Blešić I, Petrović MD, Radovanović MM, Prišenk J. Can the Quality of Hospitality Services Play a Role in Sustainable Equestrian Tourism in Slovenia? Mediations, Effects, and Implications. Sustainability. 2019; 11(21):6155.
Chicago/Turabian StylePavić, Lazar; Blešić, Ivana; Petrović, Marko D.; Radovanović, Milan M.; Prišenk, Jernej. 2019. "Can the Quality of Hospitality Services Play a Role in Sustainable Equestrian Tourism in Slovenia? Mediations, Effects, and Implications" Sustainability 11, no. 21: 6155.
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