Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between tourists’ motivation, experience, perceived value and revisit intentions to creative tourism destinations. The ever-growing concept of creativity has been introduced into the tourism field. Creative tourism has been viewed as a strategy to regenerate destinations physically, culturally and socially. To develop tourism products and provide services that integrate the concept of creativity to satisfy tourists’ needs by developing a more active and long-lasting form of experience, this study aims to examine tourist consumption psychology in the context of creative tourism destinations. Past studies have identified motivation, perceived value and experience as three major antecedents affecting tourists’ revisit intentions. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical study was carried out in three popular creative tourism spots, Meinong, Shuili and Yingge, located, respectively, in the north, middle and south Taiwan. These creative tourism sites provide pottery, crafts, arts, workshops and other creative activities that integrate authentic local culture to engage tourists with fulfilling and meaningful experiences. The on-site survey was conducted on both weekdays and weekends during March 2012. Self-administrated questionnaires were distributed to participants who were systematically selected at the main gate of the study areas. In total, 417 questionnaires were collected. Findings – The results indicated that on-site tourism experience was the most influential antecedent of revisit intention to creative tourism sites in terms of the magnitude of the standardized coefficient. The unique variances of motivation factors and perceived value were too small to be statistically significant to explain revisit intentions. The present study contributes to the ever-increasing tendency for creative industries in Taiwan to develop creative tourism products and services that encompass authentic local culture and art in enhancing tourist experience. Originality/value – For business operators, this study suggests that if owners of creative destinations would like to attract repeat tourists, the tourists’ experiences are surely critical in developing service blueprints to meet the needs and wants of customers; they should pay more attention to understanding what tourists experience when they visit creative tourism attractions.

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The immersive nature of 3D virtual worlds presents significant opportunities for tourism businesses as an optimal marketing platform to provide travel information and interact with potential tourists as well as a useful management tool to develop brand awareness and gain competitive advantage in the global market. Several travel and tourism organizations have used Second Life as a collaborative and commercial tool for communicating with travelers as well as tourism enterprises (e.g., Tourism Ireland; Philippines Department of Tourism; STA travel agents; Starwood Hotels; Crowne Plaza). Given the growth and potential of technologies within the tourism industry and particularly the rising interest in virtual worlds such as Second Life, this study focuses on the extent to which the virtual world of Second Life has been used in tourism industry. Specifically, this study describes what types of spaces tourism businesses are creating or simulating and the types of tourism activities being conducted in the 3D virtual environment. An overview of the definition of virtual worlds and information about the virtual world of Second Life is provided. The potentials of Second Life in the context of tourism marketing and tourism management are discussed, and the article concludes with potential future research related to the use of 3D virtual worlds.

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