Factors influencing tourists' behavioral intentions in visit from water parks in the city of Mashhad

Theme parks represent a huge and fast-growing part of the world's hospitality and tourism industry, which has become an interesting and important research topic for marketers and activists in this industry. Creating and preserving memorable experiences along with meaningful mental image is an essential part of the marketing management of the water park industry which leads to behavioral goals such as recommending the park to others and the intention of visitors to re-visit. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the factors influencing the behavioral intentions of tourists visiting water parks in the city of Mashhad. This is a descriptive research and of the correlational type. In order to achieve the purpose of the study, 384 visitors were selected using a simple sampling method and a standardized questionnaire. Also, structural equation modeling was used for data analysis. The results of the hypotheses testing showed that the quality of experience has a positive effect on the mental image, satisfaction and perceived value of the visitors, and the mental image of the visitors has a positive and significant effect on perceived value, satisfaction, and pleasure of the visitors. Although the perceived value and pleasure of visitors have a positive effect on satisfaction, the visitor's pleasure does not directly affect his or her behavioral intentions, and this effect occurs indirectly through satisfaction. The findings provide insights for water park managers and marketers and allow them to understand the factors affecting visitor behavior such as recommending others and the intention to re-visit the water park and as a result, organize services in a way that meets the needs of visitors