The mediating role of tourist attractions in the relationship between hotel employees and business tourists’ intentions to visit tourist attractions in Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

Research related to the relationships between hotel employees and tourist attractions carries imperative insinuations for exploring the intentions of business tourists in visiting tourist attractions, specifically in a South African context. This study aims to explore the mediating role of tourist attractions in the relationship between hotel employees and business tourists’ intentions to visit tourist attractions (hereafter referred to a business tourists’ visiting intention). Literature supports tourist attractions, amongst other factors, as an element which connects hotel employees to business tourists’ intentions to visit tourist attractions. A convenience sampling procedure was used to draw a sample of 282 domestic business tourists at a 3-star hotel in Pretoria, who completed a self-administered questionnaire. This study also adopted a quantitative research approach, as General Linear Modelling (GLM) was adopted to explore the mediating role using IBM SPS 23.0. The partial mediating role of tourist attractions was confirmed by a z-score of 7.92 thus revealing an indirect relationship between hotel employees and business tourists’ visiting intentions. The findings have implications for understanding the dynamics of the mediating role of tourist attractions in the relationship between hotel employees and the intentions of the business tourist to visit the tourist attraction. Managers in the hotel industry may use the results to develop marketing strategies, targeted at maximising the influence of hotel employees in stimulating domestic business tourists’ patronage of tourist attractions.

Keywords: Hotel employees, business tourists, tourist attractions, visiting intentions.