Escapism, Well-being, Satisfaction, and Loyalty among Tourists Visiting Ubud

Authors

  • Ni Komang Diah Permata Sari Universitas Udayana
  • Ni Made Asti Aksari Universitas Udayana

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.59261/bustechno.v7i4.794

Keywords:

Escapism, Well-being, Satisfaction, Loyalty

Abstract

Background: Wellness tourism increasingly responds to tourists’ need for psychological restoration from everyday routines and pressures. Ubud offers an integrated cultural, spiritual, and restorative tourism environment that provides an appropriate context for examining how escapism contributes to tourists’ psychological well-being, satisfaction, and loyalty.

Objective: This study examines the direct and indirect relationships among escapism, well-being, satisfaction, and loyalty among domestic tourists visiting Ubud using the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) framework.

Methods: A quantitative survey was conducted involving 210 domestic tourists who had visited Ubud within the previous 12 months. The proposed direct effects and indirect effects, including the serial mediation pathway, were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.

Results: Escapism was positively and significantly associated with well-being, satisfaction, and loyalty. Well-being was positively associated with satisfaction and loyalty, while satisfaction was positively associated with loyalty. The indirect-effect analysis showed that well-being mediated the relationship between escapism and loyalty. In addition, well-being and satisfaction sequentially mediated this relationship. The serial indirect effect was stronger than the direct effect, indicating that the relationship between escapism and loyalty was stronger when the tourism experience was accompanied by improved psychological well-being and subsequent satisfaction.

Conclusion: The findings extend the SOR framework by identifying well-being and satisfaction as an ordered psychological and evaluative mechanism linking escapism with tourist loyalty. The results also highlight the importance of restorative, meaningful, and culturally grounded tourism experiences in strengthening destination loyalty.

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2026-10-15