International Leisure Tourist Satisfaction through Service Quality, Destination Cultural Inclusiveness and AI-Enabled Tourism Services: A PLS-SEM Analysis
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Abstract
Saudi Arabia’s rapid opening to international leisure tourism raises the question of what drives the satisfaction of visitors in a destination that is new to them. Grounded in SERVQUAL, expectancy–disconfirmation and cultural-adaptation perspectives, this study examined whether service quality and destination cultural adaptability shape optimum tourist satisfaction, and whether technology integration moderates these relationships. An online survey of 313 eligible international leisure tourists was analysed in two stages: SPSS for data screening and descriptive analysis, and higher-order partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS with 5,000 bootstrap subsamples. Service quality (β = .451) and cultural adaptability (β = .457) each increased satisfaction, jointly explaining 80.6% of its variance. Reliability, inclusiveness and openness, and intercultural communication were the only dimensions with unique effects. Digital readiness (β = .327) and artificial intelligence applications (β = .251) also increased satisfaction, and technology integration was the strongest predictor (β = .817). Model fit was good (SRMR = .020–.033), but technology integration did not moderate either relationship. Respondents barely distinguished service quality from cultural adaptability, which suggests that visitors evaluate culturally adapted service as one experience. Dependable service, a welcoming intercultural climate and a seamless digital journey therefore act as parallel routes to satisfaction, with implications for Vision 2030 destination management
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