Exploring the link between transcendent tourist experience, destination brand love, and eWOM intention in wellness tourism in Kerala

Providing exceptional experiences to tourists has become a paramount goal of the emerging hospitality and tourism industry (H&T) due to its experiential nature. Transcendent customer experience is a dimension of customer experience that refers to exceptional or deeply meaningful interactions that go beyond mere satisfaction to create a lasting emotional connection with a brand or product. In the context of H&T, tourists serve as primary customers. Hence, this study empirically examines the influence of transcendent tourist experience (TTE) on eWOM intention, with destination brand love (DBL) as a mediating variable, within the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. The research follows a quantitative research design. Using path analysis, this study examined data from 404 tourists as samples who visited wellness tourism destinations in Kerala. The study's findings reveal that TTE significantly influences eWOM through the mediation of DBL. It also provides valuable insights for tourism marketers who aim to leverage tourists' sentiments to promote destinations online, which may, in turn, lead to increased tourist engagement behaviours.