Study of the Image, Tourism Quality, Perceived Value, and Intention of Mazu Believers towards Religious Site

Mazu is one of the important folk beliefs of the Taiwanese people, originating from Meizhou Island in Putian, Fujian Province, China. It is a fisherman who works at sea and a guardian of navigation vessels. Because early mainland Chinese immigrants had to cross the dangerous Taiwan Strait when they arrived in Taiwan, in an era of underdeveloped technology, they carried Mazu aboard ships to bless the safe crossing of the sea. After arriving in Taiwan, it became a spiritual support for the villagers and residents, and later developed into temples for the convenience of people's worship. At present, in several early developed areas in Taiwan, there are Mazu temples with high incense, and after a hundred years of development, they have all formed famous religious sites, such as Tianhou Temple in Lugang Town, Changhua County. As tourists visiting Lugang not only worship Mazu, but also engage in sightseeing activities, the quality of tourism at the destination is crucial. Although the main motivation of pilgrims is to visit the Holy Land itself and engage in religious activities such as prayer and meditation, nonreligious/secular tourists may exhibit simple curiosity or gaze at specific architectural heritage styles. Regardless of their primary motivation, even those defined as "pure pilgrims" may participate in certain typical tourism activities, such as shopping, like their non-religious peers (Dimitrovski, Ioannides, & Nikolaau, 2021). So religious tourism refers to visiting religious destinations, mainly to meet the spiritual expectations of tourists, as well as the economic development goals of the destination Therefore, the purpose of this study is mainly to analyze the believers who went to the worshiping Mazu at the Tianhou Palace in Lugang. Their influence on local imagery, tourism quality, perceived value, and willingness to revisit. We hope the results of the analysis can provide a reference for planning tourism activities in religious areas.