Music Events, Satisfaction and Tourist Destinations: A Mediating Model

Musical tourism has established itself as a growing segment within cultural tourism, particularly among younger generations who prioritise the experiential value of travel. Whilst prior research has focused predominantly on multi-day music festivals, other event formats remain comparatively underexplored, and their influence on how tourists perceive a destination has received limited scholarly attention. This study examines how the experiential dimensions of musical events shape event satisfaction and, in turn, relate to overall destination satisfaction. An online questionnaire was administered to 205 participants who had attended a musical event whilst visiting a tourist destination. The analysis followed a two-stage approach: first, multiple linear regression was used to identify which experiential factors drive event satisfaction; second, a partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was employed to test the relationships between these dimensions, event satisfaction, and destination satisfaction. Findings indicate that only the musical and event atmosphere dimensions are significant predictors of event satisfaction, whereas the social and separation dimensions did not reach statistical significance in this context. Furthermore, event satisfaction is a positive predictor of destination satisfaction and acts as a mediating variable between experiential dimensions and the overall appraisal of the destination. These findings suggest that musical events may be strategically employed by tourist destinations to enhance their image and foster visitor loyalty.