Restorative Indoor Blue Space Experiences and Visit Intention in Aquarium Tourism: Implications for Sustainable Marine Leisure

This study examines how aquarium visitors’ perceived restorative environmental attributes influence leisure life satisfaction, positive emotional experience, and visit intention. Drawing on Attention Restoration Theory, aquariums are conceptualized not merely as indoor exhibition facilities but as restorative indoor blue space leisure settings. Using survey data from 452 Korean adults who had visited major aquariums within the previous 12 months, this study employed structural equation modeling and multi-group analysis. The results show that being away, fascination, and compatibility positively affected leisure life satisfaction, while fascination and compatibility significantly enhanced positive emotional experience. Both leisure life satisfaction and positive emotional experience were found to increase visit intention. Multi-group analysis revealed a significant difference only in the relationship between compatibility and positive emotional experience. Specifically, compatibility had a stronger effect on positive emotional experience among repeat visitors. In this study, Attention Restoration Theory is extended to aquarium-based indoor blue space settings, and restorative environmental perceptions are shown to influence and shape visitor responses through both cognitive and affective pathways. Although the outcome variable primarily captures visitors’ intention to revisit and recommend aquariums rather than direct pro-environmental behavior, the findings offer implications for sustainable marine leisure by showing how restorative and emotionally meaningful aquarium experiences can support conservation-oriented communication and longer-term visitor engagement. Practically, the findings suggest that aquarium managers should move beyond short-term price-oriented strategies and design restorative experiences that enhance fascination and compatibility, thereby strengthening emotionally meaningful and longer-term visitor engagement in sustainability-relevant leisure contexts.