Foreign tourist satisfaction, commitment and revisit intention: exploring the effect of environmental turbulence in the Arab region

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationships between travel satisfaction, commitment and revisits intention among the UAE international tourists as well as the moderating effect of environmental turbulence. Design/methodology/approach Using the quantitative approach, the experience of individual foreign tourists who travelled to three UAE major cities, namely, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Fujairah, were probed. Through a drop-off and collect approach survey, 413 usable questionnaires were successfully collected and analysed. Findings The results of multiple regression path analysis confirm tourist satisfaction towards UAE tourism product and services influences their travel commitment and boosts tourist revisit intention behaviour. This paper also demonstrates how the Arab environmental turbulence moderates tourist satisfaction’s effect on revisit intention adversely. Originality/value This study offers valuable input to the UAE’s tourism governing bodies and industry practitioners. While continuously boosting the quality of tourism products and services, they also need to curb the effect of environmental turbulence as it would discourage tourists from revisiting UAE in the future.