Truong Le Minh

Type of the article: Research Article

This study aims to identify the key factors influencing tourist motivation and its subsequent impact on tourism effectiveness within the Vietnamese digital tourism sector. Research data were collected through an online survey utilizing a structured instrument measured on a five-point Likert scale. Data collection was carried out from January 15, 2026, to March 30, 2026, yielding 300 valid responses used for empirical analysis. The data analysis followed a systematic process, including scale reliability testing via Cronbach’s Alpha, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and structural equation modeling (SEM).

The structural model examines the impacts of tourism environment, tourism conditions, social media, guide quality, and travel attitudes on tourist motivation, as well as the path from tourism motivation to tourism effectiveness. The empirical results show that tourism environment, tourism conditions, guide quality, and travel attitudes all positively and significantly affect tourism motivation, with guide quality and travel attitudes as the strongest determinants. Notably, the study indicates that social media use does not significantly affect tourists’ travel motivation. Furthermore, structural path analysis confirms that tourism motivation serves as a critical full mediator directly driving tourism effectiveness (β = 0.413, p < 0.001). These findings clarify the central role of psychological mechanisms in digital travel and offer actionable implications for destination management organizations (DMOs) and tour operators to design structured itineraries and maximize service quality to enhance the overall visitor experience.