From Destination Attractiveness and Community Participation to Travel Behavior: The Mediating Roles of Public Transport Accessibility and Behavioral Intention

Religious and cultural tourism plays a vital role in preserving historical identity, particularly in capital cities that serve as centers of significant religious and cultural heritage. Dusit District in Bangkok exemplifies this context, as it is home to numerous temples, palaces, and religious sites of considerable historical and social value. However, tourism activities in inner-city areas often face challenges such as traffic limitations, congestion, and environmental impacts arising from the extensive use of private vehicles. Consequently, the development of tourism routes supported by public transportation has gained increasing attention as a key mechanism for promoting sustainable tourism [1, 2].

While public transportation plays an important role in reducing environmental impacts and enhancing access to urban attractions, much tourism research continues to focus primarily on route planning or the assessment of an area’s physical potential, such as accessibility [3]. In contrast, key dimensions related to tourists’ perceptions—such as perceived destination attractiveness (PDA), behavioral intention (BI), and perceived community participation (PCP)—have not been systematically integrated into existing research models. This gap is particularly evident in studies of religious tourism within urban contexts in Thailand.

In addition, research on religious tourism has predominantly focused on faith-based motivations [4, 5] while largely neglecting the role of travel behavior (TB) and access via public transportation. These factors can significantly influence tourists’ perceptions of the value and attractiveness of tourism routes in tangible ways. At the same time, studies on transportation and urban tourism often concentrate on average travelers or regular transit users, rather than on tourists, whose behavioral patterns, motivations, and expectations may differ substantially.

1.1 Research gap

Based on the literature review, several important research gaps can be identified:

1. Limited integration of public transportation accessibility into religious tourism research. Existing studies have paid relatively limited attention to how tourists perceive the accessibility of religious tourism destinations through public transportation, particularly in inner-city tourism contexts. This leaves insufficient understanding of how transport accessibility may shape tourists’ destination perceptions and subsequent travel-related responses [6].

2. Lack of an integrated behavioral model. Much of the existing literature examines transportation accessibility, destination attractiveness, tourist behavior, BI, and community participation as separate dimensions. Consequently, few studies have integrated these constructs into a single structural model to explain how destination attractiveness and community participation relate to public transport accessibility, BI, and tourists’ TB [7].

3. Insufficient attention to the mediating mechanisms linking destination perceptions to TB. Although previous research has examined destination attractiveness and accessibility, less attention has been given to the mechanisms through which these perceptions translate into tourists’ BI and actual TB [8]. Examining the mediating roles of perceived accessibility by public transport (PAP) and BI can therefore provide a more comprehensive explanation of tourists’ TB in religious and historical tourism contexts.

4. Existing religious tourism studies rarely examine how public transport accessibility and community participation contribute to sustainable tourist mobility and the management of environmental pressures in heritage districts. As a result, limited evidence is available to guide transport planning and tourism policy aimed at reducing congestion and improving accessibility in urban heritage destinations [9].

1.2 Innovation and contribution of the research

This study proposes an integrated framework for understanding religious tourism supported by public transportation from a tourist-centered perspective. It examines the relationships among PDA, PCP, PAP, BI, and tourists’ TB within the context of sustainable urban tourism. The main contribution of the study lies in integrating destination attractiveness and community participation with public transport accessibility and tourist behavioral responses in a single structural model. In particular, the model provides insight into how destination perceptions and community participation are associated with perceived accessibility, BI, and subsequent TB. This integrated perspective extends existing research by connecting transportation accessibility with tourist decision-making in religious and historical tourism contexts. The findings also offer practical implications for policymakers, local authorities, and tourism stakeholders in designing and managing more accessible, attractive, and community-supported religious tourism routes. Such insights may contribute to the development of sustainable urban tourism strategies that encourage public transport use and strengthen the cultural and social value of historic areas in Thailand and other comparable urban destinations.

The contribution of this study extends beyond tourist behavior by examining public transport accessibility as a policy-relevant mechanism within sustainable urban tourism. In religious heritage districts, improving accessibility may support more sustainable tourist mobility patterns and reduce dependence on private vehicles. The findings therefore provide insights for tourism planners, transport authorities, and local governments responsible for managing visitor flows in historically significant urban destinations.

1.3 Theoretical foundation

This study draws on and extends the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) proposed by Ajzen [10] to examine tourists’ TB in religious and historical tourism. Rather than testing the complete original TPB model, the study adopts its central intention–behavior mechanism and integrates tourism-specific contextual factors into the framework. In particular, PDA, PAP, and PCP are incorporated to reflect destination, transportation, and community conditions that are particularly relevant to tourism contexts. The theoretical framework assumes that tourists’ perceptions of the destination and its surrounding tourism environment are associated with their perceptions of accessibility, BI, and reported TB. BI represents the psychological mechanism derived from TPB, whereas TB represents the reported behavioral outcome. PDA, PAP, and PCP extend the conventional TPB framework by introducing contextual tourism conditions that may influence tourists’ behavioral responses. The proposed framework therefore integrates three complementary perspectives. First, the TPB provides the behavioral mechanism linking intention to behavior. Second, the destination perspective explains how tourists’ evaluations of destination attractiveness may influence their behavioral responses. Third, transportation and community perspectives explain how perceived accessibility and community involvement may contribute to tourists’ experiences and behavioral responses. The integration of these perspectives provides a tourism-specific framework for examining the relationships among destination perceptions, accessibility, community participation, BI, and TB.

1.4 Theory of Planned Behavior

The TPB proposes that BI is a proximal determinant of behavior and that intention is influenced by attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control [10]. The intention–behavior relationship has been widely applied in tourism research because tourists’ intentions to revisit, recommend, or engage in tourism activities can provide an important indication of subsequent behavioral responses. In the present study, BI represents tourists’ intention to revisit [11], recommend, and support tourism-related activities, while TB represents their reported travel-related behavior. Accordingly, the BI–TB relationship constitutes the core behavioral mechanism adopted from TPB. However, the study does not claim to test the complete original TPB. Attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control are not modeled as separate antecedents of BI. Instead, TPB is used selectively as the theoretical foundation for the intention–behavior mechanism, while tourism-specific contextual constructs are incorporated to reflect characteristics of religious and historical tourism destinations. This approach represents a contextual extension of TPB rather than a replication of the original model. It allows the study to examine whether destination attractiveness, public transport accessibility, and community participation provide additional explanatory perspectives beyond the psychological intention–behavior mechanism.

1.5 Integration of tourism-specific contextual factors

Tourist behavior is influenced not only by individual psychological intentions but also by characteristics of the destination and its surrounding environment [12]. In religious and historical tourism, destination attractiveness, transportation accessibility, and community involvement can shape tourists’ perceptions of the feasibility, convenience, and value of visiting and experiencing a destination. PDA is therefore conceptualized as a destination-level contextual perception reflecting tourists’ evaluation of the overall attractiveness of the destination. PAP represents a transportation-related perceptual condition concerning the ease and convenience of accessing the destination by public transport. PCP represents a community-level contextual perception concerning the visible involvement of local communities in tourism development and tourism-related activities. These constructs are theoretically complementary. Destination attractiveness provides a reason for tourists to visit, accessibility influences the perceived feasibility of reaching and moving around the destination, and community participation reflects the local social environment supporting tourism activities. Together, these contextual factors extend the TPB intention–behavior mechanism into a tourism-specific framework.

1.6 Perceived destination attractiveness

PDA is conceptualized as tourists’ overall evaluation of the appeal and value of a destination. In religious and historical tourism, attractiveness may arise from cultural and architectural resources, heritage significance, tourism activities, route characteristics, and the overall value perceived by visitors [13]. Within the proposed framework, PDA is treated as a destination-level perception that precedes tourists’ behavioral responses. A destination perceived as attractive may increase tourists’ willingness to revisit, recommend, and participate in tourism-related activities. Destination attractiveness may also influence how tourists evaluate the practical conditions associated with visiting the destination, including the accessibility of available transportation options. PDA is therefore positioned as an antecedent rather than an outcome of TB in the proposed structural model. Although previous tourism research has recognized that actual experiences may subsequently influence destination evaluations, the present study focuses on the proposed directional relationships within its cross-sectional structural model.

1.7 Perceived accessibility by public transport

PAP represents tourists’ subjective evaluation of the ease, convenience, availability, connectivity, information, and affordability of public transportation for reaching and moving within a tourism destination. PAP is treated as a perceived condition rather than an objective measurement of transportation infrastructure. This distinction is important because tourists may evaluate the same transportation system differently depending on their travel experience, familiarity with the destination, perceived convenience, and information available to them [14]. Within the framework, PAP functions as a transportation-related mechanism connecting destination and community conditions with tourists’ behavioral responses. A destination that is perceived as accessible may involve fewer perceived travel barriers and may consequently support stronger BI and more favorable reported TB. The framework also allows PAP to have direct relationships with BI and TB, thereby recognizing that transportation accessibility may influence tourists’ behavioral responses not only through intention but also through its practical implications for travel.

1.8 Perceived community participation

PCP refers to tourists’ perceptions of the involvement of local communities in tourism planning, tourism-route management, cooperation with relevant organizations, visitor assistance, and tourism-related activities and services [15]. PCP is conceptualized as a community-level contextual factor rather than as a direct component of the TPB. In religious and historical tourism, local communities are closely connected to the cultural, social, and service environment surrounding heritage and religious attractions. Visible community involvement may therefore contribute to the organization of tourism activities, provision of visitor information, local coordination, and assistance to tourists. In the proposed framework, PCP is positioned as an antecedent of PAP. The underlying theoretical rationale is that active community involvement can contribute to local coordination, tourism information, visitor assistance, and the organization of tourism services, which may subsequently influence tourists’ perceptions of accessibility. Thus, PCP extends the framework beyond individual psychological factors by incorporating the local community environment as a contextual condition associated with tourists’ perceptions of transportation accessibility.

1.9 Theoretical integration and model logic

The theoretical contribution of this study lies in integrating the TPB intention–behavior mechanism with tourism-specific contextual perspectives. The resulting framework distinguishes between contextual conditions and psychological responses. At the contextual level, PDA and PCP represent destination- and community-related perceptions. PAP represents a transportation-related perceptual mechanism that connects these contextual conditions with tourists’ behavioral responses. BI represents the psychological mechanism derived from TPB, while TB represents the reported behavioral outcome.

The theoretical sequence can therefore be summarized as:

Destination and community perceptions → perceived accessibility → BI → reported TB

The model additionally permits direct relationships between PDA, PAP, BI, and TB where theoretically justified. Consequently, the framework does not assume that BI is the only mechanism through which contextual tourism conditions influence TB. Importantly, the proposed framework should be interpreted as an extension of TPB rather than as a test of the original TPB model. Its contribution is to examine how the intention–behavior mechanism operates within a tourism environment in which destination attractiveness, public transport accessibility, and community participation may provide important contextual explanations of tourists’ behavioral responses. Because the study uses cross-sectional perceptual data, the proposed relationships should be interpreted as theoretically specified structural associations rather than definitive causal effects. The framework provides the basis for empirically examining the relationships among the constructs through the proposed structural model.

3.1 Population and sample

The research population comprised approximately 3,240,000 tourists in Bangkok [32]. The target sample size was determined with reference to the sample size table developed by Krejcie and Morgan [33], which indicated a minimum sample of approximately 400 respondents for a population of this magnitude. Accordingly, a target sample of 400 tourists was established for the present study. Because the final respondents were recruited through a non-probability procedure at the selected sites, the sample size was used to provide an adequate basis for the planned statistical analysis rather than to claim probability-based representation of the entire tourist population.

The sampling procedure involved two stages. First, a cluster-based site selection procedure was used to identify the major heritage and religious tourism sites within the Dusit District of Bangkok. Three sites were selected as the data-collection clusters: Wat Benchamabophit Dusit Wanaram, Wat Thewarat Kunchorn Worawiharn, and Wat Rajathiwat. These sites were selected because they are prominent religious and cultural heritage attractions within the district and represent important visitor destinations associated with the historical and cultural development of the early Rattanakosin period.

Second, convenience sampling was employed within the selected site clusters. Eligible tourists who were present at the sites during the data-collection period were approached directly by the researchers and invited to participate voluntarily. Data collection was conducted across all three selected sites and at different periods to obtain responses from visitors with varying visit times and visitor circumstances. No proportional allocation of respondents across the three sites was imposed because the objective was to obtain observations from each selected site rather than to construct a probability-proportional sample of visitors by destination.

This sampling strategy was adopted because a complete sampling frame of tourists visiting the selected religious heritage sites was not available, and the flow of visitors varied by site and time. The use of multiple site-based clusters provided coverage of different heritage attractions within the study area, while the subsequent convenience recruitment enabled the researchers to access eligible visitors in the actual tourism setting. Nevertheless, because respondents within the selected clusters were not randomly selected and did not have a known or equal probability of inclusion, the sample should not be interpreted as statistically representative of all tourists in Bangkok. Accordingly, the findings are interpreted in relation to the observed respondents and the study context, and generalization beyond the selected sites and study population should be made with caution.

3.2 Research tools

This study employed a questionnaire as the primary research instrument to measure tourists’ attitudes. The questionnaire was developed based on theoretical principles drawn from consumer behavior and social science research. Previous studies, including those by Butler [31] and Ajzen [10], have emphasized that fundamental demographic factors—such as gender, age, occupation, and educational level—significantly influence travel patterns and perceptions of travel experiences. Collecting such demographic information is therefore essential for analyzing differences among samples and enabling a more accurate interpretation of the research findings. The development of the questionnaire in Part 2, which focuses on opinions regarding religious tourism, was guided by a theoretical framework and an extensive review of the literature related to TB. The questionnaire incorporates key constructs, including recognition of the value of tourist attractions, accessibility by public transport, attitudes and BI, and community participation.

The TB items were developed to capture tourists’ reported travel-related practices and decisions in the context of religious tourism. The items address the reported use of public transportation, route planning before travel, perceived convenience when using public transportation, and the selection of travel times to avoid congestion. Because the construct is measured through self-reported questionnaire responses, TB is interpreted as reported TB rather than objectively observed or independently verified TB. This distinction is particularly important given the cross-sectional nature of the study.

PDA refers to the overall attractiveness of a religious tourism destination as perceived by tourists, encompassing the destination characteristics that contribute to its appeal as a place to visit. In the context of religious tourism, attractiveness may arise from cultural and architectural characteristics, the appeal of tourism routes, the capacity of the surrounding destination environment to accommodate visitors, and perceived benefits associated with tourism development. In this study, PDA is specified as an emergent construct using Mode B measurement. The indicators are therefore treated as complementary dimensions that jointly contribute to the overall construct rather than as interchangeable manifestations of a single underlying latent trait. Consequently, the indicators do not need to exhibit high internal consistency in the same manner as reflective measures. The inclusion of destination-related community and economic dimensions reflects the contextual nature of attractiveness in religious tourism. Tourists may evaluate the attractiveness of a tourism route not only from the intrinsic cultural and architectural qualities of religious sites but also from the extent to which the surrounding destination environment is prepared to accommodate visitors and generate local tourism benefits. Nevertheless, these dimensions are interpreted as contextual components contributing to the emergent assessment of destination attractiveness rather than as direct measures of community participation or economic benefit as separate constructs. Because PDA is modeled as an emergent construct, its measurement quality is assessed primarily through the theoretical relevance and content coverage of its indicators, indicator weights, and collinearity diagnostics, rather than through Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, or AVE.

PCP refers to tourists’ perceptions of the involvement and contribution of local communities in the development, management, and delivery of tourism-related activities. In religious tourism destinations, community participation may involve involvement in tourism route management, cooperation with public-sector organizations, contribution to tourism development, and the provision of locally based products or activities for visitors. In this study, PCP is specified as an emergent construct using Mode B measurement. The indicators are therefore understood as complementary aspects of tourists’ overall perception of community involvement rather than as interchangeable manifestations of a single latent characteristic. In particular, indicators concerning community benefits and the provision of local products or activities are interpreted as observable manifestations of community contribution to tourism development, rather than as direct measures of participatory decision-making alone. This specification recognizes that community participation in tourism is multidimensional and may extend beyond formal involvement in decision-making to include cooperation, contribution, and participation in tourism-related activities. Nevertheless, the distinction between participation and community benefit is acknowledged when interpreting the construct. Accordingly, the measurement quality of PCP is evaluated through the theoretical relevance and content coverage of the indicators, indicator weights, and collinearity diagnostics, rather than through internal-consistency reliability measures such as Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, or AVE.

The decision to model PDA and PCP as emergent (Mode B) constructs was based on established criteria for formative measurement [34-36]. Formative measurement is appropriate when indicators collectively define the construct, are not interchangeable, and may not necessarily exhibit high intercorrelations. In the present study, the indicators represent conceptually distinct dimensions that jointly contribute to the overall perception of destination attractiveness and community participation. For example, cultural appeal, infrastructure readiness, and tourism benefits constitute different aspects of destination attractiveness, while cooperation, contribution, management involvement, and provision of local tourism products represent different forms of community participation. Because omitting any indicator would alter the conceptual domain of the construct, PDA and PCP were specified as Mode B constructs and assessed using indicator weights and collinearity diagnostics rather than internal-consistency reliability measures.

BI refers to tourists’ stated willingness or readiness to engage in future destination-related behaviors, including revisiting a destination, recommending it to others, and supporting tourism-related activities. In the present study, BI represents the future-oriented behavioral component of the proposed model and serves as a proximal behavioral mechanism linking tourists’ perceptions of the destination and accessibility to their reported TB.

The measurement of BI includes items concerning intention to revisit, willingness to recommend the route to friends, and willingness to support tourism activities. One item, concerning tourists’ feeling of pride in visiting religious sites in the area, reflects an affective evaluation associated with the destination rather than a BI in the strict sense. This item was retained as part of the operationalization of BI because the study treats favorable affective responses as supporting tourists’ future-oriented behavioral responses. Nevertheless, this conceptual distinction is acknowledged when interpreting the construct and represents a limitation of the measurement design. Therefore, the present study should not be interpreted as a direct test of the complete original TPB. Rather, BI is used as a behavioral mechanism consistent with the intention–behavior component of TPB.

This study received an ethics exemption from the institutional review board in July 2025. Following the approval, the questionnaire survey and field data collection were carried out between August and September 2025.

3.3 Research instrument validity and reliability

The research instrument was developed from relevant theoretical perspectives and previous research on tourism behavior, destination attractiveness, public transport accessibility, and community participation. Content validity was assessed using the Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC). Three experts in tourism management and research methodology reviewed the questionnaire to evaluate the correspondence between the individual items and the intended research constructs. All items achieved IOC values above the minimum acceptable level of 0.50, indicating satisfactory expert agreement regarding their relevance to the research objectives.

The measurement model was subsequently assessed according to the measurement specification of each construct. PAP, BI, and TB were modeled as reflective constructs (Mode A). Their measurement quality was therefore assessed using Dijkstra–Henseler’s rho (ρA), composite reliability, Cronbach’s alpha, and average variance extracted (AVE), together with discriminant validity assessment.

In contrast, PDA and PCP were specified as emergent constructs using Mode B measurement. Because their indicators represent complementary dimensions that jointly form the constructs, internal-consistency measures such as Cronbach’s alpha, composite reliability, and AVE were not used as criteria for their measurement quality. Instead, the assessment focused on the theoretical relevance and content coverage of the indicators, their indicator weights, and collinearity diagnostics.

This distinction between reflective and emergent measurement models was maintained throughout the analysis to ensure that the evaluation criteria corresponded to the conceptualization of each construct.

3.4 Research analysis

The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The methodological choice was based on the objective and measurement characteristics of the present study rather than on the number of constructs alone. The study aims to examine the explanatory and predictive relationships among PDA, PCP, PAP, BI, and reported TB, including the indirect pathways through which these constructs are associated.

PLS-SEM was considered appropriate for three methodological reasons. First, the structural model contains several endogenous constructs and specifies multiple direct and indirect relationships, with the analysis emphasizing the explained variance of PAP, BI, and TB. Second, the measurement model combines reflective constructs (PAP, BI, and TB) with emergent/formative constructs (PDA and PCP). PLS-SEM is well suited to models that combine reflective and formative measurement specifications because formative indicators can be incorporated without requiring them to be interchangeable manifestations of a common latent factor. Third, PLS-SEM is appropriate when the research places emphasis on explaining variance and examining predictive relationships among constructs rather than on reproducing the empirical covariance matrix as the primary objective [36-38].

This does not imply that covariance-based SEM (CB-SEM) is incapable of estimating models containing formative constructs. Rather, the choice of PLS-SEM reflects the composite/formative measurement specifications, the variance-explanation orientation of the study, and the objective of examining the predictive relationships among the endogenous constructs. The analysis therefore follows a variance-based SEM approach consistent with the conceptual and measurement characteristics of the proposed model.

The analysis was conducted in two stages. First, the measurement models were evaluated according to their respective specifications. For reflective constructs, internal consistency reliability was assessed using Dijkstra–Henseler's ρA, composite reliability, Cronbach's alpha, and AVE, while discriminant validity was examined using the heterotrait–monotrait ratio (HTMT). For the emergent/formative constructs, the assessment focused on indicator relevance, indicator weights, collinearity diagnostics, and theoretical content coverage. Second, the structural model was evaluated using path coefficients, bootstrap standard errors, t-values, confidence intervals, R², and f². Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples was used to evaluate the statistical significance of direct and indirect effects.

Because the data were collected at a single point in time and all constructs were measured through respondents' questionnaire responses, the estimated structural coefficients are interpreted as statistically significant associations within the theoretically specified model rather than as definitive causal effects.

3.5 Ethical considerations

The study received an ethics exemption from the Human Research Ethics Committee of Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University in July 2025 (Certificate No. COE.2-526/2025). It was conducted in accordance with ethical principles for research involving human participants. All participants were adults aged 18 years or above, and participation was voluntary. Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before questionnaire administration. Participants were informed of the study purpose, procedures, confidentiality measures, and their right to decline or withdraw at any time without penalty. No personal identifying information was collected. Signed consent forms were stored separately from the questionnaires, and all data were kept confidential and used solely for academic purposes.

3.6 Informed consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all participants before participation. Participants received information regarding the study purpose, procedures, voluntary nature of participation, confidentiality, and their right to withdraw without consequence. Only those who signed the consent form were invited to complete the questionnaire. Signed consent forms were stored separately from survey responses to preserve participant confidentiality.

5.1 Discussion of direct effects

The findings provide support for all seven hypotheses concerning the direct relationships among PDA, PCP, PAP, BI, and TB. Overall, the results suggest that tourists’ perceptions of the destination and community environment are associated with their perceptions of transport accessibility, BI, and subsequent TB.

H1: PDA → PAP

H1 was supported, indicating that PDA has a positive effect on PAP (β = 0.457, p < 0.001). This finding suggests that when tourists perceive a religious tourism destination as attractive and worthwhile, they are also more likely to perceive the available public transportation system as accessible and convenient [39]. The relatively strong effect indicates that accessibility is not perceived independently from the attractiveness of the destination. Rather, tourists may evaluate the ease of reaching a destination in relation to the value and attractiveness they associate with the destination. This finding supports the view that destination attractiveness and accessibility are interconnected components of the overall tourism experience.

H2: PCP → PAP

H2 was supported, with PCP having a positive effect on PAP (β = 0.273, p < 0.001). This result suggests that tourists who perceive greater community involvement in tourism development also tend to perceive the destination as more accessible through public transportation [40]. Community participation may contribute indirectly to accessibility through local involvement in tourism-route development, information provision, coordination with public agencies, and improvements in the visitor environment. The finding therefore highlights the potential role of community participation in supporting the functional accessibility of religious tourism destinations.

H3: PDA → BI

H3 was supported, as PDA had a positive and relatively strong effect on BI (β = 0.519, p < 0.001). This finding indicates that tourists who perceive the religious tourism destination as attractive are more likely to develop favorable BI, such as revisiting, recommending the destination [41], and supporting tourism-related activities. The result is consistent with the behavioral logic underlying the TPB, in which favorable perceptions of a behavioral context can contribute to stronger intentions. In the present study, destination attractiveness appears to be an important antecedent of tourists’ intention to engage with the destination.

H4: PAP → BI

H4 was supported, with PAP positively affecting BI (β = 0.286, p = 0.0002). This result indicates that convenient and understandable public transportation can strengthen tourists’ willingness to revisit, recommend [42], and support the tourism route. Accessibility reduces practical barriers associated with travel and may consequently make tourists more willing to engage with the destination in the future. The finding emphasizes that transport accessibility should be considered not merely as a physical transportation issue but also as a factor contributing to tourists’ behavioral responses [43].

H5: PDA → TB

H5 was supported, with PDA having a positive direct effect on TB (β = 0.236, p = 0.0018). This finding suggests that tourists’ perceptions of the attractiveness and value of the destination are associated with how they actually approach their travel, including their use of public transportation, route planning, and travel-time decisions. The result indicates that destination perceptions may extend beyond intention and be reflected in tourists’ reported TB [44].

H6: PAP → TB

H6 was supported, as PAP had a positive effect on TB (β = 0.241, p = 0.0060). This finding demonstrates that when public transportation is perceived as convenient, understandable, well connected, and reasonably priced, tourists are more likely to demonstrate favorable TB [2]. The result reinforces the importance of transportation accessibility in facilitating tourism mobility, particularly in urban religious tourism routes where visitors may depend on public transportation to move among multiple attractions.

H7: BI → TB

H7 was supported, with BI positively affecting TB (β = 0.306, p = 0.0008). This finding is consistent with the central proposition of the TPB that BI is an important proximal determinant of behavior. Tourists who express stronger intentions to revisit, recommend, and support tourism activities are also more likely to report corresponding TB. The result therefore provides empirical support for incorporating BI as an explanatory mechanism linking tourists’ perceptions to their TB [45].

5.2 Perceived accessibility by public transport as a mediator

H8: PAP mediates the relationship between PDA and BI

H8 was supported, with PAP significantly mediating the relationship between PDA and BI (indirect effect β = 0.131, p = 0.004). This finding indicates that destination attractiveness influences tourists’ BI not only directly but also through their perceptions of public transport accessibility. In other words, an attractive destination is more likely to generate favorable BI when tourists also perceive that the destination can be conveniently accessed by public transportation. The finding demonstrates the complementary role of transportation accessibility in translating destination attractiveness into tourists’ behavioral responses [46].

H9: PAP mediates the relationship between PCP and BI

H9 was also supported, with PAP significantly mediating the relationship between PCP and BI (indirect effect β = 0.078, p = 0.016). This finding suggests that community participation can contribute to tourists’ BI through improvements or positive perceptions of public transport accessibility [47]. Community involvement may help create a more coordinated and visitor-oriented tourism environment, which can enhance tourists’ perceptions of accessibility and subsequently strengthen their intention to revisit, recommend, or support tourism activities. The result highlights that the contribution of local communities to tourism development may extend beyond cultural and social dimensions to include conditions that facilitate tourist mobility.

5.3 Behavioral intention as a mediator

H10: BI mediates the relationship between PAP and TB

H10 was supported, with BI significantly mediating the relationship between PAP and TB (indirect effect β = 0.088, p = 0.009, 95% CI [0.031, 0.161]). This finding indicates that PAP is associated with TB partly through BI. Tourists who perceive public transportation as convenient, well connected, understandable, and accessible tend to report stronger intentions to revisit, recommend, and support the destination, which are subsequently associated with more favorable TB. This finding is consistent with the intention-behavior mechanism underlying the TPB, suggesting that perceived transport accessibility may influence TB through both a direct pathway and an indirect pathway operating through BI. Given the cross-sectional nature of the data, however, the findings should be interpreted as evidence of significant associations rather than definitive causal effects.

5.4 Indirect relationship between destination attractiveness and travel behavior

H11: PDA has a significant indirect relationship with TB through PAP and BI

H11 was supported, as PDA demonstrated a significant total indirect effect on TB (β = 0.309, p < 0.001). Because the structural model contains multiple indirect pathways between PDA and TB, this coefficient represents a total indirect effect rather than a specific indirect effect or a statistically confirmed sequential mediation pathway. Therefore, the result should not be interpreted as evidence that the specific chain PDA → PAP → BI → TB was directly verified. Instead, the finding indicates that destination attractiveness is associated with TB through the combined influence of indirect pathways involving PAP and BI. These results suggest that tourists who perceive a destination as attractive are more likely to report favorable accessibility perceptions, stronger BI, and ultimately more favorable TB. However, because ADANCO reports only the total indirect effect and the data were collected using a cross-sectional survey design, these relationships should be interpreted as theoretically specified associations rather than definitive causal mechanisms.

5.5 Theoretical and practical implications

From a theoretical perspective, this study contributes to tourism behavior research by integrating PDA, PCP, public transport accessibility, BI, and TB within a unified PLS-SEM framework. The findings highlight the importance of PDA as a key antecedent of both perceived accessibility and BI, while also demonstrating the role of public transport accessibility as an intervening mechanism through which destination and community-related perceptions can influence tourists’ BI. In addition, the significant relationship between BI and TB provides empirical support for the behavioral logic underlying the TPB, in which intention represents an important proximal determinant of behavior. The findings therefore extend the application of behavioral theory to religious tourism by incorporating transport accessibility and community participation into the explanation of tourists’ TB.

From a practical perspective, the findings suggest that destination managers should not treat destination attractiveness, transportation accessibility, community participation, and tourist behavior as separate management issues. First, maintaining and communicating the cultural, architectural, and experiential attractiveness of religious tourism destinations is important because destination attractiveness has a substantial positive association with BI. Second, improving public transport accessibility—including ease of access, route information, intermodal connectivity, and fare convenience—can strengthen tourists’ BI and TB. Third, community participation should be supported as part of an integrated destination-management approach because its positive relationship with perceived accessibility suggests that local involvement can contribute to a more visitor-oriented tourism environment. Finally, destination managers should encourage favorable BI, such as intentions to revisit, recommend, and support tourism activities, because these intentions are positively associated with tourists’ TB. Together, these strategies can support more accessible, community-oriented, and behaviorally responsive religious tourism destinations.

5.6 Comparison with previous studies

The findings of this study are broadly consistent with previous research on destination attractiveness [1, 48], tourism accessibility, community participation, and tourist behavior, while extending existing knowledge by examining these relationships within an integrated structural model. The positive effect of PDA on PAP indicates that tourists’ evaluations of a destination are closely associated with their perceptions of the ease and convenience of reaching it. This finding supports previous research emphasizing accessibility as an important component of destination competitiveness and tourist experience [43]. The relatively strong relationship observed in the present study further suggests that accessibility should be considered as an integral component of destination evaluation rather than merely as a supporting transportation factor.

The positive relationship between PDA and BI is also consistent with previous tourism research showing that favorable destination evaluations are associated with tourists’ intentions to revisit, recommend, and engage with a destination. In the present study, this relationship was particularly strong (β = 0.519), indicating that perceived attractiveness represents an important determinant of tourists’ BI. This finding reinforces previous evidence that destination-related evaluations can play a substantial role in shaping tourists’ future behavioral responses.

The positive effect of PAP on BI is consistent with studies that identify transportation accessibility as an important condition facilitating positive tourist responses [43]. The present findings extend this perspective by demonstrating that accessibility is associated not only with the physical feasibility of reaching a destination but also with tourists’ intentions toward future engagement with the destination. This is particularly relevant for religious tourism routes, where tourists may need to move between multiple sites and therefore depend on convenient and understandable transport connections.

The positive relationship between PCP and PAP provides an additional contribution to the literature. Community-based tourism research has emphasized the importance of local participation in creating supportive tourism environments and enhancing the visitor experience. In the present study, community participation was positively associated with perceived accessibility (β = 0.273), suggesting that local involvement may contribute to conditions that make tourism routes more accessible and visitor-oriented. This finding broadens the conventional understanding of community participation by highlighting its potential connection with the functional dimension of destination accessibility.

The findings concerning BI and TB are consistent with the central proposition of the TPB. BI had a significant positive effect on TB (β = 0.306), indicating that stronger intentions are associated with more favorable reported TB. This finding is consistent with previous TPB-based tourism studies that identify BI as an important proximal determinant of subsequent behavior. The present study extends this perspective by embedding BI within a broader destination-accessibility framework rather than examining intention as an isolated predictor.

Finally, the mediation findings provide additional insight into how these relationships operate. PAP significantly mediated the relationships of PDA and PCP with BI. BI also demonstrated a significant indirect relationship between perceived accessibility and TB. These findings suggest that destination-related perceptions do not necessarily translate directly into travel responses; rather, accessibility and BI provide important intervening mechanisms. This integrated perspective extends previous studies that have often examined destination attractiveness, transportation accessibility, community participation, or BI separately. The results therefore support a more interconnected explanation of tourist behavior in religious tourism settings.

5.7 Managerial and policy implications

The findings of this study provide implications for religious tourism destination managers and policymakers, particularly for improving accessibility and visitor mobility within religious heritage districts. Rather than treating destination management, public transport, and community participation as separate concerns, the findings support a more integrated approach to destination and mobility planning.

First, the significant positive relationship between PDA and PAP suggests that destination characteristics and transport accessibility should be considered together in planning religious tourism districts. Destination managers and local authorities should identify major visitor attractions and connect them systematically with public transport routes, transfer points, and visitor information systems. In practice, this may include integrated transport–tourism route maps, coordinated information on public transport and heritage sites, multilingual journey information, and digital journey-planning tools showing how visitors can travel between religious attractions using public transport. Such measures can reduce uncertainty in route planning and make available mobility options more visible to visitors.

Second, the significant effects of PAP on both BI and reported TB indicate that accessibility should be addressed not only through the availability of transport services but also through the usability of the visitor journey. Policymakers and transport authorities should consider integrated ticketing systems, coordinated transport–tourism planning, last-mile connections between transit stations and heritage sites, multilingual route information, and clearly coordinated transfer information. For religious tourism routes involving multiple sites, these measures could help visitors understand how to move between attractions, where to transfer, and the approximate time required for different stages of the journey. Destination managers could also coordinate with transport agencies to ensure that information provided at heritage sites is consistent with information available through public transport channels and digital platforms.

Third, the significant relationship between BI and reported TB suggests that destination management should complement infrastructure and service improvements with interventions that facilitate visitors' translation of intentions into reported travel practices. Destination managers may provide mobility-oriented visitor information before and during the visit, including public transport options, transfer instructions, estimated journey times, and access information for multiple heritage sites. Digital communication and destination storytelling can also incorporate practical mobility information rather than focusing exclusively on destination promotion. These measures should be implemented as complementary interventions alongside improvements in transport accessibility and service quality, rather than as substitutes for them.

Fourth, the significant relationship between PCP and PAP highlights a potential role for local communities in supporting visitor mobility. Local governments and destination managers may establish community-based visitor assistance programs in which trained local residents provide route guidance, first- and last-mile information, wayfinding assistance, and locally relevant information about access to religious heritage sites. Community representatives could also participate in identifying accessibility problems, communicating visitor mobility needs to relevant authorities, and developing locally appropriate visitor information. Such arrangements would connect community participation with practical destination-management functions rather than treating participation solely as a general principle of tourism development.

Fifth, the mediation findings indicate that destination attractiveness and community participation are associated with tourist responses partly through perceived public transport accessibility and BI. This finding supports a coordinated rather than fragmented approach to policy implementation. Local governments may establish joint governance mechanisms involving transport agencies, tourism authorities, heritage-site managers, and community representatives to coordinate accessibility improvements and visitor-mobility planning within religious heritage districts. Such mechanisms could be used to coordinate transport information, identify last-mile accessibility gaps, align visitor-management practices across heritage sites, and review visitor mobility issues collectively. Where appropriate, these arrangements could also support coordinated planning of transport services, tourism information, and community-based visitor assistance.

Finally, the policy implications should be interpreted within the scope of the evidence provided by this study. The findings demonstrate relationships among destination attractiveness, community participation, perceived public transport accessibility, BI, and reported TB; they do not directly measure changes in congestion, emissions, modal share, parking demand, or heritage-site carrying capacity. Accordingly, the proposed measures should be viewed as planning and management mechanisms informed by behavioral evidence, rather than as demonstrated interventions for reducing environmental impacts. Future destination-planning initiatives could combine the present behavioral evidence with objective mobility indicators, such as public transport-use records, pedestrian flows, traffic conditions, or emissions data, to evaluate whether improvements in public transport accessibility translate into measurable sustainable-mobility outcomes.

5.8 Implications for sustainable urban tourism and heritage planning

Although this study did not directly measure environmental outcomes such as congestion or emissions, the findings suggest that public transport accessibility may support more sustainable tourist mobility in urban heritage districts [49]. Improving transport accessibility may encourage greater reliance on public transportation when visiting religious and historical attractions. In turn, such mobility patterns may contribute to broader sustainable tourism objectives associated with accessibility, visitor management, and transportation planning.