Usep Suhud, Doni Sugianto Sihotang, Anuman Chanthawong, Mamoon Allan, Wong Chee Hoo, Muaz Azinuddin, Sudhakar Madhavedi, Somnuk Aujirapongpan
Despite existing studies that have investigated consumer behaviour within the context of different types of tourism, no studies have specifically explored the combined effect of destination publicity, sustainability, environmental motivation, and reputation toward transmitting visit intention in the context of post-mining tourism. Focusing specifically on this gap, the current research aims to identify the factors influencing tourists' visit intention to mining destinations—a niche in sustainable tourism. More specifically, the study explores the structural relationship between destination publicity, destination sustainability, environmental motivation, destination reputation, and visit intention. Data were gathered from 219 participants who filled out the questionnaire by matching the prerequisite conditions: 17+ years old and with awareness of repurposed mining destinations as tourist attractions. Applying a quantitative method, structural equation analysis with the aid of AMOS 29 was used to test the model. The findings show that environmental motivation has a significant positive effect on destination reputation. Moreover, destination reputation strongly predicts intention to visit a destination. This confirms the psychological and reputational pathways that influence tourist decision-making for mining-based destinations. The opposite direction, destination publicity and destination sustainability have almost no bearing on influencing destination reputation, indicating that in post-mining environments, reputational determinations may rely less on exposure to promotions or sustainability assertions, and more on the congruence of visitors' environmental beliefs and attitudes towards responsible management of the destination. These findings circumscribe that the reputational formation in the mining tourism field is anchored in more profound ecological reasons rather than shallow communications or sustainability narratives of any kind. Theoretically, the study adds to the literature by incorporating the environmental motivation of niche sustainable tourism as a new predictor of reputation outcomes. From a managerial perspective, the outcomes affirm that destination managers and policymakers should focus first on genuine environmental engagement and value-based communicative strategies to build relational capital and increase visitation to reclaimed mining sites. Copyright: ©2026 The authors. This article is published by IIETA and is licensed under the CC BY 4.0 license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)._
Faculty of Economics and Business, Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta, 13220, Indonesia; Faculty of Applied Social Sciences, Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Gong Badak, 21300, Malaysia; School of Accountancy and Finance, Walailak University, Nakhon Si Thammarat, 80160, Thailand; Faculty of Tourism and Archaeology, University of Jordan, Amman, 11118, Jordan; Faculty of Business and Communications, INTI International University, Putera Nilai, 71800, Malaysia; Department of Economic Sciences, Wekerle Business School, Budapest, 1083, Hungary; Business Management Kshatriya College of Engineering (under JNTU, Hyderabad), Nizamabad, 503224, India; Faculty of Management Science, Silpakorn University, Phetchaburi, 76120, Thailand
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