The study examines how perceived island-climate risk, destination climate resilience, tourism climate-service usefulness, and destination trust combine in relation to intention to revisit Phuket. An on-site survey of 480 Chinese tourists was analyzed using both PLS-SEM and fsQCA. The structural model explained 74.6% of variance in revisit intention: perceived climate risk was negatively associated, the other three constructs were positively associated, and trust had the strongest direct association. The configurational analysis identified multiple routes to high and low intention. All results concern cross-sectional self-reported intention, not proof that an intervention causes actual return travel.
Key findings
- PLS-SEM linked perceived climate risk negatively, and destination resilience, climate-service usefulness, and trust positively, with revisit intention. Trust had the strongest direct association.
- The model explained 74.6% of variance in revisit intention, and trust partially mediated associations from both response resources. Mediation in cross-sectional data does not establish a causal mechanism.
- fsQCA found no individually necessary condition. High intention arose through a resilience-plus-trust route, a low-risk dual-resource route, or a low-risk climate-service-plus-trust route.
- Low intention arose with low trust and joint absence of both response resources, or with high risk and a deficit in either resource. All six configurations reappeared under 10th-, 50th-, and 90th-percentile recalibration.
Why this matters globally
The findings suggest that risk communication alone may be insufficient for island destinations; credible resilience and usable climate information may form part of a broader response. The fsQCA results also caution against a single universal recipe. Destination managers should not convert associations into projected revenue or claim that increasing trust causes repeat travel until longitudinal behavior and actual interventions are evaluated.
Thai researcher contribution
All three authors have Assumption University affiliations: Xinda Yang, who is also affiliated with the University of Sanya, Sirichai Preudhikulpradab, and Lalida Arphawatthanasakul. On-site data from Phuket directly connect climate-risk research with a major Thai destination. The public record does not detail individual author roles, and Chinese tourists do not represent Thailand's full visitor market.
Limitations to consider
The cross-sectional survey measures perceptions and intention at the same time, leaving self-report, common-method, reverse-direction, and selection biases. Chinese tourists already in Phuket may differ from people who canceled, other nationalities, or visitors in other seasons. Revisit intention is not observed return behavior. PLS-SEM and fsQCA estimate associations and data-consistent configurations rather than causal effects, and fsQCA solutions depend on calibration and model choices, although percentile recalibration is a useful robustness check.
Verify the original sources
SustainabilitySustainability↗DOI: 10.3390/su181910198