The role of satisfaction with leisure travel/tourism services and experience in satisfaction with leisure life and overall life

We attempt to develop a measure of satisfaction with leisure travel/tourism services that is related to life satisfaction. The hypothesized model of the study is based on the hierarchy of life satisfaction model. The model postulates that overall life satisfaction can be determined by satisfaction with major life domains (e.g., leisure life). The affect within the leisure life domain spills over vertically to the most superordinate domain (life in general), thus contributing to life satisfaction or dissatisfaction. A survey of 373 consumers of travel/tourism services employed in a major state university was conducted. A LISREL analysis was performed to test the goodness of fit of the model. The LISREL analysis suggested modification of the original model. The findings of the study reveal that travel/tourism trip experiences have a direct impact on the overall life satisfaction of leisure travelers. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.