THE EFFECTS OF EXPERIENTIAL MARKETING, SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING, AND DESTINATION IMAGE ON TOURISTS’ VISIT INTENTION IN POST-FLOOD COASTAL ECOTOURISM IN LANGSA CITY

Abstract

Coastal ecotourism destinations are particularly vulnerable to environmental disturbances, including floods, which may disrupt tourism activities and weaken tourists’ perceptions and willingness to visit. This study aims to examine the effects of experiential marketing, social media marketing, and destination image on tourists’ visit intention toward Kuala Langsa Mangrove Ecotourism in the post-flood context. The research adopted a quantitative explanatory design and involved 100 respondents recruited through purposive sampling. Data were obtained by means of a structured questionnaire and subsequently processed using SPSS. The analytical procedures comprised descriptive statistics, validity and reliability assessments, multiple linear regression analysis, the coefficient of determination, and t-tests.. The findings indicate that experiential marketing, social media marketing, and destination image have positive and significant effects on visit intention. Among the variables examined, destination image contributed the most substantial predictive influence, followed by experiential marketing and social media marketing. The coefficient of determination indicated that these three explanatory variables jointly accounted for 75.9% of the variance in tourists’ visit intention. These findings demonstrate that post-disaster tourism recovery requires more than physical infrastructure restoration. Strengthening destination image, creating meaningful tourism experiences, and delivering credible information through social media are essential for rebuilding tourist confidence. The study contributes to tourism marketing literature by integrating experiential, digital, and destination-based marketing perspectives within the context of post-disaster coastal ecotourism recovery. Practically, the findings provide strategic implications for destination managers and local governments in developing sustainable tourism recovery strategies.