Culturally Themed Hotels and Perceived Sustainable Development in Smart Cities: The Mediating Roles of Visitor Experience and Destination Loyalty

Given urbanization and technological advancement, culturally themed hotels are emerging as unique points of departure for cultural heritage within smart city models, with great potential to contribute to sustainable development issues. There is a disconnect between culturally themed hotels, tourism, and sustainable development in existing research. Consequently, this research aims to examine the association between culturally themed hotels, visitor experiences, and destination loyalty, city sustainability, and sustainable development integrally within smart-city environments. A quantitative approach was used, and structured questionnaire data were obtained from 642 participants, including visitors to smart cities, hotel managers/staff, and local residents. The gathered responses were analyzed in SPSS and SmartPLS. Culturally themed hotels are positively connected with immersive cultural experience (β = 0.237) and visitor experience (β = 0.166). Visitor experience is positively associated with destination loyalty (β = 0.314), while immersive cultural experience is positively related to city sustainability (β = 0.194). Destination loyalty mediates the relationship between visitor experience and sustainable development (β = 0.065), while city sustainability mediates the relationship between immersive cultural experience and sustainable development (β = 0.038, p = 0.001). Analysis of Variance indicates statistically significant differences in perceptions between visitors, hotel managers/staff, and local residents regarding the variables. The highest variation is found in sustainable development (F-value = 13.004, p<.001). This suggests that culturally themed hotels may increase visitor experience and foster urban sustainability. It points to the importance of incorporating cultural experiences within the smart city framework through responsible tourism practices.