A Tourist Experience Scale: Chinese Classical Landscape Architecture

Tourism centered on classical landscape architecture boasts a long history, with documented practices dating back to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 bce) in China and Britain's early Victorian era (1837–1860s). Classical landscape architecture plays a pivotal role in shaping high-quality, appealing destinations, continuously drawing diverse visitor groups. While prior research has extensively examined its design principles and tourism resource development, the on-site tourist experience remains underexplored. Clarifying the multidimensional structure of this experience is therefore essential for tourism site managers to effectively meet tourists' evolving expectations and exceed their satisfaction. Following DeVellis's (2003) scale development procedure, this study rigorously developed and empirically validated a 42-item scale encompassing six dimensions: Cultural and Educational Experience, Esthetic Experience, Health-Nurturing Experience, Emotional Uplifting Experience, Escapism Experience, and Entertainment Experience. The research findings of this study present actionable insights for tourism managers to design and provide experiential offerings at classical landscape architecture sites.