International Journal of

ADVANCED AND APPLIED SCIENCES

EISSN: 2313-3724, Print ISSN: 2313-626X

Frequency: 12

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 Volume 12, Issue 8 (August 2025), Pages: 223-236

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 Original Research Paper

Competencies of health tourism logistics service providers and their impact on elderly tourists’ decision-making and satisfaction: A structural equation modeling analysis

 Author(s): 

 Suraporn Onputtha 1, Nuttakit Iamsomboon 2, *, Metinee Rasadaraksa 1, Liou-Yuan Li 3

 Affiliation(s):

  1Faculty of Business Administration, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani, Thailand
  2Faculty of Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi, Pathum Thani, Thailand
  3College of Creative Industry, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand

 Full text

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 * Corresponding Author. 

   Corresponding author's ORCID profile:  https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3769-765X

 Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  https://doi.org/10.21833/ijaas.2025.08.021

 Abstract

This study aimed to identify the key competencies of health tourism logistics service providers that influence the decision-making and satisfaction of elderly tourists. The research involved 400 elderly tourists who visited Bangkok and the central region of Thailand. Data were collected through a structured questionnaire designed to measure the service providers’ competencies in six areas: work-related skills, interpersonal skills, management abilities, personal attributes, leadership, and experience in elderly care. It also assessed the tourists’ satisfaction and their decision-making related to the services received. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used for data analysis. The findings showed that the competencies of service providers had a significant impact on both the decision-making and satisfaction of elderly tourists. Additionally, decision-making played a mediating role, indirectly influencing satisfaction. One key contribution of this study is the development of a competency framework for health tourism logistics service providers tailored to the needs of elderly tourists in Thailand. The inclusion of the decision-making process as a factor influencing satisfaction is another important aspect. Overall, the study presents a comprehensive model for improving tourism services to better meet the needs of elderly tourists in the future.

 © 2025 The Authors. Published by IASE.

 This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

 Keywords

 Elderly tourists, Health tourism, Service providers, Decision-making, Tourist satisfaction

 Article history

 Received 25 February 2025, Received in revised form 2 July 2025, Accepted 1 August 2025

 Acknowledgment

This research was supported by the Science, Research and Innovation Promotion Fund, Thailand Science Research and Innovation (TSRI), through Rajamangala University of Technology Thanyaburi (FR867E0507I.1) (Grant No.: FRB670027/0168). 

 Compliance with ethical standards

 Ethical considerations

Ethical considerations were carefully addressed throughout this research. All participants provided informed consent prior to survey completion. The study involved minimal risk, collecting only anonymous responses about tourism experiences without any personal identifying information. Participation was entirely voluntary, and participants could withdraw at any time. Data collection and handling procedures followed established ethical guidelines for human subjects research.

 Conflict of interest: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

 Citation:

 Onputtha S, Iamsomboon N, Rasadaraksa M, and Li L-Y (2025). Competencies of health tourism logistics service providers and their impact on elderly tourists’ decision-making and satisfaction: A structural equation modeling analysis. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences, 12(8): 223-236

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 Figures

  Fig. 1  Fig. 2 

 Tables

  Table 1  Table 2  Table 3  Table 4  Table 5  Table 6 

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