Smart Tourism Applications for Sustainable Tourism Development: Examining Tourists’ Revisit Intention via Satisfaction and Value Co-Creation Experience

Smart tourism technologies increasingly serve as strategic enablers for sustainable destination governance and long-term tourism resilience. This paper examines how smart tourism applications (STAs) influence tourists’ revisit intention (RI) by considering the mediating role of satisfaction (SAT) and the moderating role of value co-creation experience (VCE). The study integrates these mechanisms into a single framework to provide a more comprehensive understanding of tourists’ revisit intention in smart tourism contexts. A quantitative research design was employed, and partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was conducted using SmartPLS 3.0 to examine the proposed relationships, including mediation and moderation effects. Data were collected from 403 valid questionnaires in China’s Yangtze River Delta region. The results show that STAs positively influence SAT, while both STAs and SAT positively influence RI. SAT partially mediates the relationship between STAs and RI. VCE positively moderates the relationships between STAs and SAT and between STAs and RI, indicating that higher levels of value co-creation can strengthen tourists’ responses to STAs. The regional scope and sampling strategy may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research could examine different destinations and cultural settings and incorporate additional behavioral and psychological variables. The findings suggest that tourism managers should improve the usability, reliability, and integration of smart tourism services while creating opportunities for tourists to actively participate in value co-creation, thereby enhancing satisfaction and revisit intention. Overall, the study contributes to smart tourism research by clarifying the mediating role of satisfaction and the moderating role of value co-creation experience in the relationship between STAs and revisit intention. Furthermore, the study provides actionable insights for destination managers to leverage integrated smart applications—such as tourist-flow forecasting, real-time traffic control, and participatory co-creation—to mitigate overtourism, advance environmental stewardship, and promote sustained destination competitiveness.