AI-Assisted Travel Planning and Psychological Determinants of Wellness Tourism Value among Generation Z in Malaysia
Abstract
The increasing adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in tourism has transformed how travellers search for information, evaluate destinations, and plan travel experiences. Simultaneously, the growing popularity of wellness tourism among Generation Z has created a need to understand tourists’ value perceptions. This study examines theThe findings revealed that all four psychological factors significantly and positively influenced the effects of escapism, place attachment, memorable wellness tourism experience, and hedonic well-being on perceived value while investigating the moderating role of AI-assisted travel planning among Malaysian Generation Z wellness tourists. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was employed, and data were collected from 414 respondents aged 18 to 28 using a structured online questionnaire distributed through convenience sampling. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, multiple regression, and hierarchical regression analysis. Findings revealed that all four psychological factors significantly and positively influenced perceived value. Memorable wellness tourism experience emerged as the strongest predictor (β = 0.451, p < 0.001), followed by hedonic well-being (β = 0.273, p < 0.001), place attachment (β = 0.214, p < 0.001), and escapism (β = 0.118, p < 0.01). The regression model explained 77.3% of the variance in perceived value (R² = 0.773). Furthermore, AI-assisted travel planning significantly strengthened the relationships between all four psychological factors and perceived value, indicating that AI-enabled tools enhance tourists’ ability to identify, personalise, and maximise wellness tourism experiences. The originality of this study lies in integrating AI-assisted travel planning with psychological determinants of wellness tourism value within a single moderated framework. The findings contribute to the growing AI-driven consumer behaviour literature and offer practical insights for tourism marketers, destination managers, and wellness tourism operators seeking to design personalised, technology-enabled wellness experiences that resonate with Generation Z travellers.