Rural homestays as cultural hubs: how do place identity and experience value shape tourists’ revisit intentions?

With the rise of the ‘urban escape’ trend, the cultural appeal of rural homestays has become a key factor influencing tourists’ behavioral intention. This study aims to investigate tourists’ revisit intention to rural homestays from a cultural perspective based on the flow theory and symbolic interaction theory, and 633 questionnaires were analyzed by using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). This study, focusing on young Chinese tourists, reveals that three cultural dimensions of rural homestays (folk culture, architectural culture, and host culture) not only directly enhance revisit intention but also exert partial mediation through experience value. Place identity positively moderates the impact of experience value on revisit intention while reinforcing its mediating role, demonstrating a moderated mediation effect. These findings systematically explain the synergistic mechanism among cultural elements, experience value, and place identity in shaping revisit intention, providing theoretical and practical insights for sustainable rural tourism development.