FROM WELLNESS EXPERIENCE TO DESTINATION CHOICE: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF PSYCHOLOGICAL RESTORATION AMONG INTERNATIONAL TOURISTS IN UZBEKISTAN

Wellness tourism has increasingly attracted scholarly attention because of its potential to support tourists’ physical, psychological, and emotional well-being. However, research has often examined wellness motivation, restorative environments, well-being, and destination loyalty as relatively separate phenomena. This study develops an integrated psychological model explaining how wellness tourism experiences may influence tourists’ behavioral intentions through psychological restoration. Drawing on Attention Restoration Theory and contemporary research on tourist well-being, the study conceptualizes perceived restorative destination qualities as an environmental stimulus, psychological restoration as an internal psychological mechanism, and destination-choice intention as a behavioral outcome. The proposed framework is particularly relevant to emerging wellness destinations, where destination attractiveness cannot be understood solely through conventional attributes such as price, quality, or accessibility.The study focuses on international tourists experiencing wellness-related tourism in Uzbekistan. A quantitative research design is proposed to examine the relationships among wellness-tourism motivation, perceived restorative destination qualities, psychological restoration, and destination-choice intention. Structural equation modeling will be used to test the proposed relationships and the mediating role of psychological restoration.