Abstract
This study examines how travel companionship and self-identity influence tourist satisfaction at Ha Long Bay, with memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) as mediators. By integrating the self-identity concept and travel companionship with memorable tourism experiences, it proposes that travel companionship and self-identification have both direct and indirect influence on satisfaction through MTEs. Based on online survey data from 592 tourists who visited Ha Long Bay and analysed by using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) in SmartPLS 4. The results show that travel companionship has a significant influence on MTEs (β = 0.419) and satisfaction (β = 0.303), while self-identification has a significant influence on MTEs (β = 0.385) and satisfaction (β = 0.252). MTEs also significantly influence satisfaction (β = 0.398) and partially mediate the effects of travel companionship and selfidentification on satisfaction. The study also discusses how social and identity-related mechanisms interact to shape satisfaction in a UNESCO World Heritage coastal destination. The results recommend that tourism products or services be designed to encourage meaningful, relevant social interaction and engagement, representing an important strategy for tourism managers in Ha Long Bay. Such strategies can therefore go a long way toward making the experience memorable, improving visitor satisfaction and enhancing Ha Long Bay’s competitiveness in an increasingly crowded coastal and island tourism market.
Keywords: Ha Long Bay, Memorable Tourism Experiences (MTEs), Travel Companionship, Satisfaction, Selfidentification.