What drives re-participation intention of volunteer tourism in Malaysia?

Volunteer tourism, which represents a combination of both voluntary work and travel has become one of the fastest-growing trends in the tourism industry today. However, little has been known about the factors that influence the re-participation intention of Volunteer Tourism, especially in emerging markets like Malaysia. In addressing this gap, this study aimed to test the role of Fear of Missing Out (FOMO), Memorable Volunteer Tourism Experiences (MVTE) and experience co-creation as predictors of re-participation intention in Volunteer Tourism. The data were distributed by using survey questionnaire, getting 111 usable data. PLS-SEM was applied to investigate the relationship between variables. The study’s results confirmed that Memorable Volunteer Tourism Experiences (MVTE) and experience co-creation exert a positive influence on re-participation intention in Volunteer Tourism. Contrary to expectation, the relationship between Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) and re-participation intention in volunteer tourism found no support. This study is conducted in the Malaysian context. The results from this research would benefit the tourism sector and the researchers or academician who interested in hospitality and tourism studies. This is pioneering research that uses attribution theory to understand the underlying factors of re-participation intention of volunteer tourism in the Southeast Asia context. Also, the relationship between fear of missing out (FOMO) and re-participation in volunteer tourism, which is a new relationship to the tourism literature.