Exploring the Relationships Between Presence, Immersive Experience, and Tourist Satisfaction in Digital Cultural Tourism Scenarios

Digital cultural tourism increasingly relies on mixed reality (MR) experiences to enhance engagement at heritage destinations. Drawing on presence theory, this study examines how tourists’ sense of presence influences satisfaction in MR-based cultural tourism and whether immersive experience mediates this relationship. Using the MR program at Qufu’s Three Confucius Sites as the empirical context, we analyzed 227 valid questionnaires with regression and bootstrap mediation tests. The results show that presence positively predicts tourist satisfaction; both spatial presence and self-presence are significant drivers. Moreover, immersive experience partially mediates the effects of spatial presence and self-presence on satisfaction. By providing contextual empirical evidence for presence theory in a cultural-heritage MR setting, this study offers practical implications for designing and operating digital cultural tourism products that improve visitor experience and satisfaction.