Eco-destination loyalty: Role of perceived value and experience in framing destination attachment and equity with moderating role of destination memory.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify push motivation factors influencing tourists’ destination loyalty in the Lake Victoria Region Tourism Circuit, Kenya. Methodology: The study adopted an explanatory research approach based on a cross-sectional survey design to collect and analyse quantitative data. This study proposed destination loyalty the most appropriate indicator of destination competitiveness. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect quantitative primary data to help understand tourist push motivation factors and destination loyalty. The instrument was pre-tested using 20 tourists who were not included in the final study. The study population consisted of 461 tourists drawn from the circuits’ 26 classified hotels, based on the region’s 35% average occupancy rate. Multi-stage sampling technique was used to get 299 tourists whereby proportionate sampling followed by simple random sampling was used to identify hotels while convenience sampling helped obtain actual respondents. Findings: Tourist push motivation factors indentified include psychological factors (PY), self development factors (SDF), green consumption factors (GCF), and socio-cultural factors (SCF). Recommendations: Based on the findings, the researcher suggests that destination managers should: give more consideration to providing facilities and environment that allow the visitors to have fun; pay close attention to the needs of the tourists to develop their personal interests; address desires of tourist who prefer identifying with destinations that respect rights of the minority and; lastly, pay attention to the needs of personal safety and security by tourists respectively. The findings of this study offer guidelines to destination managers in the Lake Victoria Region Tourism Circuit Kenya, in monitoring and enhancing the destinations competitiveness based on destination loyalty

The tourist perspective: Examining the effects of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being in tourism

The interest in tourism destination loyalty has increased in recent times. Although the recent literature has shown that a tourist’s loyalty to a destination is the direct result of quality service and the type of experiences, the correlation between service quality and customer loyalty has yet to be thoroughly researched within the tourist-destination context. Since these destinations are constantly changing, it requires further analysis and research. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between service quality performance and destination loyalty, as well as the mediation impact of destination image in Saudi Arabia for local tourist destination perspectives in Albaha region, while considering the attitudes towards service quality within three, four- and five-star hotels. The partial least square to structural equation modelling was used (PLS-SEM) to examine 298 local tourists from Saudi Arabia who took part in a survey. The results show a positive relationship between service quality performance and destination image, as well as a positive relationship between service quality performance and loyalty. The results also confirm that destination image mediated the relationship between service quality performance and destination loyalty. The results of this study contribute to knowledge by informing service managers in tourism sector about the perspectives of local tourists towards destination image and loyalty.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between tourism service quality and destination loyalty through investigating the mediation effect of destination image in the Dead Sea tourism destination, Jordan, from international tourists perspectives. The paper also investigates the tourism service quality dimensions from international tourists’ viewpoints. Design/methodology/approach A structured and self-administered survey was used targeting international tourists who were visiting the Dead Sea tourism destination, Jordan. The authors delivered 300 questionnaires to international tourists from which 237 were retained and valid for the analysis. A series of exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to assess the research constructs dimensions, unidimensionality, validity and composite reliability. Structural path analysis was also used to test the hypothesised relationships of the research model. Findings The empirical findings indicate that tourism service quality is, in fact, a four-dimensional (4D) construct as opposed to five as proposed by the original hypothesised model. The 4D model consists of four facets: assurance-responsiveness, tangible facilities-empathy, reliability and reliability-quality of directions. Also, the results indicate that brand image loaded onto two dimensions named as “physical environment” and “people characteristics”. The structural findings indicate that the four dimensions of tourism service quality have positively and significantly affected destination image. Further, brand image has positively and significantly affected destination loyalty. Finally, destination image fully mediates the relationship between tourism service quality and destination loyalty. Research limitations/implications This paper has examined only five dimensions of tourism service quality that affected destination loyalty directly and indirectly; meanwhile, other service quality dimensions such as technical quality may affect both destination image and destination loyalty. Further, destination image is the only mediator investigated in this paper. Other consumer-based brand equity factors such as brand salience my act as another mediator. Also, this paper investigated international tourists’ perspectives in the Dead Sea tourism destination only, which means that its generalisation to other tourism destinations is limited. Therefore, comparative studies inside and outside Jordan’s tourism destinations are potential areas of future research. Other limitations and future research areas are also outlined. Practical implications The paper highlights the strategic importance of brand image on the relationship between tourism service quality and destination loyalty. Tourism service quality acts as an antecedent to brand image and the later is essential to destination loyalty. In other words, brand image of the physical environment and people friendless and kindness are the critical linkage that create destination loyalty. Further, an integrated model of tourism service quality, destination image and destination loyalty is required by tourism organisations operating in the Dead Sea destination to win international tourists again. Originality/value This paper represents one of the very few attempts that investigate tourism service quality and destination loyalty through understanding the mediating role of brand image in the Dead Sea destination. Accordingly, it should shed more light into the strategic role of brand image dimensions and how they affect destination loyalty. Further, the paper is the first of its kind to investigate an integrated model of tourism service quality and destination loyalty from international tourist perspectives in Jordan. The main issue here is that tourism organisations operating in the Dead Sea tourism destination have now valuable empirical evidence concerning the drivers of destination loyalty in an integrated manner.

The COVID-19 pandemic and current security issues bring new aspects to the area of destination loyalty, which need to be incorporated into this model and comprehensively evaluated. The purpose of this study is to assess the significance of the model of tourist destination loyalty in combination with the safety indicators during the pandemic period among consumers in Slovakia. The research sample consists of 383 consumers from Slovakia, and data were collected during the COVID-19 period. The confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the sufficient validity and reliability of the model consisting of the indicators Safety, Cultural image, Environmental image, Socioeconomic image, Tourist satisfaction, and Destination loyalty. The research also assessed the significance of differences among the above indicators in terms of the categories Frequency of Travel, Length of Stay, Income, and Form of Tourism using ANOVA analysis. Large-scale differences have not been found, which indicates the model’s stability. PLS Path Modelling assessed the relationships between the individual categories of the indicators. The strongest relationship was found between Tourist satisfaction and Destination loyalty. The element Value for Money was added to the model, and it had a significant positive relation to Tourist satisfaction. The indicator Safety is also of significant importance to the model as was shown in several cases. Based on the results, it could be stated that the indicator Safety is an important element in the Socioeconomic image indicator.

This study proposes a new concept of the tourist‐destination relationship called destination relationship quality. It consists of four elements: destination satisfaction, destination trust, destination commitment, and destination attachment. The study investigates how destination personality and self‐congruity influence tourists' destination loyalty through destination relationship quality. Data were obtained through systematic sampling from 424 Chinese tourists in Guangzhou, China. Using partial least squares structural equation modelling analysis, this study confirmed that destination personality and self‐congruity are antecedent factors of destination relationship quality, which ultimately affect tourists' destination loyalty towards a destination. The study contributes to tourist‐destination relationship research by indicating the mechanism for establishing destination relationship quality so that researchers can further apply this concept in their future studies. The results of this study are helpful for tourist destination marketers to attach importance to the establishment of destination personality and create core differences in tourist destinations when developing marketing strategies.

Following the Reasonable Person Model, this study examines the effects of destination fascination on subjective well-being and destination attachment as well as looking at the subsequent outcome of destination loyalty. A total of 936 responses were collected from tourists to national parks (302), forest recreational areas (300), and theme parks (334). The results of this study prove the effect of destination fascination on improving subjective well-being and destination attachment and shows the effects of subjective well-being and destination attachment on enhancing destination loyalty. Subjective well-being and destination attachment fully mediated effects from destination fascination to destination loyalty. Moreover, extensive validity of the proposed model was verified by engaging different destination types. The findings of this study enrich the base of knowledge about destination fascination in the tourism academy and contributes practical implications for destination management and marketing.

The objective of this study is to investigate how perceived destination market competitiveness affects the relationship between the tourism service marketing mix and tourist destination loyalty, specifically in the context of Ethiopian tourist destinations that have transitioned from "involvement" to "consolidation" stages. The population of the study is all international tourists visiting various destinations with partulcar emphasis of Top 5 destination in Ethiopia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed and 343 questionnaires were returned at the end of the data collection process and used for the subsequent statistical analysis, which gave the response rate of 86 percent. To analyze the research model, Partial Least Squares (PLS) technique using the SmartPLS 4 software has been used. To assess the measurement model two types of validity were being examined - first the convergent validity and then the discriminant validity. All Cronbach alpha coefficients are over 0.7, ranging from 0.709 to 0.760, indicating strong internal consistency, and are used to assess the items' unidimensionality in terms of reliability. The investigation's findings demonstrate that the following antecedents—accessibility, people, product, promotion, physical evidence, and process—showed a significant effect on destination tourist loyalty. Price, however, had no significant effect on tourists' loyalty to a destination. This study has also demonstrated that a destination's capacity to compete in the tourism industry is significantly impacted by three key elements of the marketing mix: promotion, physical evidence, and process. However, there was no significant effect of price, people, or accessibility on the destination's market's competitiveness. Destination’s market competitiveness mediates the relationship between accessibility, people, price, process and promotion since the indirect effect estimates are higher than the direct effects estimates. However, physical evidence and product does not mediate the relationship between antecedent of marketing mix and tourism destination loyalty since the indirect effect estimates are lower than the direct effects estimates. Destination marketers should focus on variables which showed a significant effect tourist destination loyalty as well as Market competitiveness. Moreover, more research is required by destination researchers to determine why accessibility, population, or price did not significantly impact the competitiveness of the destination's market.

This study investigates the effects of perceived ecotourism design affordance and destination social responsibility on tourists’ pro-environmental behaviour and destination loyalty. It aims to shed light on the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that shape sustainable tourist behaviour. Three hundred and fourteen responses were collected quantitatively through an online survey. The research hypotheses were analysed using the Partial-least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The path analysis revealed that perceived ecotourism design affordance significantly enhances tourist pro-environmental behaviour and destination loyalty. A similar dynamic also can be reported in the context of affordance and destination social responsibility. Surprisingly, tourist pro-environmental behaviour does not affect tourist destination loyalty. Results highlighted the need for tourism policymakers and industry players to develop ecotourism products and services that allow tourists to adapt their behaviour towards a sustainable direction.

The impact of urbanization on tourism is a widespread macroeconomic concern. However, few studies have explored the impact of destination urbanization on such individual tourist behavior as destination attachment. By developing an urbanization perception scale and analyzing tourists' destination attachment, this study provides empirical evidence for the micro-impact of urbanization. A sample of 825 repeat visitors of Chengdu, China, was included in the partial least squares-based structural modeling. The results of several tests show that the environmental changes caused by green urbanization positively impact tourists' destination attachment. This study also examines the explanatory role of tourist experience satisfaction and behavior control in this relationship. The findings suggest that tourists' experience of urban change is critical for the sticky marketing of tourist destinations.

The tourist experience: Modelling the relationship between tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty

ABSTRACTThe objectives of this research are firstly, to study the characteristics of CSR activities conducted for international business groups. Secondly, to analyze the factors that impact business travelers’ satisfaction with CSR activities, and thirdly, to analyze the influence of satisfaction with CSR activities on destination attachment and destination loyalty. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 127 business participants from three corporate meetings and one convention group. The results reveal the characteristics of CSR activities of corporate meetings and conventions in Thailand. Business travelers’ satisfaction with CSR activities is influenced by their personal altruistic attitudes and the efficacy of local service providers. Satisfaction with CSR activities has a direct impact on destination attachment and an indirect impact on destination loyalty. CSR activities could be used as tools to influence the revisit intention of corporate meeting and convention participants. A CSR activity during a business trip is a novel concept that can be utilized by destination management companies as well as national tourism organizations to develop satisfying tourism products.

This research is obliging to highlight the importance of aspects responsible for loyalty and other sustainable tourism techniques by identifying behaviors that boost destination loyalty, for one of Bangladesh's most appreciated tourist destinations, lone mountainous Island, but underappreciated in travel literature. The extent to which tourist experiences and destination image promote destination loyalty has been supported by an empirical model. In order to render the study simpler to understand, the demographics have been adjusted to reflect Bangladeshi income earners. The study used a quantitative methodology and SEM-PLS analysis to determine the results. While scales of destining positively influences loyalty where as some negative thoughts remarked for tourist experiences towards destination loyalty. The approach has addressed several narrative flaws in Bangladesh's tourist sector, as the study's conclusion discusses and explains. In order to link destination image and visitor experiences to destination loyalty, this study conceptually builds a framework and proposes an equation. Additionally, the model brought about differences in the results on the same variable's scales.

This study quantifies the relationship among destination preference, destination satisfaction and destination loyalty. Destination loyalty consists of two dimensions: word-of-mouth (WOM) and destination attachment (DA). It is found that WOM is directly affected by destination satisfaction, whereas DA is predetermined by the destination preference of tourists before a visit. Thus, the destination experience is the crucial factor in the spread of positive WOM about a destination. Nevertheless, to develop tourists' DA, effective loyalty schemes should be implemented through marketing efforts before they visit a destination. The findings of this study can be used by destinations to analyze and evaluate their loyalty-building process and marketing strategy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Research was designed to understand loyalty model of elderly foreign tourists visiitng Bali which was undertaken in the main destinations in Bali i.e., Kuta, Nusa Dua, Sanur, Ubud and Lovina. 400 respondents were determined purposively. The criteria were senior tourists aged 55 or over and tourists vacationing in one of Bali’s tourism destinations. Descriptive statistical analysis and the SEM-AMOS structural model analysis tools were undertaken to analyze statistically. The resuts show that (1) Internal motivation does not have a significant effect on destination image. (2) External motivation has a significant effect on destination image and loyalty, but does not have a significant effect on tourist’s satisfaction. (3) Destination image has a significant effect on tourist’s satisfaction. (4) Tourist’s satisfaction has a significant effect on destination loyalty. Two loyalty models were formed: (1) Destination loyalty is directly influenced by tourist’s satisfaction, and indirectly influenced by destination image and external motivation. (2) Destination loyalty is directly influenced by external motivation, but the influence is not as significant as the influence of tourist’s satisfaction on loyalty. Suggestions of the research are maintaining the joint approach to answer various questions through quantitative approach. Improvement strong image of Bali is crucial, such as: (1) improving uniqueness of culture, (2) welcoming local inhabitants, (3) improving tourism infrastructure, and (4) comfortable tourism atmosphere.