Abstract
Traveling to heritage sites represents a growing sector with great potential in the context of heritage tourism, which is a relevant topic but has received little scholarly attention. The present study tries to bridge this gap by investigating the mediating role of heritage image and attitudes toward a heritage site in the relationship between user-generated content (UGC) and travel intention toward a heritage site. In particular, we applied partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), which is a relatively popular new method, instead of the traditionally used covariance-based structural equation modeling (CB-SEM) method. The rise in popularity of PLS-SEM has been particularly noticeable since 2013, but in the area of heritage tourism, research is still in an early stage of development because the heritage discipline has hardly exploited the benefits of this approach. We proposed a multimediation model for heritage tourism to address this relatively new research avenue. It was discovered that exogenous variables directly and indirectly influenced travel intentions toward a heritage site through their mediators (i.e., heritage image and attitudes toward a heritage site). The findings provide an appropriate empirical and theoretical conclusion as well as valuable insights for heritage management organizations (HMOs) into the performance of heritage tourism, both for local professionals and the host communities that assist in increasing the development of heritage tourism.
Highlights
Nowadays in social science, especially in heritage tourism studies, one topic that has attracted the attention of academics and researchers alike is the extensive evaluation of heritage image, the attitude of tourists toward heritage sites, and, more importantly, travel intentions [1,2,3]
We proposed a conceptual multimediation model that used six constructs together for heritage tourism
Our study presented a unique and first attempt to answer this question: Do heritage image and attitudes toward heritage sites really mediate the relationship between user-generated content and travel intention toward heritage sites? A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Huang Mountains in China among domestic and international tourists during the Chinese summer vacation
Summary
Especially in heritage tourism studies, one topic that has attracted the attention of academics and researchers alike is the extensive evaluation of heritage image, the attitude of tourists toward heritage sites, and, more importantly, travel intentions [1,2,3]. Recent studies have indicated that traditional WOM and commercial e-WOM, among other information sources, have positive and significance influences on visit intention, destination image, and attitudes toward the destination [10,11,13,14,16,23]. Previous studies have not paid particular attention and have focused on heritage image and UGC, which are important antecedents to attitude and travel intention toward a specific destination [1,24]. We proposed a conceptual multimediation model that used six constructs (i.e., heritage image, attitude toward heritage site, travel intention toward heritage site, traditional WOM, commercial e-WOM, and UGC) together for heritage tourism.
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