Impact of Place Identity and Place Dependence on Satisfaction and Loyalty toward Black Sea Coastal Destinations: The Role of Visitation Frequency

Abstract

Tourism destination literature identifies place identity and place dependence as prominent dimensions of place attachment. Despite their importance, only limited research has been carried out to examine the likely influence of these constructs on satisfaction and loyalty in the context of an Eastern European post-communist country. Romanian coastal destinations were analyzed due to their high rate of domestic return visitors with possible connections to the fact that these were their only coastal tourism option during communist times. Our results reveal that place identity and place dependence for Black Sea coastal destinations significantly influence satisfaction and loyalty toward such destinations and that satisfaction has a significant mediating role between place attachment and loyalty intentions for these destinations. Findings also reveal that in the case of tourists with a low visitation frequency, satisfaction influences their intention to recommend the destination to other people. Our findings help Black Sea coastal destination marketers strengthen tourists’ place attachment, satisfaction, and destination loyalty.