Abstract
In order to better understand tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior, the present study developed a research model by combining the social network analysis technique with the structural equation model. The object of this study was to examine the structural relationships among destination image, tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior patterns, tourists’ satisfaction, and their behavioral intentions. The data were gathered via an online survey using the China panel system. A total of 468 respondents who visited multiple attractions while in Seoul, Korea, were used for actual analysis. The results showed that all hypotheses are supported. Specifically, destination image was an important antecedent to multi-attraction travel behavior indicated by density and degree indices. In addition, the present study confirmed that density and degree centrality, the indicators of tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior, were positively related to tourist satisfaction. The current study represented theoretical and practical implications and suggested avenues for future research.
Highlights
Tourism destination image is a pivot from tourism destination branding, and every successful tourism destination has a uniquely appealing image that distinguishes it from others [1]
The primary purpose of this study is to examine the structural relationships among tourism destination image, tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior patterns, tourists’ satisfaction, and their behavioral intentions
Sustainability 2019, 11, 2497 used an overall destination image consisting of cognitive and affective images to investigate the relationship between destination image and tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior patterns
Summary
Tourism destination image is a pivot from tourism destination branding, and every successful tourism destination has a uniquely appealing image that distinguishes it from others [1]. The evaluation of tourists’ satisfaction has been adopted by destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to monitor its comprehensive performance and to explore opportunities for and to amend problems with tourism organizations [7]. Tourists tend to travel to multiple attractions, destinations, or cities when they travel to a foreign country [9,10] Despite these common practices of multi-attraction travel behavior, quite a few empirical studies of tourist behavior heavily relying on traditional statistical procedures, often linear modeling techniques, are based on the unrealistic premise that tourists visit a single destination. To the knowledge of the authors, studies incorporating SNA with traditional statistical analysis to understand tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior do not exist in tourist behavior research. The primary purpose of this study is to examine the structural relationships among tourism destination image, tourists’ multi-attraction travel behavior patterns, tourists’ satisfaction, and their behavioral intentions
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