The Effect of Border Tourism Destination Attributes on Tourist Satisfaction and Revisit Intention: The Case of Province of Van

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study aims to reveal the importance of border tourism and border tourism destination attributes that create revisit intention of tourists in Van that attracts considerable number of tourists every year from Iran. The study was empirically structured, and primary data was collected through a questionnaire derived from the literature. The survey was implemented on tourists at hotels, airports, and customs. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews between March and November 2017–2018. Out of distributed 400 questionnaires’ 370 of them returned and the response rate is 92.5% and 309 of them were found statistically usable. A combination of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, correlation, and multiple regression modeling were tested with the usage of version 20 of SPSS. Destination attributes (as seven dimensions were considered as independent variables while satisfaction and revisits intention as dependent. Some significant results were reached while some were insignificant. As findings in this study, 3 considerable and conspicuous implications that; (1) there had been positive and strong relationships between the characteristics of the border tourism destination and satisfaction and revisit intentions of the tourists, (2) five of the destination features had been influential on to revisits intention, (four of them are positive), and (3) the “cultural affinity” that it is the most influential factor on to revisits intention in a border tourism destination have been found. The originality of this study that it is being one of the first study in Turkey that few studies are available in border tourism context. The findings, also, offer important implications for managers of a border tourism destination to consider.