Destination Image Research Articles

“Cocoa-Based Tourism”: Exploring Tourists’ Image, Satisfaction and Loyalty Regarding a Cultural Heritage Destination

ABSTRACT This research aims to analyze the relationship between cocoa-based tourist experiences and tourists’ perceptions of image, satisfaction and loyalty regarding a cultural destination. A quantitative approach was used, with data obtained via surveys distributed to tourists participating in a cocoa-based culinary experience in the Dominican Republic. The survey was designed with items adapted from previous research. The theoretical model of the study was examined using partial least squares structural equation modeling. The results indicate that cocoa-based culinary experiences are closely linked to tourists’ cognitive and affective perceptions of the destination, improving overall satisfaction and contributing to loyalty intentions. Destination image and destination satisfaction mediate the relationship between cocoa-based culinary experiences and tourist loyalty, suggesting that immersive dining experiences are critical in shaping destination perception and visitor engagement. This research offers novel contributions to gastronomic tourism because it focuses on cocoa as a central element of gastronomic tourism, in addition to examining its effects on destination marketing outcomes. It is one of the first studies to analyze gastronomic tourism from the cocoa perspective. The results expand the existing literature on gastronomic tourism, as the experiential aspects of cocoa consumption with regard to tourist behavior and destination loyalty are integrated.

The Influence of Experience Quality and Destination Image on The Behavioral Intentions of Lagundri Beach Tourists with Satisfaction as a Mediation

The current development of the tourism business is changing human lifestyles, especially in enjoying life and using free time with recreational activities. This research explores the relationship between the quality of experience obtained by tourists at Lagundri Beach and their intention to behave again, with satisfaction acting as a potential mediator. Through a quantitative approach and the use of questionnaires as a data collection tool from a sample of 156 people, this research seeks to fill the gap in understanding of the factors that influence tourists' behavioral intentions to return to this destination, especially the quality of experience and mediated by satisfaction. The results of the analysis show that the quality of experience enjoyed by tourists at Lagundri Beach has a significant influence on their level of satisfaction. Not only that, satisfaction also turns out to be a significant mediating factor in the relationship between the quality of experience and tourists' behavioral intentions to return. These findings not only provide important insights for the tourism industry in its efforts to improve the tourist experience at Lagundri Beach, but also provide a theoretical contribution in understanding the dynamics of tourist behavior and its influence on future travel decisions.

Unlocking the relationship between destination brand value and tourists' intentions to visit: A case study in Quang Binh province

This study aims to explore the factors that constitute the concept of destination brand value and analyze the influence of these elements on tourists' intention to choose a destination. The destination is seen as a brand that builds and maintains a unique venue image, enhances its competitive position and attracts visitors to this destination. Vietnam has much potential to attract tourists with its scenic landscapes and historical cultural relics. However, since COVID-19, attracting tourists has yet to be able to compete with other countries in the region such as Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. How can Vietnamese destination brand value be improved to compete in attracting tourists? To answer the above research question, a quantitative approach was applied. Data was collected from 295 tourists intending to visit Quang Binh, a central province of Vietnam with many famous natural, cultural and historical attractions. Through exploratory factor analysis, research results show that three factors of brand value impact the online travel experience: destination image brand quality, destination brand awareness and destination brand image. This study confirms the positive relationship between online destination brand experience and destination intention to visit. Some implications are proposed for managers in the tourism industry to improve the competitive advantage of the Quang Binh destination brand.

The psychological distance effect in impact between online review-based tourism destination image and recommendation intention: a data mining approach

ABSTRACT A total of 8,725 reviews of three East Asian travel cities were collected from TripAdvisor, and, after extracting and quantifying the words corresponding to the tourism destination image (TDI), the causal relationship with the recommendation intention (RI) was verified. An integrated data analysis on the data from the three cities revealed that all images except cleanliness among TDI had a significant influence on RI. The Seoul review data analysis revealed the environment, culture/history, and travel plan factors at the low-level influenced RI, while the Seoul Palace review data analysis revealed that society, culture/history, transportation, and travel plan factors at the low-level influenced RI.

Pengaruh Fasilitas dan Citra Destinasi Wisata Terhadap Peningkatan Kepuasan Wisatawan di Karst Tubing Sedayu

The tourism sector in Bantul Regency has so far only highlighted ecotourism-based tourist destinations in the form of beaches, pine forests, and sand dunes. Sedayu Karst Tubing is part of an ecotourism-based tourist destination, but the number of visitors is not as many as other ecotourism-based tourist destinations in Bantul Regency. Therefore, enhancing tourist satisfaction is essential to boost the number of visitors to Karst Tubing Sedayu. Thus, this research aims to find out how the facilities and image of tourist destinations influence increasing tourist satisfaction. Researchers used quantitative methods with a comparative causal research type, and this research produced the statement that facilities had an effect on increasing tourist satisfaction, as well as that the image of tourist destinations had an effect on increasing tourist satisfaction. Therefore, we can draw the conclusion that both the facilities and the tourist destination's image significantly influence the increase in tourist satisfaction. However, it would be beneficial if the management and the relevant government collaborated to enhance the quality of the Sedayu Karst Tubing tourist destination. This would foster a greater sense of satisfaction among tourists, thereby potentially increasing the number of visits to Sedayu Karst Tubing, Bantul Regency.

How Tourism Cultural Events Influence Multicultural Competence, Tourism Destination Image, and Visit Intentions: Evidence From the Pharaohs' Golden Parade

ABSTRACTThis study explores the impact of tourism cultural events on fostering multicultural competence and their effects on tourism destinations. Data were collected from viewers of the Pharaohs' Golden Parade broadcast on the Egyptian Tourism Promotion Authority's “Experience Egypt” YouTube channel. The data were analyzed using an inductive research approach, uncovering four distinctive themes: multicultural competence precursors, cultural tourism events' unique cultural and social elements, multicultural competence, and destination outcomes. Based on the study findings, a framework was proposed to depict the envisaged relationships between the four main themes. Practically, the study provides insights for destination marketing organizations on how viewers' impressions of cultural events on social media and official homepages could shape a destination's image and influence travel and word‐of‐mouth intentions.

Antecedents and behavioral outcomes of tourism destination image: The moderating role of travel motivation and tourist’s region

Antecedents and behavioral outcomes of tourism destination image: The moderating role of travel motivation and tourist’s region

The Influence of Service Quality, Destination Image, Accessibility On Tourist Satisfaction in The Botubarani Bonebolango Whale Shark Tourist Destination, Gorontalo

Abstract Introduction: Thisl study aimsl to investigate thel influence ofl service lquality, destinationl image, andl accessibility onl tourist lsatisfaction. Thel research was conducted atl the Whalel Shark touristl destination inl Botubarani lVillage, Bonebolango, Gorontalo. Methodology: Thisl type ofl research isl explanatory and employs a quantitative approach. Datal were collectedl directly usingl questionnaires distributedl to 381 respondents selected through purposive sampling techniques and analysed using the PLS-SEM model. Findings: The findingsl reveal thatl service qualityl has al positive andl significant effect onl tourist satisfaction, destination imagel has al positive andl significant impact onl tourists, and accessibility positivelyl andl significantlyl influencesl touristl lsatisfaction. Conclusion: Thel study conducted atl the Whalel Shark touristl destination inl Botubarani lVillage, Bonebolango, Gorontalo, examined how servicel quality, destinationl image, andl accessibility affect touristl satisfaction. Using a quantitative explanatory approach and data from 381 respondents, the findings showed that all three factors—service lquality, destinationl image, andl accessibility—positively andl significantly influence tourist satisfaction. Keywords: Service Quality, Destination Image, Accessibility, Tourist Satisfaction

The role of sports on destination branding: A bibliometric study

The role of sports in place branding is growing interest in literature. To orientate future research on this topic, the present paper aims: (a) to measure the visibility and impact of the scientific production on the topic, and (b) to identify the scientific structure by research themes, as well as its evolution in two different periods. To this end, 135 papers linking sports with a destination image were retrieved from the Web of Science. Two periods were compared (2003–2012; 2013–2022). Our results show future research opportunities for (a) new small-scale sporting events beyond big mega-events; (b) residents’ perspective beyond tourists’ approach, (c) sports focused on minority audiences beyond football and the Olympics, (d) studies focused on European countries, beyond Brazil, China, USA and Israel; (e) a higher focused on sports teams and clubs beyond sports events; and (f) attention to public administrations responsibilities beyond private companies.

The Effect of Environmental Management and Sustainability on Destination Image and Tourist Revisits at Tourism Destinations in Bandung

This study investigates the impact of environmental management and sustainability practices on the destination image and tourist revisit intentions at tourism destinations in Bandung City. Employing a quantitative research design, data were collected from 160 tourists using a Likert scale survey. Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) was utilized for data analysis. The findings reveal that both environmental management and sustainability practices positively influence destination image, which in turn significantly affects tourists' intentions to revisit. Notably, sustainability practices have a stronger impact on both destination image and revisit intentions compared to environmental management alone. These results underscore the importance of integrating comprehensive sustainability strategies into tourism planning to enhance destination competitiveness and attract environmentally conscious tourists. The study provides practical insights for tourism managers and policymakers aiming to foster sustainable tourism growth in Bandung City.

Research on Leisure Tourism Destination Image Innovation Driven by Artificial Intelligence

As the public’s demand for tourism experience continues to improve, the demand for tourism products gradually develops in the direction of personalization, customization and differentiation. In order to mine the image of leisure tourism destinations, this paper conducts theme mining on the review texts of leisure tourism destinations by means of LDA model. An improved neural network language model CBOW and a Glove model are used to train the review word vectors of leisure tourism destination texts. Based on the deep fully connected neural network model, the perceptual features of tourist destinations are studied and analyzed. Taking Sanya tourist attractions as a research case, by analyzing the perception of tourist attractions, the cognitive image vocabulary of Sanya tourist attractions includes three major categories. Among them, tourism attractions, tourism infrastructure and services, tourism service atmosphere, and tourists’ travel behavior accounted for 53.1%, 22.3%, 5.1%, and 19.5% respectively. Then the emotional vocabulary in the perception of tourism destination image in Sanya City was categorized in terms of positive, neutral and negative, and from the neutral vocabulary, the word frequency number of words such as waiting (101), understanding (185), fun (61), and relaxation (56) was high. Regression analysis was used to explore the factors influencing the effect of tourists’ perception of destination image. Among them, tangibility (0.43), reliability (0.463), and responsiveness (0.434) were positively and significantly related to tourist satisfaction. Improving the image of leisure tourism destination can focus on these three aspects.

Impact of the destination image and government policy responsiveness of China on Korean travelers’ destination trust and behaviors in the post-pandemic era

The underlying mechanism of the destination trust of Korean travelers and behaviors toward China after the COVID-19 pandemic is explored in the present study, which considers the role of the destination image constituents and perceived government policy responsiveness for tourism recovery. The data was collected from Korean nationals who are currently residing in South Korea and have traveled to China in the last five years. The results revealed that the developed conceptual framework had a satisfactory level of explanatory ability in regards to predicting the travel and recommendation intentions of Korean travelers toward China, which destination trust serves as the key mediator. Moreover, the perception of Korean travelers in regards to Chinese government policy responsiveness for tourism recovery significantly strengthened the effect of image factors on destination trust. The study also discovered that the importance of image factors varies in regards to the formation of trust and destination behaviors. This research provides significant theoretical insights into the post-health crisis tourism recovery, which emphasizes changes in Korean travel patterns in the aftermath of COVID-19 as well as the wider socio-political environment that influences travel destinations. It also presents useful guidance for Chinese tourism stakeholders in regards to implementing effective recovery strategies that are aimed at the lucrative Korean outbound travel market during the post-COVID-19 pandemic period.

Effect of Destination Image on Destination Selection, Event Organizer Satisfaction

Effect of Destination Image on Destination Selection, Event Organizer Satisfaction

Are there any differences in the tourists’ perceived destination image between travel e-commerce platforms and social media platforms?

Purpose This study aims to explore the differences in the tourists’ perceived destination image on travel e-commerce platforms (e.g. Ctrip and Fliggy) and social media platforms (e.g. Xiaohongshu and Weibo).

Muslim-friendly tourist destination image in travel and hospitality industry: Conceptualization and scale development

The image of a place is subjective and open to change: it depends on an individual's perspective and cultural background. Notwithstanding years of research on destination image, no attempt has been made so far to evaluate the Muslim-Friendly Tourist Destination Image (MFTDI) in the travel and hospitality industry, in which Muslim visitors not only evaluate cognitive and emotional attributes but also Muslim-friendly attributes. In this research a qualitative research and literature review was carried out to develop the items of the proposed scale. The study began with a pilot study in which a committee of experts, and focus groups reduced the topic quantitatively and qualitatively. A follow-up quantitative assessment was then carried out to evaluate and authenticate the suggested scale, using two studies (n1 = 481 and n2 = 269). The significance of the proposed scale was conceptually justified. The scale measured reliability, discriminant validity, convergent validity, and external validity. As a result, the outcomes suggest that the 31 items to be considered fall into three factor categories: cognitive, emotional, and Muslim-friendly qualities. Finally, this paper assesses the article's significant implications for theory and practice, as well as its limitations.

The Impact of Festival Tourism on The Image of Tourist Destinations: A Case Study of The Dangshan Pear Blossom Festival in Anhui, China

In this study, the impact of festival tourism on the image of tourism destinations was analysed by testing a conceptual model, linking festival tourism tourists' perception to destination image, designing a tourists' questionnaire in combination with the actual situation of Dangshan Pear Blossom Festival in Anhui Province, China, and then carrying out a statistical analysis with the help of Spss27 software. The findings of this paper are as follows: first, tourists think that festival tourism content,services,products,facilities and other influencing factors are all important. Among them, festival tourism content > festival tourism products > festival tourism facilities > festival tourism services. Secondly, festival tourism was able to form a positive tourism attraction to the destination image. These findings provide a basis for further government planning, tourism services and policy formulation for festival tourism.

The Manta mystique: Destination image and its effect on tourist citizenship behavior and willingness to sacrifice

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced tourism managers to reevaluate their strategies for attracting visitors and aiding in the recovery of destinations. This new approach emphasizes increased tourist engagement with the destination and stresses the importance of concepts like tourist citizenship behaviors and their willingness to sacrifice. This research investigates the correlations among destination image, tourist citizenship behaviors, and the willingness to sacrifice. By examining these factors, the study provides valuable information into the emotional and cognitive aspects of tourists’ interactions with the destination image and their collaborative behaviors. This information can be used to enhance the visitor experience and the attraction of the destination. Conducted in the captivating city of Manta, Ecuador, this research aims to address the gap in understanding tourists’ perceptions of South American destinations, presenting a unique perspective on the region's tourism potential. Beyond advancing tourism literature, this comprehensive study offers practical approaches for destination marketing organizations to attract tourists and enhance destination competitiveness.

Instagram public and private images as an element for the spatial monitoring of tourist behaviour in cities

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse whether publicly shared images on Instagram are representative of tourist behaviour in a destination. This aspect is crucial for destination image management, as it can influence the way tourists perceive the destination.Design/methodology/approachThe research compares three different factors: the route followed by a group of tourists, the whole set of photographs taken by them and the images that they made publicly available on Instagram. It relies on a field work done by a group of 122 tourists in Turin (Italy). At a qualitative level, the answers given by tourists to the motivations that led them to share some of the image are analysed.FindingsThe results showed how the spatial distribution of the images shared publicly on Instagram only partially coincides with the whole set of images taken by tourists.Practical implicationsIt is important to avoid basing marketing and management policies on just the places featured in publicly shared images. If not, there is a risk of taking decisions based on the behaviour of some, rather than all, tourists.Originality/valueMany papers claim to be based on the Instagram image as elements to study tourism. However, most of these papers only analyse public images. This fact can affect the results as there may be, for example, areas visited by tourists where photos are not taken. This paper therefore contributes to a better understanding of Instagram as a tool for the study of urban tourism.

Pengaruh Daya Tarik Wisata, Citra Destinasi Dan Electronic Word Of Mouth (E-Wom) Terhadap Minat Kunjungan Ulang (Studi Pada Museum Mulawarman)

This research aims to analyze the influence of tourist attractions, destination image and electronic word of mouth (E-WOM) on Revisit Intention (Study at the Mulawarman Museum). The population in this study were visitors to the Mulawarman Museum in Tenggarong. The research sample was 97 visitors to the Mulawarman Museum. Sampling used the Simple Random Sampling technique and the data analysis tool used Multiple Linear Regression using SPSS Version 26 software. Based on the research results, it shows that (1) Tourist Attraction, Destination Image and Electronic Word of Mouth simultaneously have a significant effect on Revisit Intention. (2) Tourist Attraction does not have a positive and significant effect on Revisit Intention. (3) Destination image has a positive and significant effect on Revisit Intention. (4) Electronic Word of Mouth has a positive and significant effect on Revisit Intention. (5) Destination image has a dominant influence on Revisit Intention.

Service Quality as a Catalyst for Competitive Advantage and Business Performance in Hotel Industry: An Empirical Analysis by PLS-SEM Algorithm

This study investigates the vital role of service quality in the hotel industry, focusing on its impact on business performance and competitive advantages. Utilizing cross-sectional survey responses from hotel employees, we employed partial least squares structural equation modelling to analyze the relationships between service quality, competitive advantage, and business performance. Results highlight the pivotal role of quality in enhancing competitive advantages and operational efficiency in the hotel sector. The findings underscore the significant influence of service quality on both competitive advantage and overall business performance in the tourism service sector, leading to positive outcomes such as improved tourist experiences, economic growth, and an enhanced destination image. Additionally, the study emphasizes the importance of competitive advantage, service quality, and innovation in driving business performance, with direct implications for pricing strategies and service quality in the hotel industry.