Self-identification with a heritage tourism site, visitors’ engagement and destination loyalty: the mediating effects of overall satisfaction

Measuring the relationship between museum attributes and visitors: An application of topic model on museum online reviews

In recent years, cultural tourism has increasingly embraced museum visits. Museums serve as both cultural heritage guardians and integral parts of tourist destinations, significantly impacting visitor satisfaction and experience. Moreover, online museum reviews have become a crucial indicator of museum service quality, visitor experience, and public feedback in the digital age. An analysis of online reviews on major tourism websites and social media platforms can assist museums in developing appropriate management strategies. This study employed the structural topic model (STM) to analyze online museum reviews, identifying three primary attributes of museums and visitors' personal experiences, as well as 19 sub-attributes. The study confirmed that core offerings have a positive impact on visitor experience and satisfaction, while peripheral services and overall ambiance are also positively related to visitor experience and satisfaction. Furthermore, the results of structural equation modeling demonstrated that visitors' personal experiences have a positive impact on satisfaction. The results of structural equation modeling analysis support all seven hypothesized relationships. These findings will assist museum managers in developing effective management strategies and future plans.

The Post-Effects of the Authenticity of Rural Intangible Cultural Heritage and Tourists' Engagement

Amidst the burgeoning interest in rural Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) tourism, this study, anchored in the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) theoretical framework, chose Meizhou Island in Fujian Province as a case study to examine the impacts of tourists' perceptions of authenticity and their engagement levels on the destination image and loyalty towards rural ICH tourism. Utilizing Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to analyze survey data, findings revealed that higher perceptions of a destination's preservation of original characteristics and traditional values correlate with a more favorable overall perception of the destination, albeit with smaller impact on emotional connections. Conversely, depth of tourist engagement was shown to enhance both understanding and emotional bonds with the destination. Further, familiarity with the destination was found to foster affection, thereby increasing the likelihood of repeat visits or recommendations. The more tourists know about a place, perceiving it as authentic, the more likely they are to remain loyal; similarly, deeper engagement enhances understanding and affection, increasing the probability of revisiting or recommending the place. These outcomes not only offer new insights into tourist behavior but also provide theoretical and practical guidance for the protection and development of rural ICH tourism, destination marketing, and management strategies, thus promoting the sustainable development of rural ICH tourism.

Enhancing tourist loyalty through location-based service apps: Exploring the roles of digital literacy, perceived ease of use, perceived autonomy, virtual-content congruency, and tourist engagement

Advanced mobile functions and empowered smartphones have provided tourists with various location-based service apps that reshaped the business model of the tourism sector. Despite their importance to tourists, l-apps still have limitations, such as ignorance of tourist preferences and the mismatch between app introduction and tourist experience, therefore affecting tourist loyalty to destinations. Understanding tourist-oriented factors thus becomes critical for l-app designers and service providers. This study integrates the technology-acceptance model (TAM) into a unique context to examine the roles of digital literacy, perceived ease of use, perceived autonomy, virtual-content congruence, and tourist engagement on tourist loyalty. Our empirical test of a structural equation model based on a randomly recruited 319 customers found that tourists' digital literacy influences their engagement and perceived ease of use, which mediates the relationship between digital literacy and engagement; tourists' perceived autonomy influences their engagement. Moreover, we found the moderating role of information-experience congruency between digital literacy, perceived ease of use, and perceived autonomy and tourist engagement, thus contributing to the boundary conditions of the TAM model. Finally, tourist engagement contributes to tourist loyalty. The study contributes to the integration of the technology acceptance model with a tourist orientation. The findings also offer meaningful, practical implications and recommendations on l-app design to stakeholders of tourist destinations.

How Destination Social Responsibility Affects Tourist Citizenship Behavior at Cultural Heritage Sites? Mediating Roles of Destination Reputation and Destination Identification

Cultural heritage tourism, as a typical integration of culture and tourism, has attracted extensive attention in recent years. Although some scholars have already explored the influencing mechanism of tourists’ behavioral intention in cultural heritage destinations, there remains a lack of research on how the social responsibility of cultural heritage tourism destinations affects tourist citizenship behavior. Exploring the formation mechanism of tourist citizenship behavior at cultural heritage sites from the perspective of destination social responsibility, this study intends to provide a theoretical reference for realizing the high-quality development of cultural heritage tourism. In this study, a chain mediation model based on destination reputation and destination identification is constructed to clarify the influencing mechanism of destination social responsibility on tourist citizenship behavior. The structural equation model and bootstrapping methods are applied to conduct empirical tests on 573 valid samples who have experienced cultural heritage tourism. The results show that: (a) the social responsibility of cultural heritage destinations positively affects the tourist citizenship behavior; (b) the destination reputation plays a mediating role between destination social responsibility and tourist advocacy behavior; (c) the destination identification plays a mediating role between destination social responsibility and tourist feedback behavior and tourist advocacy behavior; (d) the destination reputation and destination identification jointly play a chain mediation role between destination social responsibility and tourist citizenship behavior. These research results not only clarify the internal mechanism between the social responsibility of cultural heritage sites and tourist citizenship behavior, but also presented certain significance for practically guiding the destination managers to promote the sustainable development of cultural heritage tourism.

The role of traditional restaurants in tourist destination loyalty

The aim of this study is to examine the effect that visitor satisfaction with traditional restaurants has on perceptions of the local gastronomy, the overall image of a city and loyalty to that destination. Fieldwork has been carried out in Córdoba, a city in southern Spain famous for being a UNESCO World Heritage city and for its traditional gastronomy. The methodology used is based on structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). This paper makes a novel contribution in that no previous studies to date have explored satisfaction with traditional restaurants, with respect to the food, the service and the atmosphere. To achieve the proposed objective, a structured questionnaire has been used to find out the opinions of diners in renowned restaurants that base their cuisine on traditional dishes made with quality local ingredients. The results obtained confirm that a satisfactory experience with the food of a traditional restaurant has a positive effect on the image of the destination and the gastronomy of the place, as well as on visitors' intentions to recommend and repeat the visit to said destination. Based on the analysis carried out, effective strategies are suggested to help manage these types of restaurants. The study provides theoretical and practical implications from a gastronomic perspective, which can enable tourism managers to employ new strategies to retain tourists visiting a city, based on increasing their post-experience satisfaction with restaurants featuring local cuisine.

Sustainability of Heritage Tourism: A Structural Perspective from Cultural Identity and Consumption Intention

Intangible cultural heritage can provide cultural value content for product development and marketing of tourism destinations, enabling these areas to obtain economic benefits. This study selects cultural identity as an antecedent variable, and applies the theory of planned behavior to construct the influence mechanism of cultural identity on tourists’ consumption intention in heritage tourism. In tourism development, visitors and local residents have reached a common cognitive basis for Kunqu Opera through cultural identity, thereby guiding consumer behavior and promoting the continuous development of Kunqu Opera tourism. This study takes Suzhou Kunqu Opera as a research object, designs a questionnaire for local residents and tourists, establishes a structural equation model, and explores the relationship between various impact factors. The results of the study show that cultural identity has a positive effect on consumption intentions in heritage tourism activities, confirming that cultural identity is an effective driving force to promote tourists’ consumption intention. Behavioral attitudes, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control have a positive effect on consumption intentions. This study supplements the existing knowledge on tourists’ consumption intention in intangible cultural heritage destinations. The study also provides new insights to enhance the consumption intention and achieve long-term sustainable development of the destination.

The Loyalty of Tourism in Synagogues: The Special Case of the Synagogue of Córdoba

Tourism in synagogues is an activity which is increasing in popularity due to the current interest in cultural and patrimonial heritage. The synagogue in Córdoba has become an irreplaceable Jewish tourist destination in Spain due to its origins, construction, conservation, and recognition by international organizations. This article analyzes the loyalty of tourism in synagogues using variables such as satisfaction, loyalty and the expected and perceived value of the destination and the historical monument using a structural research equations methodology. No previous studies on tourism at synagogues using structural equations have been made. The data was obtained by means of a survey given to 350 tourists visiting this cultural heritage site. The results showed that there is strong loyalty to the heritage site as well as the destination.

Satisfaction of Generations X and Baby Boomers with tourist services in resorts from the Subcarpathians of Oltenia, in line with sustainable tourism destination development

Introduction. In the context of sustainable tourism development, tourist satisfaction looked at from the perspective of the experience lived in the destination and the quality of services rendered by service providers is one of the directions in which researchers point their attention. In this context, the purpose of this study is to measure the satisfaction of Generations X (GX) and Baby Boomers (GBB) with tourist services in balneal resorts, seen through the perspective of the sustainable development of tourism destinations. Material and method. Methodology consisted in the survey method, by applying the semi-structured questionnaire tool on a sample of tourists visiting the balneal resorts in the Subcarpathians of Oltenia between July and October 2019. Results and discussions. The results show that satisfaction with the access to and inside the destination is good, but the infrastructure requires modernization. Satisfaction with tourist services is good, but it requires the improvement of recreational facilities and treatment services, especially for the members of Generation X. As far as accommodation services are concerned, even though they received the most positive feedback, the vast majority of facilities have medium level classification. Direct or indirect interaction with locals, hotel staff, and local authorities is valued as good towards very good. On the whole, it is necessary to increase satisfaction for GX and GBB tourists, as this will bring greater benefits for all interested parties: hotel owners and staff, tourists, local authorities, and even the local community, who can become more actively involved in the tourist market. Conclusions. This study is useful for local authorities in order to develop sustainable tourism, and for economic agents in obtaining the projected benefits. Key words: tourist satisfaction, generational cohorts, Subcarpathians of Oltenia, sustainable tourism, balneal services.,