What makes a city cool? Understanding destination coolness and its implications for tourism

Cool cities have an appeal with tourists and destination managers intuitively know that being considered cool pays out. Yet, existing literature does not provide an answer for what ‘destination coolness’ is and what attributes characterize cool cities. The current research is the first to address these important questions. The author employs a combination of qualitative and quantitative studies to conceptualize destination coolness and thereby identify what makes a city cool in the eyes of tourists: Cool cities are perceived as authentic, rebellious, original and vibrant. In two consecutive quantitative studies, the author develops a multi-dimensional reliable, valid and parsimonious coolness scale, and documents its importance for research and practice empirically. Coolness is an important driver behind relevant attitudinal and behavioral phenomena, such as intention and actual visit behavior, a destination's social return and city-self connection. The author concludes by explaning the implications of the study and paving new research avenues.     

Expanding theory of tourists’ destination loyalty: The role of sensory impressions

What shapes tourist's attitudes towards destinations most, abstract destination image or concrete sensory impressions? This exploratory research investigates the unique role played by sensory impressions in understanding destination loyalty through a multi-level validation process utilizing three progressive studies. Study 1, based on online reviews found that positive sensory impressions have a positive effect on loyalty while negative sensory impressions have a negative effect. A field study then revealed that sensory impressions can be distinguished from destination image and provides incremental explanatory power on loyalty. Through a survey of actual tourists, Study 3 verified the robustness of the conclusions of the first two studies and provides evidence that sensory impressions are related to other outcome concepts (perceived quality, value and satisfaction). This research illustrates the mechanisms behind the influence of this emerging construct on destination loyalty, and more importantly, verifies its importance and necessity through a more rigorous multi-level validation.     

Satisfaction and Destination Loyalty

ABSTRACT

First-time and repeat tourists engage in different tourism experience with a destination. Based on previous studies, the main purpose of this research is to investigate how tourists' previous experience with a tourist destination influences on the satisfaction evaluation, destination loyalty and destination attractiveness. An empirical study is carried out among 806 tourists visiting Calpe, a Spanish tourist destination, in the summer of 2000. Research findings evidence that the level of satisfaction and the number of past visits considerably influence tourists' intentions to make repeat visits.     

Branding destinations versus branding hotels in a gaming destination—Examining the nature and significance of co-branding effects in the case study of Macao

This paper considers destinations and hotels operating within a gaming destination as co-branded experiential choice products. Specifically, it examines the overall and individual effects of visitors’ perceived brand equity of a gaming destination and their perceived brand equity of various hotels, including ‘flagship’ or branded hotels, in terms of influencing their reaction to a hypothetical brand loyalty scenario in which their intended and preferred hotel was unable to provide accommodation thus forcing them to either: (1) choose an alternate hotel in the destination and continue with the visit, (2) cancel the trip and choose another destination to visit, or (3) insist on staying at the preferred hotel but postpone the trip at another period. The study's expectation is that visitors’ response to such a hypothetical scenario is moderated by the relative influence of their perceived brand equity for the destination and for hotels. The emergent gaming destination of Macao is used as a case study for this purpose. The study's findings indicate that visitors’ overall destination brand equity perceptions—rather than hotel brand equity perceptions—is robustly significant when it comes to influencing visitors’ response to the brand loyalty scenario. Results of the study indicate several relevant implications for destination management organizations (DMOs) seeking to enhance their destination-branding efforts and for hotel operators, especially internationally branded hotel chains.     

Investigating International Tourists’ Intention to Revisit Myanmar Based on Need Gratification,Flow Experience and Perceived Risk

Satisfaction plays an important role in creating loyalty to a tourism destination. However, ensuring consistent satisfactory trip experiences for tourists and increasing their revisit intention remain challenging for many international tourism destinations, including Myanmar. We conducted a survey with 465 international tourists visiting Myanmar. Results indicate that need gratification and flow can increase tourist satisfaction. The perceived risks of tourism destination can decrease tourist satisfaction. Satisfaction is an important factor to mediate the influence of need gratification, flow, and perceived risks. A tourist’s intention to revisit Myanmar can be largely improved by attending to these independent and mediating factors.     

Brand personality of tourist destinations: An application of self-congruity theory

The purpose of this research was to investigate the perceived destination personality of Las Vegas and to examine the relationships among destination personality, self-congruity, and tourist’s behavioral intentions. A convenience sample of 382 visitors to Las Vegas was surveyed, and 368 usable questionnaires were analyzed. The findings of the study indicate that tourists ascribe personality characteristics to destinations and that the perceived destination personality of Las Vegas is five dimensional: vibrancy, sophistication, competence, contemporary, and sincerity. These dimensions have a positive influence on tourists’ intention to return and intention to recommend. The study also supports the self-congruity theory within the context of tourism destinations, indicating that both actual congruity and ideal congruity have a positive impact on behavioral intentions. The study concludes that self-congruity is a partial mediator on the relationship between destination personality and tourist’s behavioral intentions. The practical and theoretical implications are discussed within the contexts of destination branding and the self-congruity theory.     

The role of wellness spa tourism performance in building destination loyalty: the case of Thailand

ABSTRACT

Despite the considerable growth of the wellness spa tourism market, little research has examined the intricate procedure involved in travelers’ loyalty toward Thailand as a wellness spa tourism destination. This research aimed to explore such loyalty formation by investigating the relationships among performances of wellness spa tourism in Thailand, affective experiences, and overall satisfaction. A field survey methodology was used for data collection. Findings of the structural analysis revealed that product performances, affective experiences, and satisfaction were in general significantly associated, and that these variables contributed to a satisfactory prediction for destination loyalty. In addition, the adequacy of the second-order structure of the performances of Thai wellness spa tourism was demonstrated. Moreover, the relative effectiveness of satisfaction in building loyalty was identified. Both affective experiences and satisfaction were also found to have a significant mediating impact. Implications for destination researchers and practitioners are discussed.