Investigating the impact of destination image on Total Tourists' Experience (TTE) and destination loyalty: Using structural equation modelling approach

The importance of value creation via customer experiences has been widely established. Providing quality products and services is no longer adequate for business sustainability since customers also need to acquire relevant satisfactory experiences. This paper aims to address the gap by empirically investigating impact of destination image on Total Tourists' Experience (TTE) and destination loyalty. A hypothesized model which integrates three abstraction levels of destination image (country image, island image and resort image), TTE and destination loyalty was developed, analyzed and tested rigorously using structural equation modelling procedure with 173 usable data-sets of international tourists. The data was collected using self-administered structured questionnaire approach within the vicinity of an international tourist island. Final results reveal that island image and country image are significant predictors of TTE, and surprisingly, it was unveiled that resort image does not have any significant influence on TTE. In addition, TTE has a positive effect on destination loyalty. These findings have important implications for future research directions and destination marketers.