Determining factors of tourists’ loyalty to beach tourism destinations: a structural model

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and develop an integrated theoretical relationship by including destination image and attitudes into the quality-value-satisfaction-loyalty paradigm in the context of beach tourism. Design/methodology/approach A personal-administered survey was conducted using a convenient sampling technique to collect data from 601 tourists who had visited popular beach destinations in Bangladesh. Then, the structural relationships between the factors likely to affect tourist attitudes and loyalty were examined. Findings The findings reveal that both service quality and perceived values have a direct effect on destination image, tourist attitudes and satisfaction. Additionally, destination image and satisfaction significantly affect tourist attitudes and loyalty. Research limitations/implications The direct relationship of perceived service quality and perceived value with tourist loyalty was ignored in the model due to reporting consecutive indirect relationship between them in prior studies. Practical implications These findings contribute to the extension of theoretical and managerial knowledge, especially in a beach tourism setting, where little research has been done to investigate the proposed relationships. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in providing theoretical and empirical evidence regarding the effect of service quality and perceived value, especially on destination image and tourist attitude to behaviour in the loyalty model, which has been scarcely examined in the prior tourism literature.