Memorable experience, tourist-destination identification and destination love

Purpose – This paper is aimed to investigate the impact of memorable destination experience and destination attractiveness on tourist-destination identification and destination love. It also investigates the moderating role of gender.
Design/methodology/approach – Using the cluster sampling method, the study selected cities of a developing country with the most popular destinations. A questionnaire survey was employed to collect data from a sample of foreign and domestic tourists. To test the research model, a covariance-based structural equation modelling approach was adopted.
Findings – According to the results, destination attractiveness and memorable experience had a positive effect on tourist-destination identification. Similarly, tourist-destination identification positively influenced destination love. In addition, destination love impacts the intention to revisit and word-of-mouth. Finally, the results indicate that gender moderates some of these relationships.
Originality/value – Understanding what items can create strong bonds between destination and tourist is of great importance. By providing a validated conceptual model that traces the relationship between memorable experience, destination attractiveness, and tourist-destination identification through cognitive, affective, and evaluative dimensions, this study attempts to answer prior calls for examination from the viewpoint of tourism scholars.

Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited. Copyright © 2021, International Tourism Studies Association.
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