Determinates of Tourist Loyalty: An Extended Structural Equation Model from Postwar Tourism Development Context in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Tourists’ destination loyalty (TDL) has been well researched in tourism literature. Yet an extended model that can incorporate various concerned constructs for TDL i.e. image, quality, satisfaction and complaints has been an absence. This study endeavours to bridge this gap by modelling TDL through destination image, tourist expectation, perceived quality, perceived value, satisfaction and tourists’ complaints. Post-war tourism booming circumstance of Sri Lanka found a fertile ground to test the proposed theoretical model. A self-administered questionnaire was fielded and 570 responses were generated for the study. The refined measurement model with 33 items to explain the above constructs elucidated determines of TDL together with their relative significance. The structural model showed strong path coefficients and R2 values indicating the model’s fitness in explaining the relationships. Theoretical and empirical implications are discussed in support of tourist destination marketing literature and national tourism marketing efforts in the post-war tourism booming scenario in Sri Lanka.

Keywords: Destination image, Loyalty, Structural Equation modeling, tourist satisfaction, postwar Sri Lanka

JEL Classification: M10, M16, M20, M21, O10