An investigation of tourists’ destination loyalty and preferences

Abstract

Investigates the relationship between tourists’ destination loyalty and their preferences as to destination. Destination loyalty is operationally defined as the level of tourists’ perceptions of a destination as a recommendable place. On‐site surveys of Korean outbound travellers were conducted at the Seoul International Airport, South Korea, in March 1997. Of 285 questionnaires collected from Korean outbound travellers, 265 useful questionnaires are analyzed. Multiple regression analysis reveals that three destination preferences, including different culture experiences, safety, and convenient transportation, have a positive relationship with tourist’s loyalty to the destination. Results from a path analysis show that past trip experience affects tourists’ destination preference. The implications and limitations of the study are discussed in the conclusion.