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The impact of destination image on customer loyalty: The case of Nghe An tourism destination - 2

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1. Summary of destination image and loyalty models 11

Table 1.2. Statistics of guests, revenue, and tourism in Nghe An in the period 2002-2013 23

Table 1.3. Number of domestic tourists coming to Nghe An and the North Central Region 23

Table 1.4. Statistics of accommodation establishments built in the period from 2002-2013. 26

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Table 2.1. Summary of concepts of tourist destination image 29

Table 2.2. Classification of destination image attributes and components 38

The impact of destination image on customer loyalty: The case of Nghe An tourism destination - 2

Table 2.3. Summary of destination image components of 12 studies 40

Table 2.4. Attributes used in the destination image scale 44

Table 2.5. Attributes used to measure destination image 45

Table 2.6. Comparison of structural and unstructured methods 48

Table 2.7. Views on loyalty 51

Table 2.8. Examples of observed variables measuring destination loyalty of visitors 59

tourism in some international studies 59

Table 3.1. Results of qualitative research on destination image scale 72

Table 3.2. Destination loyalty attitude and behavior scale 74

Table 4.1. Characteristics of the study subjects 81

Table 4.2. Source of tourists (place of departure), purpose and destination of tourists 83

Table 4.3. Descriptive statistics of observed variables of destination image components 85

Table 4.4. Descriptive statistics of observed variables of tourist destination loyalty 87

Table 4.5. Cronbach's Alpha results of destination image and loyalty scale ...88

Table 4.6. Initial EFA results of destination image scale 89

Table 4.7. Second EFA results of destination image scale 90

Table 4.8. EFA results of destination loyalty scale 92

Table 4.10. Discriminant validity results between the concepts of destination image scales 94

Table 4.11. Standardized weights of the loyalty scale 96

Table 4.12. Discriminant validity results between loyalty concepts 96

Table 4.13. Composite reliability (CR) and variance extracted (AVE) results 96

Table 4.14. Summary of CFA 98 standards

Table 4.15. Discriminant validity results between the concepts of the image and trust scales

Loyalty Points 98

Table 4.16. Test of the relationship of the research model (n=396) 99

Table 4.17. Results of testing research hypotheses 100

Table 4.18. Summary of CFA 101 standards

Table 4.19. Conceptual relationships when removing meaningless components

Impact statistics at 90% significance level 103

Table 4.20. Differences between the variable and partial invariant models in the group

male and female tourists 105

Table 4.21. Relationship between concepts (variable and partial invariant) in the group of Male and Female Tourists 105

Table 4.22. Differences between the variable and partial invariant models in the group

Tourists of different age groups: 107

Table 4.23. Relationship between concepts (variable and partially invariant) of customer groups

Young (under 36) and middle and old (36 years and older) tourists 107

Table 4.24. Differences between the variable and partial invariant models in the group

Tourists with different income groups: 108

Table 4.25. Relationship between concepts (variable and constant) according to income 108

Table 4.26. Tourists' perception of Nghe An destination image 111

Table 4.27. Level of tourist loyalty to Nghe An tourist destination ..117

LIST OF FIGURES


Figure 1.1. Overview of the research model of Destination Image and Loyalty from the

international research 15

Figure 1.2. Chart of tourists to Nghe An in the period 2002-2013 22

Figure 2.1. Factors affecting the process of forming tourist destination image in ..34

tourist mind 34

Figure 2.2. Factors affecting the process of destination image formation 35

Figure 2.3. Components of destination image 37

Figure 2.4. Summary of research on the impact of tourists' perceptions on the relationship between image and destination loyalty 64

Figure 3.1. Proposed model of the relationship between destination image components and tourist destination loyalty 66

Figure 3.2. Research process of Thesis 68

Figure 3.3. Quantitative research framework 74

Figure 4.1. Destination image scale plot diagram 91

Figure 4.2. CFA results of destination image scale (standardized) 93

Figure 4.3. CFA results of loyalty scale (standardized) 95

Figure 4.4. SEM structural model 97

Figure 4.5. SEM structural model after removing AC 102 component

Figure 4.6. Partial invariance-variance SEM results by gender 104

Figure 4.7. Age-invariant and Partial SEM Results 106

Figure 4.8. Partial variable-invariant SEM results by income segment 109

INTRODUCTION

1. The necessity of the research topic

Having carried out the comprehensive renovation of the country for nearly 30 years, Vietnam's economy has always maintained a fairly high growth rate, with the outstanding contribution of the service industry, including tourism (generally referred to as "Tourism"). Identifying tourism as one of the important economic sectors of the country, the Vietnamese Government has focused on directing all levels, sectors and the whole society to promote the country's potential and strengths to promote tourism development.

Even while the economy is still in the process of overcoming recession, restructuring and gradually finding new growth drivers, Tourism is one of the economic sectors that has maintained a high growth rate and is a bright spot in the Vietnamese economy. Specifically, in 2000, it only attracted 2.1 million international visitors and 11.2 million domestic tourists, but by 2013, it had increased to 7.57 million international visitors and 35 million domestic visitors, with an average growth rate of about 9.3% per year; total direct revenue from tourists reached 200 trillion VND, contributing over 6% of GDP. The tourism industry is related to and has a spillover effect on all sectors and areas of socio-economic life and makes a great contribution to the national economy [32, 35].

Therefore, the strategy for developing Vietnam's tourism to 2020 with a vision to 2030 has identified the goal of developing tourism into a spearhead economic sector; with professionalism, relatively synchronous and modern technical infrastructure; high-quality, diverse, branded products, imbued with national cultural identity, competitive with countries in the region and the world. The goal by 2020 is that Vietnam expects to welcome 10 to 10.5 million international visitors and 47 to 48 million domestic tourists. To achieve this goal, the strategy has set out a system of synchronous solutions, including focusing on developing tourism products; developing infrastructure and facilities for tourism; training and developing tourism human resources; developing markets, promoting and branding tourism; investing in and developing tourism development policies; international cooperation and state management of tourism [3]

For the tourist destination of Nghe An, it has the advantage of being a land of outstanding people, with a rich and attractive history and culture, natural landscapes with many beautiful beaches and a clean environment, as well as many caves, waterfalls, ancient trees, etc., preserving cultural traditions, many customs, folk songs, folk dances, and crafts.

Traditional crafts, culinary culture, costumes, stilt house architecture... bearing the unique cultural features of ethnic minority regions.

In early 2015, Nghe An and Ha Tinh were recognized by UNESCO as " Nghe Tinh Vi-Giam folk songs as a representative intangible cultural heritage of humanity ", attracting an increasing number of domestic and foreign tourists. Specifically, in 2000, Nghe An only welcomed 614 thousand domestic visitors; 20.8 thousand international visitors, but by 2013, it had welcomed 3.2 million domestic visitors and 60 thousand international visitors [25, 27, 36].

With such advantages in tourism development, there are still some problems facing the tourism industry, including how to attract more and more tourists to stay longer and spend more, have the need to return and stay longer, and consider Nghe An as an attractive and friendly destination.

Therefore, in the Master Plan for Tourism Development in the North Central Region to 2020, with a vision to 2030: “Nghe An has revolutionary - historical tourist attractions, sea tourism, and mountain and forest eco-tourism that can attract both domestic and international visitors. Vinh City is the second largest tourist center in the region (after Hue City), Kim Lien Tourist Area is ranked as one of the four national tourist areas of the North Central Region, Cua Lo Town is one of the three tourist cities of the region (along with Hue and Sam Son)”, especially in 2014, the Prime Minister signed Decision No. 2355/QD-TTg recognizing Cua Lo Beach Tourist City, Nghe An Province.

However, according to reports from Vietnam's tourism management agencies, the tourism industry is currently facing problems affecting the image of destinations such as transportation services, accommodation, food and beverage, entertainment, shopping, community awareness at tourist destinations, etc. These limitations have partly affected the rate of tourists returning to tourist destinations in Vietnam, affecting the length of stay, thereby affecting revenue and profit in tourism business, limiting the competitiveness of destinations in the trend of increasingly deep integration, including strong competition in terms of domestic visitors for destinations in Vietnam. In 2010, only about 20% of domestic tourists returned to their previous destinations and the length of stay at tourist destinations was quite low, averaging 1.5 days/trip. Furthermore, creating differentiation at tourist destinations is also facing many difficulties. In tourism business, it is necessary to create destination images in localities and further, to create a destination tourism brand that is different from other tourist destinations [32, 35].

Therefore, the majority of domestic tourism experts have stated that one of the fundamental challenges for the rapid development and sustainable competitive advantage of Vietnam tourism is not only to focus on providing solutions to increase the number of tourists but also to pay attention to improving service quality and tourist satisfaction to extend their length of stay, encouraging tourists to actively spread word of mouth (WOM) to new tourists about Vietnam tourism, as well as proactively returning to Vietnam tourism in the future. This means how to make tourists loyal to the destination, in which the attractive image of the destination is a decisive factor in tourists' satisfaction and destination loyalty [100].

Therefore, identifying the components (factors) of destination image is very important for destination managers and tourism businesses to know what to do to attract loyal tourists and what to change in product, service and communication strategy provision to meet or exceed tourists' expectations; because customer loyalty is considered one of the most important drivers of business performance and is also one of the important indicators of business success. Because each customer and every aspect of a business system is significantly affected by the intensity and level of customer loyalty [133].

Loyalty research is to identify and understand the factors that influence customer behavior in terms of repeat purchases and positive word of mouth (WOM). Some studies suggest that an additional 5% of loyal customers to travel companies can increase profits by 25-95% (Kim[100] cited Reichheld, 1996). In addition, retaining existing customers often incurs much lower associated costs than the costs of acquiring new customers [82].

Furthermore, loyal customers are more likely to freely spread information based on word of mouth (WOM) to recommend friends, relatives and others to consume products and services [100]. Some studies suggest that WOM referrals account for up to 60% of sales to new customers (Kim [100] cited Reicheld and Sasser, 1990). Therefore, loyalty becomes a fundamental strategic component for organizations and businesses.

Furthermore, destination loyalty can be explained by the fact that “success does not depend on the first order but on the second order”. It is also unlikely that any brand can survive over time without some level of loyalty. Loyalty is also considered an important antecedent.

customer loyalty is an important factor in customer retention and choice, a factor that improves customer willingness to pay more and reduces service costs. Therefore, identifying the factors that impact or influence customer loyalty, especially destination loyalty, is crucial to the success and survival of any business.

Therefore, more and more scholars and tourism researchers are interested in the antecedents of loyalty, including components such as: Satisfaction with the destination, perception of the service provided at the destination [60]; Tourists' perception of the value provided at the destination [133]; Destination image (e.g. Castro et al. [57]; Chen and Tsai [60]; Chi and Qu [61]); travel motivation Yoon and Uysal [144]; level of involvement and number of previous experiences with destinations,...

However, among the above premises, destination image is considered one of the most basic premises of loyalty, which is the basic factor for tourists to base their choice of tourist destination. Some studies consider destination image as a key component “in the decision of where to travel”. Furthermore, destination image is an important aspect for destination managers but it seems difficult to determine the exact term.

This has shown the importance of studying the model of destination image and tourist loyalty in the context of fierce destination competition today. Moreover, the study of the impact of the components of destination image on tourist loyalty has not been clearly identified in previous studies. Therefore, the study "The impact of destination image on customer loyalty: The case of Nghe An tourism destination" is necessary and timely.

2. Research objectives

The main objective of the thesis is to propose a comprehensive evaluation model of the image components of a destination in Vietnam (for example, studying a tourist destination in Nghe An) as a tourist destination for domestic tourists, which is one of the basic steps in marketing a tourist destination in the context of international competition and integration.

The second objective is to explore the impact of tourism destination image components on tourist loyalty in terms of attitudes and loyalty behaviors. From there, it is the basis for recommending some strategic directions and orientations.

solutions to enhance Nghe An's image as a loyal tourist destination for domestic tourists.

To achieve this objective, the thesis aims to answer the following questions:


1. What is destination image, what attributes and components does destination image include, and how can it be measured ?

2. How is tourist loyalty expressed, what factors influence tourist loyalty and how to measure tourist loyalty ?

3. To what extent do tourists perceive the image of Nghe An tourist destination and to what extent do they accept that image with loyalty ?

3. Research object and scope


Research subjects:

Domestic tourists ; Concept of tourist destination image, formation of destination image, attributes and components of tourist destination image; Attributes and components showing the level of tourist loyalty ; relationship between destination image and tourist loyalty.

Research scope:

- Space: Tourist destination Nghe An, Vietnam.

- Time: Research survey on the topic in the period 2000-2014, in which quantitative survey from May to September 2014.

- Research field: Destination image and consumer behavior in tourism.

4. Research methods


To be consistent with the research content and achieve reliable and scientifically meaningful results, the thesis uses a number of scientific research methods including combining document research, combining qualitative and quantitative research.

Document research: Theoretical documents and empirical studies related to destination image and customer loyalty that have been published by international and domestic studies, to synthesize the theoretical and practical system as a foundation for selecting the method of developing the research model and measurement method of the thesis.

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