Pathways to Tourist Loyalty in Pakistani Tourism Industry: Comparison
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Tourist loyalty (TL) holds paramount importance in securing the long-term prosperity of a tourist destination. When tourists perceive comfort and a sense of belonging in a place, their inclination to return and advocate for it rises, resulting in cost savings for local tourism industry stakeholders.

  • tourist loyalty
  • destination image
  • service quality
  • electronic word of mouth

1. Introduction

The ability of a destination’s tourism sector to draw back tourists is crucial to its success. An increasing body of research is being conducted on the connections between the quality, DI, TS, and loyalty [1,2,3][1][2][3]. The atmosphere that visitors interact with while traveling might affect their enjoyment, desire to return, and DI. People choose their vacation locations based on where they think they would enjoy themselves the best. Service quality (SQ) and general place appeal are two of a vacation’s most crucial factors [4].
Tourist loyalty (TL) holds paramount importance in securing the long-term prosperity of a tourist destination. When tourists perceive comfort and a sense of belonging in a place, their inclination to return and advocate for it rises, resulting in cost savings for local tourism industry stakeholders [4]. This is particularly significant for prospective travelers who tend to make choices based on the feedback of past visitors. Consequently, positive encounters for tourists can enhance a tourist destination’s reputation and influence visitors’ intentions to return and advocate for it [5]. Enrique [6] states the ability to attract tourists is determined by its ability to provide high-quality tourism services that can adapt to the changing tastes and needs of international visitors. The effectiveness of a destination’s tourist sector is determined by the first visitor experience and the resources available [7]. Around 50% of a destination’s tourist flow comprises repeat visits [8,9][8][9]. Recurring visitors are critical to the profitability of a country’s tourism industry since attracting and retaining them is less expensive than attracting new ones [10]. Therefore, destination marketers must prioritize visitor retention and loyalty building to ensure a destination’s success [11,12][11][12]. Although destination loyalty is crucial for effective destination marketing, there has been little research into the factors contributing to TL in developing nations like Pakistan.
Scholars and tourism stakeholders have begun to emphasize the significance of the destination image (DI) and service quality (SQ) in boosting TL for a tourism destination’s sustainable growth. Visitors’ assessments of a location are affected by their perceptions of its attractiveness and facilities [13]. The degree of crime and the reputation of the place impact where tourists decide to travel since they are worried about their safety. Visitors will likely obtain negative impressions of the whole place when they experience bad service, deforested landscapes, and clogged roadways. Tourists’ favorable opinions of their chosen sites can be enhanced by destinations with high SQ (service quality) and DI (destination image) ratings. Providing well-preserved natural, historical, and cultural legacy resources helps achieve this [13].
According to the literature, the service quality experience, DI, E-WOM, and tourism satisfaction are all critical features of TL in a developing country context [13,14,15,16][13][14][15][16]. Nevertheless, past research findings on the links between the SQ, DI, and TL are uneven, if not contradictory. The DI influences tourists’ aesthetic choices rather than overall enjoyment or TL [17]. Kumail et al. [18] discovered no association between the SQ, tourists’ revisiting intentions, and customer satisfaction. However, they did discover a substantial beneficial influence of the DI on tourist satisfaction. In contrast to these findings, Henseler [19] claims that, in addition to the DI, the perceived service quality and pleasure significantly affect tourists’ revisiting intentions. TL was discovered as a potential predictor of the SQ, TS, and DI in these studies. However, several studies (e.g., ref. [20] have demonstrated that the SQ and DI are precursors of TS and E-WOM, both of which may have a significant influence on the TBI’s decision to revisit a destination. As a result of the contradicting results shown here, more study is needed to reexamine these relationships in a range of cultural and contextual circumstances.
Pakistan, an emerging country, holds significant untapped opportunities within its tourism sector. According to World Travel and Tourism Council forecasts, Pakistan’s tourism field is projected to yield as much as $39.8 billion by 2027 [21]. Magnificent tourist attractions, such as Pakistan’s breathtaking mountains, gorgeous hills, and thousands of kilometers of amazing deserts, can be found all around the country [22]. Furthermore, Pakistan’s religious potential is enormous. Muslim mosques, Hindu temples, Sikh gurdwaras, and Buddhist monasteries are the most important religious landmarks, which may be favorable for business. Moreover, its history as a once-great civilization only adds to its allure as a vacation destination [14]. Pakistan is also a popular mountaineering destination because of its high peaks [23]. In 2016, around 33.82 billion USD were brought into South Asia by international tourists. India (69%), Sri Lanka (10%), and the Maldives all made greater contributions than Pakistan.

2. Tourist Loyalty

Tourist loyalty (TL) has piqued the interest of academics and professionals in marketing and tourism management due to its favorable effects on revenue and profitability [24,25][24][25]. When we say “loyalty”, we mean the intention to buy or return to a product or service frequently and the persistent effort to maintain a relationship with a specific brand [23]. TL is defined by Govindarajo [26] as “a deeply held commitment to re-buy or re-patronize a preferred product/service consistently in the future, resulting in repetitive same-brand or same-brand set purchasing, despite situational influences and marketing efforts that may cause switching behavior”. According to a literature review, the demand for novelty influences the choice of tourism locations, with the complex selection process. Thus, TL is more difficult to build than traditional consumer loyalty [27]. Destination marketers also view TL as an essential attribute associated with a strong desire for less expenditure. This includes retaining current visitors instead of gaining new ones [28]. However, attracting repeat visitors is less expensive than attracting new ones [29].

3. Destination Image

Since the 1970s, tourism researchers have written extensively about the DI. When attempting to explain behaviors such as destination selection, RI, and satisfaction [30] and when developing destination marketing strategies, the idea of the DI can be pretty valuable [30]. The phrase “DI” refers to “a person’s entire collection of preconceived notions about a region” [31]. “A mental image of destinations exists regardless of whether these areas have been visited” [32]. The target image is dynamic, updating as new data are received [32]. According to Herrero-Crespo [33], a tourist’s view of a destination changes after visiting it. Similarly, Wantara [34] specifies that tourists form a more sophisticated image of an area due to their interactions and activities while on vacation. Returning visitors have a more positive view of a destination than first-time visitors [35]. This process of changing a destination’s image is continual, and an image will evolve due to events that occur throughout the visit [36]. A pleasant and memorable travel experience directly impacts a destination’s image [37]. Tourism-related events, such as sporting events, can also help to develop a positive DI [38].

4. Service Quality

Service quality (SQ) in service marketing refers to a client’s satisfaction with a service’s pricing, features, and overall value [29]. The spirit of quality is captured alongside standards, and expectations are met or exceeded [13,39][13][39]. SQ is increasingly recognized as a competitive advantage and tourism source in developing countries [3,37][3][37]. SQ is assessed to provide value for consumers by comparing their pre-service expectations to their post-service comprehension [27,38,40][27][38][40]. Various things might influence one’s expectations, including prior experience, word-of-mouth recommendations from other consumers, and promotional materials [41]. Several studies have been conducted on SQ to investigate the elements that influence consumer happiness and loyalty [42]. SERVQUAL has usually been accepted as the standard for measuring SQ in several service sectors [41]. This method has been chastised for supposedly misrepresenting tourism SQ [12]. As a result, a model was created tailored to the tourism industry in a developing country like Pakistan [27,39][27][39].

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