Investigating the Dimensions of Destination Image and its Impact on Destination Loyalty: A Study of Jammu as a Tourist Destination

Abstract

Tourism industry has a significant impact on the overall growth and development of any region, which in turn has made tourism an important economic activity. Nowadays most of the tourist destinations are facing stiff competition and tourists visiting these destinations are influenced by many factors including the image of a destination. To achieve this many promotional activities are carried out by destination marketers to improve the perceived image of destination to win a pool of highly satisfied customers and then converting them into a loyal customer so as to pull more tourists and improve their satisfaction. If a destination can identify and satisfy the needs and wants of tourist, tourist will probably make repeat visitation and spread positive word of mouth and publicity. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the impact of destination image on destination Loyalty from a tourist perspective. The study adopts questionnaire survey with 347 tourists through convenience and simple random sampling. Regression analysis is employed to find the association between the variables. The result of the proposed model confirms that there is a positive correlation and relationship between destination image and destination loyalty. The paper also gives us an insight of the loyalty of tourist towards a destination which is very important for destination managers and services providers in creating a positive Image of a destination. Designing meaningful strategies will further play a very significant role in evaluation of Jammu as a destination with touristic potential. The study concluded that the tourists who visit Jammu are satisfied and willing to revisit and recommend it.

Keywords: Destination Image, Tourist Destination, Destination Loyalty and Tourism Potential

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