MEMORABLE TOURIST EXPERIENCE, COGNITIVE PERCEPTION, REPUTATION AND LOYALTY TO THE DESTINATION: AN EMPIRICAL MODEL

Abstract

According to change in tourists’ behavior, tourism destinations have started to assume the position of experience providers. In this context, recent studies reveal that relevant tourist experiences tend to increase the tourists’ propensity to remember the destination. The main purpose of the present paper was to propose and test a model able to relate the underlying dimensions of memorable tourism experience, cognitive perception, reputation and loyalty towards a destination. The study method consisted of a survey responded by 664 tourists from all Brazilian states. The procedures included (1) the analysis and exclusion of univariated and multivariated outliers, (2) exploratory factor analysis and (3) validation of the measurement model and structural model using structural modeling equation modeling. The results indicate that 11 of the 13 tested hypothesis were validated at a significance level of 1%. It was also observed that among the five underlying dimensions of Memorable Touristic Experience identified – (1) Hedonism, (2) Novelty, (3) Local Knowledge and Culture, (4) Revival and (5) Engagement - Novelty was the most salient one.