Place-Oriented or People-Oriented Concepts for Destination Loyalty: Destination Image and Place Attachment versus Perceived Distances and Emotional Solidarity

Many studies have modeled several different concepts to explain destination loyalty; however, none have integrated place-oriented (e.g., destination image, place attachment) and people-oriented concepts (e.g., cultural distance, social distance, and emotional solidarity) for their relative influences on loyalty. The current study tested the influence of destination image (place-oriented) and perceived distances (people-oriented) as antecedents of place attachment (place-oriented) and emotional solidarity (people-oriented) for their relative influences on destination loyalty. Survey data collected from both domestic (n=260) and international (n=250) visitors to a city in Turkey, Antalya, revealed that place-oriented concepts (cognitive and affective destination images and place attachment) are better predictors of destination loyalty than people-oriented concepts (cultural distance, social distance, and emotional solidarity). Together, they explain about half of the variance in destination loyalty, 42% in past loyalty and 60% in future loyalty.