Proceedings of Annual Tokyo Business Research Conference
15 - 16 December 2014, Waseda University, Tokyo, japan, ISBN: 978-1-922069-67-2
The Effects of Destination Image on Tourists’ Intention to
Revisit Chonburi Province, Thailand
Vuttichat Soonthonsmai
Numerous attempts to define "destination image” as perceptions or attitudes,
dreams and imagination of tourists on their travel places were obvious. In order
to fully understand their views regarding a service or product, the further
develop our understandings of "image" as a construct as it relates to tourism
destination intention to revisit will be able to ensure practical and theoretical
tourism destination managerial implications.
The purposes of the study were to investigate the effects of destination image
on tourists’ revisit Chonburi province, Thailand and to empirically validate a
model of these determinants. The descriptive research was conducted by
collecting data at multiple time points for 5 years from 2007 to 2011 through the
questionnaire. There were 1,200 Thai tourists who were asked to rate the
various questions of post-visit destination image and inform their revisit
intention.
Inferential statistics were performed to test the established
hypotheses. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were performed to
test the relationship among variables that contain the measurement part of the
perceived image. And the Structural Equation Model (SEM) of the effects of
destination image on tourists’ intention to revisit Chonburi province, Thailand
was tested and modified by LISREL at the .05 level of statistical significance.
The study found that most tourists were female, age between 25-34 years,
single, bachelor degree’s holders, monthly income between US$330-1,000.
The quality of experience factor was rated as the highest score of destination
image. Furthermore, an attraction factor and famous factor were rated the
second and third ranks of the image. There are differences on the experiences
and attraction factors between tourists’ gender. Age of tourists also played the
major role to distinguish the quality of experiences and knowledge factors of
destination image. Accordingly, the tourists’ intention to revisit the destination
was an endogenous variable. The Structural Equation Model of the effects of
destination image on tourists’ intention to revisit Chonburi province, Thailand
was constructed and tested the best fitting model which indicated that the
exogenous variables such as relaxation and escape as well as knowledge
factors affected directly to the tourists’ intention, whereas social factor and
value and environment factor were indirectly predicting the tourists’ revisit
intention through the length of staying (the number of the days) at the
destination. The causal model showed not only direct but indirect relationships
among the certain destination image variables which enabled a validation of the
proposed model.
Recommendations and future research studies were suggested and in some
certain situations, subsequent replication and perhaps modification will proceed
from these initial findings.
Fields of research: Hospitality Industry Management and Tourism Marketing
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Vuttichat Soonthonsmai, Associate Professor, DBA, Department of Marketing, Faculty of
Management and Tourism, Burapha University, Bangsean, Chonburi, Thailand,
E-mail: vutmba@yahoo.com