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In the competitive realm of destination branding, understanding the factors that lead tourists to develop a deep emotional connection with a destination’s brand is essential. At the heart of this emotional bond lies destination brand love – an exceptionally profound sentiment transcending mere satisfaction or preference. This concept has recently garnered attention from both tourism academia and industry practice. However, there remains a void in exploring the factors and mechanisms that pave the way for tourists to develop deep affection for a destination’s brand. This study examines the influences of self-congruence and destination immersion on destination brand love. In addition, the linkages from the four facets of self-congruence to destination brand love via the mediating role of destination brand immersion are also scrutinized.

With data collected from 421 tourists in Vietnam, the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach was applied to test the research model and hypotheses.

The results reveal that (1) ideal and ideal social self-congruence impact destination brand love, (2) all four facets of self-congruence impact destination brand immersion and (3) there is an indirect effect of the four facets of self-congruence on destination brand love, mediated by destination brand immersion.

The study’s findings provide evidence that destination characteristics must be symbolic of the destination brand and consistent with its image among tourists, which is essential in understanding the complex behavior of tourists. Indeed, the results indicate that facets of self-congruence significantly influence both destination brand immersion and destination brand love. Therefore, destination marketers should develop marketing strategies that emphasize personal relevance to the tourist destination to increase their sympathy and love for the destination.

Adapting self-congruence theory and the psychology of flow theory, this study presents a model that elucidates both the direct and indirect relationships among the four facets of self-congruence: destination brand immersion and destination brand love based on the aspects of congruence between tourists and destinations. From this, it helps to explore the factors and mechanisms that pave the way for tourists to develop deep affection for a destination’s brand.

In the last decade, the concept of Islamic attributes of destination (IAD) has emerged due to Muslim tourists’ need to visit a destination that complies with Sharia law. Since then, the IAD concept has been popular to increase the destination’s attractiveness and travel satisfaction for Muslim tourists. This concept evolved from evaluating the Muslim tourists’ perception of IAD to non-Muslim tourists and from assessing the Islamic attributes in Muslim-majority destinations to non-Muslim majority destinations. Furthermore, the literature showed several measurement scales to assess tourists’ satisfaction with IAD, and scholars were varied in the methods of analysis used to assess tourists’ satisfaction with IAD. The purpose of this study is to perform a systematic mapping study on satisfaction with IAD by answering five research questions.

This study used the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses framework to guide the search process and search for relevant studies between 2012 and 2022 from two scientific databases, Scopus and Web of Science.

The search revealed 387 studies. In total, 31 articles met the eligibility criteria. This study indicates the journal considered research studies on tourists’ satisfaction with IAD the most, the method of analysis used in the previous studies, the Islamic destination attributes considered in the previous studies, the research distribution by counties, the research trend and the future direction.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first systematic mapping study that delivers a summary of empirical research studies on tourists’ satisfaction with IAD.

This paper aims to assess the sense-of-community role in affecting young Muslim loyalty towards Muslim-majority tourism destinations. Specifically, this research assesses the sense of community dimension in the halal tourism context and evaluates its effects on destination satisfaction, image and loyalty.

This research used a quantitative approach by using data from 376 young Indonesian Muslim tourists with past travel experiences to destinations where Muslims are the majority. The dimension of the sense of community was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis. The association between variables was tested using partial least square-structural equation modelling.

The finding exhibits three notable sense of community dimensions: membership, influence and need fulfilment and emotional connection. Emotional connection shapes, directly and indirectly, destination loyalty, while influence and need fulfilment affect destination loyalty by satisfaction and destination image mediating role. Lastly, membership has no impact on developing destination loyalty.

This study offers tourism destinations in Muslim-majority countries an opportunity to draw and create loyalty among young Muslim tourists. Besides offering superior halal services and products, Muslim-majority tourism destinations need to develop young Muslim tourists' emotional connection to the destinations.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical examination of the sense of community's role in influencing tourist loyalty, specifically in halal tourism.

Examining emotional solidarity that drives tourists’ nostalgia has received significant attention, offering valuable insights that can aid in the selection of a travel destination. However, tourists’ nostalgia, along with its antecedents—perceived safety risk and emotional solidarity, has gained less attention within the setting of Pakistan. Therefore, this research has been carried out and validated a research framework using the stimulus-organism-response model to investigate the links between perceived safety risk, emotional solidarity—welcoming nature, emotional closeness, sympathetic understanding, perceived nostalgia, and destination advocacy intentions. In addition, this model employed destination attachment—place identity and place dependence—as a boundary condition on the relationships between emotional solidarity and advocacy intentions.

This study collected 545 responses through two methods: offline distribution of print copies of the questionnaire and online surveys from domestic tourists who visited scenic destinations last year. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed using AMOS 26, and the PROCESS macro was conducted using IBM SPSS 28.

The findings highlighted that perceived safety risk negatively influences emotional solidarity—welcoming nature, emotional closeness, sympathetic understanding—, resulting in a positive effect on perceived nostalgia. Furthermore, tourists’ perceived nostalgia positively triggers advocacy intentions. The findings also confirmed the boundary conditions of destination attachment—place identity and place dependence—on the association between emotional solidarity and perceived nostalgia.

Three major practical implications of these findings: First, ensuring visitor safety with smart security measures, digital tools for quick response, and local community involvement. Second, highlighting local markets, art, and architecture to enrich cultural experiences and promote accessibility and diversity. Finally, using marketing to generate nostalgic experiences through local collaborations, professional storytelling, and engaging social media content to build emotional ties and curiosity.

In terms of originality, this is pioneering research intended at developing and validating the model in the context of Pakistani destinations. Furthermore, this marks the initial step in examining the proposed relationships between perceived safety risk and emotional solidarity in fostering tourists' perceived nostalgia, ultimately leading to a strong desire to advocate for the destination.

This paper aims to examine the role of social media communication, tourist satisfaction and destination brand equity components in enhancing destination brand equity based on the Stimulus – Organism – Response (S-O-R) theory.

The conceptual model and research hypotheses were assessed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM). An online survey was used to collect data from 369 domestic tourists who had traveled to Danang and knew about content related to Danang generated by either DMOs or other users on social media.

Except for the effect of DMO-generated social media communication on tourist satisfaction and the impact of destination brand awareness on destination brand loyalty, the findings confirmed the sequential causal relationships between research concepts based on the S-O-R model.

Future research should explore the proposed model based on comparisons of different nationalities to better understand the impact of cultural factors.

DMOs should associate social media with their marketing strategies to enhance destination brand equity, using cutting-edge technologies to create content and update information in a significant way to make communications by DMOs more effective. The findings especially suggest that UGC plays a vital role in improving brand equity dimensions, so DMOs could exploit UGC to engage existing customers and build relationships with potential customers. This research provides guidance for DMOs to improve their brand equity based on social media.

This study has contributed to the destination marketing literature by applying the S-O-R theory to propose a pathway for effectively increasing destination brand equity and highlight the importance of social media communication as a driver to achieve a hierarchical relationship between destination brand equity components and tourist satisfaction from stimulus to organism (e.g. cognition to affect).

Drawing on the literature on brand–consumer relations in an attempt to apply the concept of brand love to a city tourism destination, this paper aims to explore the antecedents and consequences of city brand love.

Based on quantitative research and cluster sampling, study data was collected from 330 international tourists who visited six Iran cities. The research model is tested using partial least square structural equation modeling.

According to the results, city brand attractiveness, city brand identification and memorable city brand experience are the antecedents of city brand love. Moreover, the city brand attractiveness, both directly and indirectly through memorable experiences and identification with the city brand, is one of the antecedents of city brand love. Finally, the results suggest that word of mouth and revisit intention are major behavioral outcomes of city brand love.

By providing a validated conceptual model that traces the antecedents and consequences of city brand love, this study attempts to answer prior calls for examination from the viewpoint of city tourism scholars.

本研究基于定量研究和整群抽样, 研究数据来自访问伊朗六个城市的330名国际游客。研究采用偏最小二乘结构方程模型对研究模型进行了检验。

借鉴品牌-消费者关系的相关文献, 本研究试图将品牌爱的概念应用于一个城市旅游目的地, 探讨城市品牌喜爱的前因和后果。

结果表明, 城市品牌吸引力、城市品牌辨识度和令人难忘的城市品牌体验是城市品牌喜爱的前因。城市品牌吸引力通过城市品牌直接或间接通过难忘体验和认同产生, 是城市喜爱的前因。最后, 研究结果表明, 口碑和重访意愿是城市品牌喜爱的主要行为结果。

通过提供一个经过验证的概念模型, 追溯城市品牌喜爱的前因后果, 本研究试图从城市旅游学者的角度回答先前检验的呼吁。

A partir de una investigación cuantitativa y muestreo por conglomerados, los datos del estudio se recogieron de 330 turistas internacionales que visitaron seis ciudades iraníes. El modelo conceptual se analizó mediante un modelo de ecuaciones estructurales de mínimos cuadrados parciales (PLS).

Basándose en la literatura sobre las relaciones entre marca y consumidor para aplicar el concepto de amor de marca a una ciudad como destino turístico, la presente investigación analiza los antecedentes y las consecuencias del amor de marca de ciudad.

Conforme a los resultados, el atractivo de la marca ciudad, la identificación con la marca ciudad y la experiencia memorable con la marca ciudad son los antecedentes del amor a la marca ciudad. Adicionalmente, el atractivo de la marca ciudad, tanto directa como indirectamente a través de las experiencias memorables y la identificación con la marca ciudad, es uno de los antecedentes del amor por la marca ciudad. Finalmente, los resultados sugieren que la comunicación boca-oído y la intención de volver a visitar la ciudad son los principales resultados comportamentales del amor de marca de ciudad.

Al proporcionar un modelo conceptual validado que analiza los antecedentes y las consecuencias del amor de marca de ciudad, este estudio trata de responder a las llamadas para su estudio desde la óptica del turismo urbano.

The paper examines the role and significance of gastronomic manifestations in the context of destination branding, within the framework of image transfer mechanisms and the Associative Network Memory Model.

The research was conducted on a sample of 53 gastronomic events in the tourist destination of Vojvodina.

The results indicate that gastronomic manifestations image has a positive impact on the brand image and brand identity of the destination, as well as the destination's overall image. Furthermore, the study found that the food experience has a positive influence on the image of gastronomic events and the destination.

The study contributes to the advancement of research on tourist destination branding.

This study aims to provide insight into the determinants of wellness tourism satisfaction, thereby taking a nonlinear approach regarding the relationships between attribute-level performance of wellness facility attributes, on the one hand, and wellness destination attributes, on the other hand, and global wellness tourist satisfaction. In addition, scores of impact range are calculated to reveal the potentially most determinant wellness facility and destination attributes.

This study uses data from a survey-based study conducted among 1,331 wellness tourists who have engaged in wellness tourism activities at one of 28 hotels with wellness offerings and 10 spas in Croatia. Impact-asymmetry analysis and impact-range analysis are used to quantify the potential of individual wellness attributes to generate satisfaction and dissatisfaction among wellness tourists and to perform a classification of wellness attributes according to the three-factor theory of customer satisfaction.

Operators of wellness tourism facilities, as well as managers of wellness destinations, must not make any compromises in quality levels because most wellness attributes have significantly higher potential to frustrate than please tourists. Basic factors such as cleanliness, punctuality or safety turned out to have the strongest influence on global satisfaction levels. Moreover, in line with previous research, wellness tourists have large expectations from destinations to have a preserved and beautiful nature, which is by far the most influential destination attribute. In addition to a safe environment and high-quality accommodation, wellness tourists further prefer rich cultural offerings.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to apply a nonlinear analysis approach to the quality–satisfaction relationship in a wellness tourism setting. Moreover, to the knowledge of the authors, this is the only study that used separate attribute models for wellness facilities, on the one hand, and wellness destinations, on the other hand, based on a nation-wide sample that covers multiple cases (i.e. multiple facilities and destinations).

本研究旨在深入了解养生旅游满意度的决定因素, 从而采用非线性方法来研究（i）养生设施属性和 （ii）养生目的地属性对国际养生游客满意度的关系。此外, 本文还计算了影响范围的分数, 以揭示潜在的最具决定性的养生设施和目的地属性。

本研究使用了基于对 1,331 名养生游客进行调查问卷的数据, 这些游客曾在克罗地亚 28 的酒店以及10个水疗中心进行了养生旅游活动。本文采用影响不对称分析（IAA）和影响范围分析（IRA）来量化个体养生属性在健康游客中产生满意度和不满意的潜力, 并根据顾客三因素满意度理论对健康属性进行分类。

养生旅游设施的运营商以及养生目的地的管理者不能在质量水平上做出任何妥协, 因为大多数养生属性很可能使游客感到沮丧, 而不是取悦游客。事实证明, 清洁、准时及安全等基本因素对全球满意度影响最大。此外, 根据之前的研究, 健康游客对目的地抱有很大的期望, 希望拥有保存完好且美丽的自然风光, 这是最具影响力的目的地属性。除了安全的环境和高品质的住宿外, 养生游客更看重丰富的文化产品。

这是第一项将非线性分析方法应用于养生旅游环境中的质量与满意度关系的研究。此外, 据作者所知, 这是唯一一项基于涵盖多个案例（即多个设施及目的地）的国家样本, 一方面对养生设施使用单独的属性模型, 另一方面对养生目的地使用单独的属性模型的研究。

Este estudio tiene como objetivo proporcionar información sobre los determinantes de la satisfacción del turismo de bienestar, adoptando así un enfoque no lineal con respecto a las relaciones entre el rendimiento a nivel de atributos de (i) atributos de instalaciones de bienestar, por un lado, y (ii) atributos de destino de bienestar, por otro lado, y la satisfacción del turista de bienestar global. Además, se calculan puntajes de rango de impacto para revelar las instalaciones de bienestar y los atributos de destino potencialmente más determinantes.

este estudio utiliza datos de un estudio basado en encuestas realizado entre 1,331 turistas de bienestar que participaron en actividades de turismo de bienestar en uno de los 28 hoteles con ofertas de bienestar y diez spas en Croacia. El análisis de asimetría de impacto (IAA) y el análisis de rango de impacto (IRA) se utilizan para cuantificar el potencial de los atributos de bienestar individuales para generar satisfacción e insatisfacción entre los turistas de bienestar y para realizar una clasificación de los atributos de bienestar de acuerdo con la teoría de los tres factores del cliente. satisfacción.

Los operadores de instalaciones de turismo de bienestar, así como los administradores de destinos de bienestar, no deben comprometer los niveles de calidad porque la mayoría de los atributos de bienestar tienen un potencial significativamente mayor para frustrar que para complacer a los turistas. Los factores básicos, como la limpieza, la puntualidad o la seguridad, resultaron ser los que más influyeron en los niveles de satisfacción global. En consecuencia, estos atributos no deben verse como fuentes potenciales de satisfacción y deleite del cliente, sino que deben otorgarse altos niveles de desempeño para evitar una fuerte insatisfacción. Además, en línea con investigaciones anteriores, los turistas de bienestar tienen grandes expectativas de que los destinos tengan una naturaleza preservada y hermosa, que es, con mucho, el atributo de destino más influyente. Además de un entorno seguro y un alojamiento de alta calidad, los turistas de bienestar prefieren una rica oferta cultural. Aplicando la teoría de los tres factores, una visión más matizada de la formación de la satisfacción del turista de bienestar mostró que estos atributos del destino tienen un potencial mucho mayor para crear una fuerte insatisfacción que satisfacción.

Este es el primer estudio que aplica un enfoque de análisis no lineal a la relación calidad-satisfacción en un entorno de turismo de bienestar. Además, según el conocimiento de los autores, este es el único estudio que utilizó modelos de atributos separados para instalaciones de bienestar, por un lado, y destinos de bienestar, por el otro, en base a una muestra nacional que cubre múltiples casos (es decir, múltiples instalaciones y destinos).

This paper aims to evaluate the impact of various preview modes on tourist attitudes and intentions to visit a destination based on consumers’ level of involvement in travel decision-making.

The study was conducted as a between-subjects one-factor [preview mode: static images vs 360-degree tour vs virtual reality (VR) mode] in a laboratory experiment setup to examine how consumers with different levels of involvement in travel decision-making respond to destination marketing toward three different preview modes.

The findings indicated that VR preview mode highly influences tourist attitudes and visit intentions toward a destination compared to static images and 360-degree tours. This effect is more significant among participants with higher levels of customer involvement. Finally, the results from the study offer empirical evidence of the effectiveness of VR in shaping user behavior compared to traditional preview modes.

The limitations are using a non-probability sampling method, a small sample size and affordable mobile-compatible VR headsets.

This study offers empirical evidence on the effectiveness of VR in shaping tourist behavior compared to traditional preview modes. It helps destination marketers develop appropriate strategies for promoting tourist destinations.

The novelty of this paper lies in understanding the effectiveness of VR in shaping tourist behavior with different levels of customer involvement in travel decision-making.

This study aims to examine the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels in service ecosystems, analyzing the case of a tourist destination.

A questionnaire was designed based on previously validated scales. The questionnaire was distributed through the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. The survey yielded 1,476 valid responses for three types of destinations. Structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis were performed to test the hypotheses.

Aggregate service experience and memorable customer experience (MCE) in service ecosystems are determined by customer experiences at a dyadic level. Service experience at the ecosystem level is formed from ordinary experiences at the actor level, while MCE is formed from extraordinary experiences at the dyadic level. The type of ecosystem moderates the relationships between the variables but does not alter the importance of each of them.

The relationship between the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels of service ecosystems (dyadic vs aggregate) is addressed. A relationship is established between the ordinary and extraordinary character of experiences and their memorability at the ecosystem level.