Can Local People Help Enhance Tourists’ Destination Loyalty? A Relational Perspective

Abstract

This study identifies key attributes of local people in enhancing tourists’ personal connection and examines whether personal connection to local people induces the destination’s distinctiveness and consequently positive word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions regarding the destination. For the empirical tests, data were collected from 280 tourists to Japan from South Korea and analyzed. The results indicate that (1) three attributes of local people (physical attractiveness, displayed positive emotions, and helpfulness) improved the personal connection; (2) the personal connection increased destination distinctiveness and WOM intentions; and (3) destination distinctiveness perceived by tourists generated WOM intentions. These results have important theoretical and practical implications.