Do the Social Responsibility Efforts of the Destination Affect the Loyalty of Tourists?

Abstract

Tourist loyalty is one of the most crucial aspects in determining the sustainable growth of a tourism destination. In attempting to find an aspect that boosts tourist loyalty for sustainable development of a tourism destination, the role of destination social responsibility (DSR) has begun to attract the attention of researchers and tourism stakeholders. This study empirically examines the structural relationship between DSR, destination image, and tourist loyalty using data collected from international tourists who have visited Hoi An in Vietnam through a self-administrated survey. Also, this study takes the cultural differences between Asians and Westerners into consideration regarding insights on tourism marketing. The results show that the socially responsible behavior of a tourism destination positively affects tourist loyalty by forming a positive image of the destination. And the results of the comparison between the Asian and the Western groups on the structural relationships of the perceived DSR, destination image, and tourist loyalty show that different cultures afford different degrees of importance to the components of DSR.