Customer experience and engagement in tourism destinations: the experiential marketing perspective

Tourism destinations are increasingly offering experiential services to promote the development of their competitive advantage. This research investigates the effects of customers' tourism engagement with experiential marketing activities and develops and tests a framework in this area. Findings suggest that customer engagement's dimensions exert differing effects on customer experience and identification, which subsequently affect behavioral intention toward destinations. Findings also suggest the indirect effects of customer engagement dimensions on behavioural intentions via experience and identification. Further, findings propose the significant difference between first-time and repeat-visitors in terms of the underlying constructs. Theoretical and practical implications of results are discussed.