Two-stage model of destination image : exploring the consequences
In the globalized world tourism industry is acknowledges as an opportunity to enhance a country’s overall development. As research suggests, a destination’s main tool to become attractive is the destination image – the main pull factor in tourists’ decision-making process. Hence, there has been extensive research on destination image to examine its formation and relationships with other tourist decision-related constructs. Although acknowledged as a dynamic process for its feature of developing over time in several stages, there has been no attempt to examine pre- and post-visit destination images in integration. Therefore, based on the call by several scholars and theoretical support of its importance, the study set its purpose to examine the direct and indirect impact of pre-visit destination image on post-visit image and destination image evaluation outcome variables. For this purpose, a structural equation modelling of the relationships among pre- and post-visit images, perceived value, overall satisfaction, and word-of-mouth intentions was established. The data was collected from international tourists in Uzbekistan at two different points in time to test the hypotheses outlined in the model. In total, 178 paired questionnaires were collected. It was analysed on SmartPLS3. The findings confirmed the statistically significant direct impact of pre-visit image on post-visit image, and indirect impact of the pre-visit image through the post-visit image on the variables closely linked to the evaluation of the destination like satisfaction, value, and word of mouth intentions, hereby referred as destination image evaluation outcomes.
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