Sustainable Development and Consumer Behavior in Rural Tourism—The Importance of Image and Loyalty for Host Communities

Abstract

In recent years, rural tourism has experienced a major boom; it was once a secondary type of tourism but has now become a significant alternative option within the Spanish economy. This type of tourism facilitates the sustainable development of the host communities and their surrounding areas, becoming an extra source of income in some cases, and the principal business in others. It is therefore important to ascertain which variables influence the behavior of rural tourists. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the influence on rural tourist behavior of destination image, both initial and final, as well as tourist satisfaction and loyalty to the area. Loyalty, which translates into repeat visits to the area and recommendations to third parties, promotes the sustainable development of rural areas. After an exhaustive review of the literature on the relevant variables, an empirical study was carried out using a questionnaire designed for tourists over 18 years old who visited the province of Soria (Spain) and stayed in a rural tourism establishment. This resulted in a total of 1658 valid completed questionnaires. A structural equation model was then drawn up to discover the relationships between all the variables. The results demonstrated the importance of destination image in the formation of the new image, and also showed that tourist satisfaction is the variable that most strongly influences loyalty to the tourist area. This study is a novel contribution to the study of sustainable development in rural areas since it focuses on tourist loyalty and its resulting benefits.

Rural Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals. A Study of the Variables That Most Influence the Behavior of the Tourist

“…Therefore, the different administrations involved in tourism policies, as well as the owners of rural establishments, should consider the different motivations that influence decision-making (Wong et al, 2018), as well as the formation of the community destination image (Mayo and Jarvis, 1981;Michie, 1986;Gong and Sun Tung, 2017). In addition, due to the indirect but strong link between tourist motivations and satisfaction with the trip (Fernández-Herrero et al, 2018), the need to cover these motivations must be considered, especially cultural, natural and social motivations (Penelas-Leguía et al, 2019), so that the tourist has a satisfactory trip, which will positively influence loyalty with the destination (López- Sanz et al, 2021b) and will have an impact on better business results for tourist establishments of the area (Moliner et al, 2009). From the point of view of the Sustainable Development Goals, especially Goal 8, "Decent Work and Economic Growth, " the development of rural tourism can directly help to achieve this SDG (Alcivar, 2020), as well as to avoid depopulation that threatens these regions of Spain so much (Maroto and Pinos, 2020), promoting quality employment and avoiding exodus to the city and to other richer areas.…”

“…Sanz (2008), p. 98 explains to us that destination image is "the global perception of a destination, in other words, the representation in the tourist's mind of what he or she feels and knows about it." And López- Sanz et al (2021b) defined destination image as the overall mental impressions each person has of a place or destination formed by knowledge as well as by the feelings the destination produces in them.…”

A Model for Sustainable Tourism Development of Hot Spring Destinations Following Poverty Alleviation: Understanding the Tourists’ Perspective

“…The tourists' revisit behavior has important theoretical implications for sustainable development of hot spring destination [2,27]. The results of the study indicate that tourists' revisits to Conghua hot spring destination are mainly influenced by their attitude toward cultural landscape that can represent the history of the Chinese hot springs' development.…”

“…When the economy of a tourist destination is weak, it is easy to become a victim of human capital, and environmental degradation becomes forced. To make a destination economically sustainable, it is important to promote the likelihood of tourists' revisits besides increasing the number of the first-time visitors [27]. Therefore, the sustainable development of a destination must be considered from the perspective of subsequent and long-term development, and it is a matter of resolving environmental, social, and economic conflicts, as well as a philosophical issue of balancing different stakeholders [6,26].…”

Analysis on Tourists’ Preferences for Rural Tourism Destinations in Romania

“…Societies 2021, 11, 92 2 of 12 contact with architectural, ethnographic and material heritage; and the opportunity to "travel to the past" while enjoying the comforts of the present) [2]. As tourists' motivation and behavior can be different depending on the form of tourism practiced, it can be implied that the form of tourism and its perceived attractiveness can be identified as criteria for studying tourist preferences.…”