The influence of study abroad experience on the destination loyalty of international students: Mediating effects of emotional solidarity and destination image

Abstract

The objective of this study was to explore the influence of study abroad experience on destination loyalty and discuss the mediating role of emotional solidarity and destination image in the context of higher edutourism. A questionnaire survey was conducted among international students studying in China and 335 valid questionnaires were selected. Results of the path analysis conducted revealed that the following: (1) The study abroad experience had a significant positive effect on the international students’ destination loyalty. (2) Both emotional solidarity and destination image played a mediating role between the study abroad experience and destination loyalty of international students. (3) Emotional solidarity had a significant positive effect on the destination image of international students. (4) Emotional solidarity and destination image played a chain-mediating role between the study abroad experience and destination loyalty of international students. The results of this study could help promote destination loyalty among international students by enhancing interactions between international students and local residents, and establishing a positive image of the study destination, which is beneficial to the development of local tourism and higher education at the theoretical and practical level.

The Memorable Experience in Tourism: the case of the Beto Carrero World Theme Park (SC, Brazil)

“…Thus, for the experience to be recorded positively in the tourist's memory, it must be related to special moments in an intense, unprecedented, exciting, and pleasurable way (Trigo, 2010). According to Pizam (2010), the hospitality industry needs to focus on creating memorable experiences for tourists, as their memories are reflected in the main drivers of future travel intentions, thus providing greater satisfaction and loyalty (Ali et al, 2014;Kim & Ritchie, 2014;Kim, 2014;Ramjit, 2014;Chandralal & Valenzuela, 2015;Wang, 2016). Furthermore, these positive tourist memories can serve as a competitive advantage, provided they are treated strategically by the tourism segment (Zhang et al, 2018;Rasoolimanesh et al, 2021).…”

Tourism destinations and tourist behavior based on community interaction models of film-enabled tourism destinations

“…Cultural tourism can be defined as “the movement of persons to cultural attractions away from their normal place of residence, with the intention to gather new information and experiences to satisfy their cultural needs” ( Chen and Rahman, 2018 pp. 153–163; Li and Katsumata, 2020 , p. 20; Pérez García et al, 2021 , p. 315; Yang et al, 2022 ) and involves “tourists experiencing and having contact with a host population and its cultural expressions, experiencing the uniqueness of culture, heritage and the characters of its place and people” ( Lynch et al, 2011 , p. 979). This definition implies that cultural tourism allows tourists to engage, explore, and enjoy the difference of tourism destinations and the way they compare to their own home identities, encouraging self discovery ( Mueller et al, 2009 , p. 65).…”

“…Furthermore, in line with the characteristics of tourism activities between China and Japan, combining the film-enabling tourism characteristics from the perspective of the tourist destination hosts and the tourists, this study proposed the elements of the interestrelated community interaction of cultural tourism triggered by the film Your Name, namely, tourist hot spots, tourism resources, tourist experiences, sightseeing expectations, tourism evaluation and information dissemination, and finally a film tourism enabling Cultural tourism can be defined as "the movement of persons to cultural attractions away from their normal place of residence, with the intention to gather new information and experiences to satisfy their cultural needs" (Chen and Rahman, 2018 pp. 153-163;Li and Katsumata, 2020, p. 20;Pérez García et al, 2021, p. 315;Yang et al, 2022) and involves "tourists experiencing and having contact with a host population and its cultural expressions, experiencing the uniqueness of culture, heritage and the characters of its place and people" (Lynch et al, 2011, p. 979). This definition implies that cultural tourism allows tourists to engage, explore, and enjoy the difference of tourism destinations and the way they compare to their own home identities, encouraging self discovery (Mueller et al, 2009, p. 65).…”

Study Destination Choice and Career Preferences of International Students at China Pharmaceutical University

“…With particular reference to China as a study destination, the few studies on students’ mobility were not focused on specific program(s) of study such as medicine or pharmacy [ 2 , 21 , 22 ]. Studies on medical or pharmacy education, were not focused on determining the “pull-push” factors that made China a study destination for international students [ 23 , 24 ]. To the best of our knowledge, there is no scientific literature on the probable factors that make China a preferred destination by international students for the study of a specialized medical program such as pharmacy.…”