World Heritage Site Tourism and Destination Loyalty along the Silk Road: A Study of U.S. Travelers in Uzbekistan

Abstract

This study aims to examine the determinants of destination loyalty toward World Heritage Sites (WHSs) along Silk Road tourism in Uzbekistan. It could enable the profiling of inbound tourists visiting WHSs and identification of the important determinants of destination loyalty. The results of this study could present valuable empirical evidence of Silk Road tourism among inbound travelers in Uzbekistan. An online survey was conducted to collect data from U.S. residents who experienced Silk Road tourism in Uzbekistan. A total of 419 questionnaires were used for this study. The present study explored the determinants of destination loyalty among inbound travelers who had visited WHSs along Silk Road destinations in Uzbekistan. Regarding the effect of length of stay on destination loyalty, travelers who visit for 7–13 days are inclined to show higher destination loyalty than the other groups. Free independent travelers to cultural and heritage sites showed a higher level of destination loyalty than other traveler types. The results indicated that travelers who reported visiting the Historic Centre of Bukhara in the Province of Bukhara and Western Tien-Shan in the Province of Tashkent showed higher destination loyalty. The proposed model consists of travel characteristics, WHS destinations, and demographic characteristics. This study provides several important theoretical and managerial implications. Moreover, this study can contribute to knowledge regarding WHSs and increase sustainable destination management to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

How perceived crowding changes the interrelationships between perceived value, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: the empirical study at Hoi An

“…Such findings align with those from various studies in WHS (Jimber del Rı ´o et al, 2020;Ramseook-Munhurrun et al, 2015;Wu & Li, 2017). Likewise, H2 has been verified because the framework shows a positive effect of tourist satisfaction on destination loyalty, thus validating the conclusions of earlier research conducted by Ant on et al ( 2017), Juraturgunov et al (2023) and Su et al (2017). The H3 has also been confirmed, indicating a clear correlation between destination loyalty and perceived value and the mediating role of customer satisfaction in such a relationship as proven in the works of Kim and Thapa (2018) and Valverde-Roda et al (2022).…”

“…Nevertheless, interestingly, it is more accessible to satisfy the younger tourists but more challenging to retain them than the elder segment. Our estimation results also support both Juraturgunov et al (2023) and Sanz-Blas et al ( 2019) that FIT tourists show lower levels of satisfaction but higher loyalty levels than those exhibited by those from the GIT.…”

“…The statistical results suggest that tourists with positive travel experiences are more likely to demonstrate attitudinal and behavioural loyalty behaviours, which are revisiting the destination, visiting similar sites and recommending the site to their acquaintances. Similar findings were yielded from the works of Su, Hsu, and Swanson (2017) at the Wuyi Mountain Heritage site in China, Antón, Camarero, and Laguna-García (2017) in Spain at the heritage city of Segovia, and Juraturgunov, Raimkulov, Ahn, and Kang (2023) at WHS along Silk Road destinations in Uzbekistan.…”

“…Regarding the control variables, in line with Juraturgunov et al (2023) and Ab Karim and Chi (2010), gender is found to have no significant impact on either tourist satisfaction or destination loyalty. Similar to Hsu (2000) and Oh et al (2002), age is also affirmed to assert significant impacts on travellers’ satisfaction and loyalty.…”

“…Along the same lines, Kalisch and Klaphake (2007) and Sanz-Blas et al (2019) proved that FIT tourists show a lower level of satisfaction than those exhibited by those from the GIT. However, Juraturgunov et al (2023) affirm that FIT, with more flexibility in their travel schedules and choices, have a higher probability of revisiting a destination than GIT tourists.…”