The effect of historical nostalgia on tourists' destination loyalty intention: an empirical study of the world cultural heritage site - Mahabalipuram, India

• Published in: Asia Pacific journal of tourism research Vol. 22; no. 9; pp. 977 - 990
• Main Authors: Verma, Anil, Rajendran, G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Abingdon Routledge 02.09.2017; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Cultural heritage; destination loyalty intention; heritage tourists; Historical nostalgia; Nostalgia; perceived value; satisfaction; Tourism; India
• ISSN: 1094-1665; 1741-6507
• DOI: 10.1080/10941665.2017.1357639

Many studies on destination loyalty intention of the heritage tourists have failed to examine the influence of historical nostalgia. This paper examines the effect of historical nostalgia generated during the trip to a cultural heritage site on destination loyalty intention of the heritage tourists through perceived value and satisfaction. A survey was conducted at one of the world cultural heritage sites - Mahabalipuram, India. A conceptual model was developed and the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modelling technique. The results revealed that the historical nostalgia had a significant positive effect on the perceived value, satisfaction and tourists' destination loyalty intention. The paper contributes to the tourism studies by revealing the antecedent role of historical nostalgia and suggests tourism managers to use historical monuments and structures to evoke historical nostalgia in order to attract heritage tourists.