Tourist s destination loyalty intention for the world cultural heritage site of Mahabalipuram

Abstract

Tourism has always played an important role in the economic development of most of the nations around the world Culture is one of the most fascinating features of destination which attracts tourists from all the corners of the world Thus cultural tourism forms one of the key segments of tourism industry Amongst cultural attractions UNESCO listed World Heritage Sites UNESCO WHS are the key destinations preferred by the cultural tourists In India too the cultural sites have witnessed a positive growth since last few years But very few studies have focussed on the psychological heritage consumption behaviours of the cultural tourists This study tries to analyse the heritage consumption behaviours of Indian domestic tourists This would help the tourism industry in sustaining the positive growth rates in the future The study does the review of the literatures pertaining to concepts like cultural motivation object authenticity existential authenticity perceived value tourist s satisfaction and destination loyalty intention The review also covers the earlier works on the effects of Brand UNESCO WHS name on the heritage consumption behaviours of the cultural tourists Based on the review of literatures the research gaps were identified Most of the studies in cultural heritage tourism are restricted to the conceptualization of the factors/characteristics related to cultural destinations and they are theoretical in nature Very few studies have studied the marketing effects of these features on the tourist s revisit intention and their intention to recommend the destination to others to visit the sites newline