Destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty: a case of cross river state, Nigeria

• Autor(a) principal: Uwajubogu, Chinedum Ogechi
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/18808
• topic: Destination image; Tourist satisfaction; Destination loyalty; Tourism destination; Cross river

In a contemporary context, tourists are confronted with a complex choice of tourist destinations for holidays due to the available multiple options. The number of destinations keeps growing yearly and the level of competition for attracting tourists strengthens. Located in the Southern part of Nigeria, Cross River State has been a major tourism centre and the destination is considered a nation’s paradise, presenting diverse tourism activities to tourists. Cross River received several outstanding tourism achievements over the years and embraces a relevant potential for tourism development. However, few studies approach destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty altogether in the southern part of Nigeria, Cross River. Some studies focused mainly on tourists’ satisfaction with festival tourism of Cross River, while others mainly centred on the Obudu Mountain Resort and assessed the level of tourist’s patronage to the resort. Thus, the present study aims to examine the destination image, tourist satisfaction and destination loyalty in the context of Cross River State. A questionnaire instrument with closed and open-ended questions was employed as the means for the data collection. This quantitative-based study used 209 valid questionnaires collected onsite. In general, the findings revealed positive perceptions about the destination image of Cross River. There is a positive correlation between destination global image, tourists’ global satisfaction, and tourists’ loyalty towards the destination. The findings of the study contribute to strategic marketing decisions for destination managers and marketers in Cross River.