Destination Image and Tourism Satisfaction: The Case of a Mediterranean Destination

Abstract

In tourism industry the competitiveness among tourism destinations has become increasingly demanding. A large number of existing and new destinations are competing to attract tourists in order to enhance their results as well as to gain better position on international tourism market. Creating and managing destination image is becoming one of the key sources of competitive advantage and one of the important elements in the process of selection of destination. On the other side image is considered as one of the relevant factors in a process of evaluation of services by tourists since it moulds the expectations tourists have before visiting destination. Numerous authors have pointed out that destination image influences tourism satisfaction since destinations with positive image experience more visits and greater satisfaction of tourists. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors that influence destination image and to explore the relationship between destination image and tourism satisfaction. The research was carried out in Dubrovnik, Croatia on a sample of 705 tourists. The SEM results indicate: (1) that natural resources and natural environment, economical factors and social environment as well as tourist leisure and recreation and atmosphere of the place have positive influence on a destination image, (2), that destination image has positive effect on tourism satisfaction. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n13p0538