Destination Loyalty and preference to Oman: Examining the Influences of Tourists’ Demographics

Abstract

The aim of this study was threefold: 1) to investigate the tourists' loyalty and preference towards Oman tourism destination; 2) to assess the impact of destination preference on destination loyalty; and 3) to examine the potential differences in tourists' loyalty and preference across different demographic groups. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and a sample of 300 inbound tourists in Oman was targeted. The descriptive analysis findings revealed that inbound tourists have high loyalty to Omani tourism destination through appearing high revisit intentions and high recommend intentions. In addition, Oman tourism destination is highly preferred by inbound tourists. The findings of regression analysis argued that destination preference has a positive and significant impact on destination loyalty. The findings of ANOVA analysis and Independent Samples T-Test concluded that tourists' demographics (gender, age, marital status and education) have no significant influences over their perceptions towards both destination loyalty and preference. The theoretical and managerial implications were drawn based on the study findings and recommendations for future researchers were presented.