Scale to measure the emotional connection with a tourist destination

Authors

  • Eduardo Torres Moraga Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile
  • Agustín Vidal Buitano Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile
  • Luis Soto Sanhueza Facultad de Economía y Negocios, Universidad de Chile

Abstract

This research aims to propose a scale of love for a tourist destination, which allows a more comprehensive understanding of the emotional connection between tourists and the places they visit. Through a process of content validity, the dimensions of affection, passion, identity, dependence and integration were defined as part of the love of a tourist destination construct. Through a survey, the participants evaluated the items of these dimensions, based on the tourist destination with which they felt emotionally linked. The results show that these five dimensions are indeed part of a valid and reliable scale that could be used as an approximation to measure love towards a tourist destination.

Keywords:

Love for a tourist destination, emotional connection, tourists, passion, affection

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