He Impact of Destination Brand Experience on Behavioural Intentions with Reference to International Tourists Visiting Ella, Sri Lanka

Abstract

Due to the increasing competition, marketers in tourism industry require to be more creative in developing travel destinations as brands' and differentiating destinations from each other. In this manner, through positive experiences, existing travelers would make recommendations to others' (potential travelers) about such destinations. In line with this argument, current study attempts to determine the impact of Destination Brand Experience (DBE) on Behavioural Intentions (BI) of travelers. Ella, as a Sri Lankan tourist destination, was chosen as the destination for the study due to its high reputation, particularly among travelers from overseas. A self administrated survey was conducted to collect 202 usable responses from 31 international tourists from different countries visiting Ella. Findings show that (1) sensory 2) affective (3) behavioural and (4) intellectual aspects of DBE of tourists' directly influence BI. Further, among the dimensions of DBE, 'sensory' experience has the highest impact on BI. Accordingly, stakeholders in tourism industry such as local governments, communities and tour operators need to pay attention in order to enhance the brand (location) based experiences for travelers through relevant dimensions of DBE. Particularly, in Ella, overall beauty of nature can be highlighted through picturesque views and weather condition not only to create strong impression of the place but also to value the time of travelers, with the intention of increasing the number of tourists' visits in future.