Tourist satisfaction-loyalty Nexus in Tigrai, Ethiopia: Implication for sustainable tourism development

Abstract

Long-term success of the tourism industry is unthinkable unless tourist satisfaction and loyalty are secured. However, there is very scant literature dealing with this issue in the developing and politically unstable counties including Ethiopia. To this end, this study attempts to examine tourist satisfaction-loyalty nexus and its implication for sustainable tourism development. Convenience sampling method was deployed to choose a total of 392 international and domestic tourists who participated in this study. Additional data were collected from Tripadvisor and document reviews. The results of this study elucidate that there is a highly significant relationship between tourist satisfaction and loyalty. However, the level of satisfaction and loyalty is generally low in the study area. This study concludes that tourism managers should work to ensure tourist satisfaction and loyalty, which eventually determines the sustainability of tourism development. Finally, future research direction and implications for sustainable tourism development are indicated in the study.

Keywords

• tourist satisfaction
• loyalty
• sustainable tourism