Conceptualizing Festival Attractiveness and Its Impact on Festival Hosting Destination Loyalty: A Mixed Method Approach

A number of studies have been conducted to examine the attractiveness of tourism destinations. However, there has been little research done on festival attractiveness nor on its impact on destination loyalty. This study employed a mixed method approach to investigate the festivals in Guangzhou city, China. Firstly, through a qualitative method, the four dimensions of festival attractiveness were identified, i.e., strong festival atmosphere, harmonious interpersonal interaction, distinct cultural symbols and rich festival activities. Then, based on a cognitive–affective–conative model, a quantitative method was used to explore the mechanism through which festival attractiveness impacts sense of place and destination loyalty. Structural equation modeling showed that all dimensions of festival attractiveness have positive effects on place attachment, but not all of them have positive effects on place identity. Findings further indicate that place attachment has a positive effect on place identity, and that place attachment and place identity both have positive effects on destination loyalty. These results indicate that festival hosting destination loyalty follows the processes of both festival attractiveness cognition and destination affection evaluation.