Exploring the Role of Tourism Destination Communications in Shaping Tourist E-WOM Intentions

Abstract

The objective of this work was to analyse to what extent communications about the tourist destination (online and offline generated by the destination and the communications of social media users) influence the destination's image and the tourist’s intention to communicate online or generate eWOM. Performing quantitative research on tourists who visit the tourist information offices of the Valencian Community in Spain, 185 valid questionnaires were obtained through a survey. As a result of regression estimates and descriptive statistics techniques, support is found for the influence of online communications generated by destination and by the social media user on the image of the destination and the tourist's intention to communicate online. The influence of communications with tourist information office staff is also significant, while neither the content nor the visual appeal of brochures influence the image or the intention to communicate online about the tourist destination. This evidence can help tourism authorities to develop a more effective marketing strategy to promote the destination. Likewise, the variables included in the developed theoretical model have not been considered together in previous studies in this area, thus contributing to the extant literature. In addition, offline communications (brochures) are broken down into two different variables, which had not been studied together with the rest of the variables within the framework of the S-O-R model.