The Impact of Islamic Attributes of Destination on Destination Loyalty via the Mediating Effect of Tourist Satisfaction

Abstract

This study quantifies the associations among Islamic attributes of destination, tourist satisfaction, and destination loyalty. Islamic attributes of destination consists of four dimensions namely worship facilities, halalness, alcohol & gambling free, and Islamic morality. A survey instrument is used to examine the relationships in the proposed model by employing SEM technique. The collected primary data (n=243) from tourists in Aqaba city located in Jordan is conducted to test the relationship between exogenous and endogenous construct expressed in the proposed structural model. The findings revealed that Islamic attributes of destination directly and tourists’ satisfactions have significant impact on destination loyalty, besides tourists’ satisfaction has significant impact on tourists’ destination loyalty. However, as the coefficient of determination (R²) for the research endogenous variables for tourists’ satisfaction, and tourists’ destination loyalty were 0.41, and 0.18 respectively; this study will contribute a better understanding towards Islamic tourism management in Aqaba city.