Do sustainability perceptions affect lake destination loyalty?

Abstract

Despite a growing concern over sustainability in tourism, research on this domain, regarding, specifically, lake destinations, is still scarce. Although perceptions on lake destinations have been studied, no study is known that has analyzed the impact of visitors’ perceptions on satisfaction and behavioral intentions. Thus, this paper aims to develop and test a model to analyze the effect of lake visitors’ perceptions of destination’s sustainability on both satisfaction and loyalty towards lake destinations. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the Shchuchinsk-Burabay resort area, an important lake destination in Northern Kazakhstan. The results support the proposed lake destination loyalty model, tested using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM). Sustainability proved to be decisively influential, with water quality being the dimension with the highest impact on satisfaction with the lakes, along with a positive key impact of other dimensions of perceptions of the lakes being the absence of congestion. In addition, both water quality and lack of congestion had, conjointly with other features, a significant indirect impact on satisfaction with lake destinations and on loyalty. Based on the research findings, theoretical conclusions and practical implications are drawn.