Destination authenticity, place attachment and loyalty: evaluating tourist experiences at traditional villages

ABSTRACTThe main purpose of this study is to investigate how destination authenticity interacts with place attachment and loyalty and whether self-authenticity moderate these relationships at a traditional village-Luoyi, Hainan, China. Based on the literature, four facets of destination authenticity are investigated: object-based authenticity, intrapersonal authenticity, transformative experience and interpersonal authenticity. The empirical findings indicate that object-based authenticity, intrapersonal authenticity, transformative experience lead tourists not only to be emotionally attached to a destination but, to enhance destination loyalty. Object-based authenticity and intrapersonal authenticity led to higher place attachment for consumers high in self-authenticity. With the empirical results, theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.KEYWORDS: Object-based authenticityinterpersonal authenticitytransformative experienceintrapersonal authenticityself-authenticityplace attachmentloyalty Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationFundingThis study was funded by the National Social Science Foundation of China [grant number 18XGL009].