Destination brand experience : the influence of destination brand experience in the intentions to revisit and recommend a destination

The present study is based on previous research done by Barnes, Mattsson and Sorensen (2014) and by Hosany and Gilbert (2010), adapted to a different city brand: Porto (Portugal). We also included a new variable in this study: tourist personality traits. This research aims to understand the influence of destination brand experience in the intentions to revisit and recommend a destination. Tourist personality traits were considered in this study, as moderators between destination brand experience and destination brand emotion. In order to study this topic, and following the recommendation of Barnes et al. (2014) to test the destination brand experience scale in different cities and countries, we chose to analyse a Portuguese city, considered twice (2014 and 2017) as “European best destination” – Porto. This research examines a total of 187 answers from national and foreign tourists. Results were analysed using a structural equation modelling (SEM) and we were able to prove all the hypotheses stated, except for one which was only partially confirmed. Therefore, results provide interesting insights for the development of a marketing strategy based on experiences for city brands. This strategy should allow city brands to provide all the experiential stimuli needed to create a holistic destination brand experience and, consequently, increase tourist intentions to revisit and recommend the city