Destination service quality, affective image and revisit intention: The moderating role of past experience

• Considers the relationship between service quality, destination affective image (DAI) and revisit intention.
• Service quality related to language, accommodation, hospitality and activities had a significant positive effect on DAI.
• Accommodation-based service quality is a more influential factor on DAI for repeat tourists.
• DAI is a more important determinant factor for revisit intentions by repeat tourists.

This study examines the moderating role of past experience on the relationship between destination service quality, destination affective image and re-visit intention. With Alanya, Turkey, serving as the destination context, the study population comprises of 539 survey responses from foreign tourists. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data with the moderating effect of past experience analyzed using multiple group analysis. In light of the study's findings, perceptions related to language, accommodation, hospitality and activity services were found to have a positive and significant effect on the perception of the destination's affective image. Accordingly, destination management organizations (DMOs) are advised to adopt strategies to ensure that quality perceptions of tourists regarding language, accommodation, hospitality and activity services are addressed. In addition, evidence from the study suggests that accommodation-based service-quality perceptions on destination affective image, and destination affective image perceptions on revisit intention, provide a more robust determinant for repeat visitors to the destination than for first-time visitors. The paper closes by arguing that DMOs should therefore pay more attention to accommodation services that may positively affect the destination affective image (DAI) perceptions of repeat tourists.