Loyalty formation process of tourists in sporting event: The case of Turkmen horse races

The main objective of this research is to get a further understanding of the determinants of tourist loyalty in horse race event. More specifically, the effects of event quality, tourist emotion, event value, and tourist satisfaction on tourist loyalty, as well as the interrelationships are explored. Using purposive sampling, 330 domestic tourists who attended the horse races in the Turkmen Sahra Region, Iran were surveyed. In order to analyze the effects, structural equation modeling (SEM) is used. The results demonstrate that event quality influences tourist emotion and loyalty. Tourist emotion determines event value and tourist satisfaction. Event value influences tourist satisfaction and loyalty. And, tourist satisfaction predicts tourist loyalty.