Understanding tourism loyalty: Horizontal vs. destination loyalty

Abstract

Tourism loyalty is a key topic that has been covered in literature mainly from a very homogenous perspective. This study analyses horizontal loyalty (consumer's loyalty divided among several destinations), and explains the background factors that affect this behaviour (cognitive, affective and overall destination image; information sources; motivations; socio-demographic characteristics; previous behaviour; conative loyalty). The paper also identifies the differences between the explanatory factors of horizontal loyalty and one-single-destination loyalty. Applying a comprehensive analysis with 6964 tourists from 17 European countries in the context of Canary Islands (Spain), the study provides interesting recommendations for destinations with a view to better designing marketing activities and improving their coopetition strategies and competitiveness.