Identifying and measuring destination attributes contributing to cultural tourism experience

Author Identifier (ORCID)

Songshan Huang: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4990-2788

Abstract

While destination attributes are known to shape tourism experiences, there is limited understanding of what specific attributes contributing to cultural tourism experience. To address this gap, the study aims to identify destination attributes contributing to cultural tourism experiences from the tourists' perspective and develop a multi-dimensional measurement scale. In-depth interviews identified the key dimensions of destination attribute. Four datasets (n = 1009) from seven Chinese cities (i.e., Guangzhou, Luoyang, Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Yangzhou) were used to validate the scale's structural, discriminant, and predictive validity. This research extends the destination attributes model and offers a conceptual framework for enhancing cultural tourism experiences. Practically, the study provides destination managers with a tool to evaluate and improve the specific attributes that influence tourists' cultural experiences.

Keywords

Cultural tourism, destination attributes, scale development, scale validation, tourism experience

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

1-1-2026

Volume

60

Publication Title

Tourism Management Perspectives

Publisher

Elsevier

School

School of Business and Law

RAS ID

88289

Funders

National Natural Science Foundation of China (42471256, 41971172)

Comments

Chen, G., Hong, S., Guo, Z., & Huang, S. (2026). Identifying and measuring destination attributes contributing to cultural tourism experience. Tourism Management Perspectives, 60, 101444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2025.101444

Copyright

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1016/j.tmp.2025.101444