Exploring the impact of destination attachment on the intentional behaviour of the US visitors familiarized with Baja California, Mexico

Abstract

This study focuses on exploring the existing relationship of destination attachment within the US visitor's intentional behaviour towards border places in Baja California, Mexico. The research consists in formulating a set of hypotheses for a model sustained by empirical data obtained from a telephone survey and analysed with Partial Least Squares path modelling. This study found a positive impact of destination attachment on intentional behaviour and visitor experiences, which influences significantly both mentioned constructs. In this context, characterized by the importance of cross-border flows and a stigmatization due to safety issues as well as other kinds of personal visit inhibitors, the study shows that familiarity with destination allows reverting and transforming this impression to a positive perception of the visited place.

Keywords:

• destination attachment
• intentional behaviour
• visitation experience
• protection and safety
• familiarized visitors
• Baja California Border

ORCID

Djamel Toudert http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2833-4128

Nora L. Bringas-Rábago http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7599-8432

Notes

1 The survey was requested by the Observatorio Turístico de Baja California (OTBC) who provided the data for this research and was applied by a call centre in the San Diego, Imperial, Orange, San Bernardino, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties.