The effects of customer experience on destination image: A comparable study on Turkish and Anzac tourists

In this study; the effects of rational and emotional customer experiences of Turkish and Anzac tourists on the destination image are examined comparatively. Accordingly, a theoretical model displaying the effect of two dimensional customer experience (i.e. rational and emotional) on the destination image which has four sub-dimensions that are political environment, cultural attractiveness, social life and natural environment. Survey questions prepared for model testing were applied to Turkish and Anzac tourists who visited Çanakkale-Gelibolu Peninsula Historical National Park in March-April-May 2016 and stayed there at least one night. The data obtained from the tourists were analyzed and interpreted separately for each groups by Structural Equation Modeling using SPSS for Windows 22.00 and AMOS 22.0 program. Consequently; it is appeared that the rational and emotional experiences of Turkish and Anzac tourists had positive impact on perceived destination image. Furthermore, as a result of the comparative analysis conducted to understand the effects of customer experience of Turkish and Anzac tourists on destination image; it is found that the impact of emotional experiences of Turkish tourists on destination image was more compared to Anzac tourists.