A study to determine the relationship between destination image and destination lotalty: The case of the İstanbul Prince Islands

Today tourism is the economic sector that generates the most revenue for nations. With the increase in the level of competition, the need for countries to promote their destinations in the best way has arisen. Although tourism destinations that are advertised correctly in terms of image are visited by large tourist masses, tourists who are satisfied with the destination become loyal customers and tend to show destination loyalty. When the natural beauties of the destination, its cultural features, the services offered and the attitude of the local people towards tourists are evaluated, the prominent destinations are regularly visited by the tourists. In this thesis, the relationship between destination image and destination loyalty was tried to be determined, and for this purpose, a survey was conducted on individuals who visited the Istanbul Prince Islands in June-October 2022 and continued their visit. When the effect of the gender factor on the destination image is evaluated, the emotional and cognitive perceptions of the destination image of the male participants are more intense than the average perceptions of the females. It was seen that marital status did not make a statistically significant difference on the destination image, and it was concluded that educational status and income status made a statistically significant difference on the cognitive and emotional destination image. In the first part of the study; The concept of destination, the elements that make up the destination, the characteristics of destinations, their types, life cycle, marketing, and the concepts of image and destination image are explained. In the second part of the study; The concept of loyalty, the definition and dimensions of customer loyalty and destination loyalty are explained and studies on destination loyalty are included. In the third part of the study, general information about the Prince Islands of Istanbul is given and its geographical location, natural beauties, cultural features, sustainability and gastronomic values are mentioned. In the last part, the fourth part, the research data were analyzed and meaningful results were tried to be obtained.