Evaluation of Destination Image of TRNC through the Mediating Role of Trust in Tourist Loyalty

Destination image has a crucial role in the development of tourism industry. Trust and loyalty of tourist’s are two key factors in sustainable development of tourism in the international market. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between indicators of destination image and tourist’s trust and loyalty. Furthermore, this study attempts to find out whether trust function as a mediator of the relationship between destination image indicators and loyalty, a quantitative approach employed to collect data amongst tourists who visited North Cyprus in spring 2014. Data analysis including correlation, regression analysis performed using SPSS to test model and hypotheses. Reliability and validity of the measurement has been checked using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis, respectively. Results revealed that cognitive image positively boost tourist’ trust and loyalty, whereas affective image has not any significant effect on tourist trust in North Cyprus. Trust is able to mediate the relationship between cognitive image and loyalty. According to the regression result trust raises the loyalty of the tourist and motivates them to revisit or recommend North Cyprus as a holiday destination. Practical implications, limitations, and future research direction are suggested. Keyword: destination image: affective image, cognitive image, trust, loyalty