Analyzing the relationships among destination image, event satisfaction and tourist intentional behaviours. The case of America's Cup World Series in Naples

In the last years, the analysis of tourist behavior has become a relevant topic in the event marketing literature. Several authors focused their studies on the impact of sport mega-events in a tourist perspective by addressing the tourist behavioral determinants and their effects on behavioral intentions (Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2007a, 2007b; Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2010). In particular, destination image and tourist satisfaction are considered key predictors of the behavioral intentions (Kaplanidou, 2007, 2009, 2012; Gibson et al, 2008; Chen and Funk, 2010; Hallmann and Breuer, 2010). Coherently with these premises, the paper aims to verify the relationships among destination image, event satisfaction and behavioral intentions (e.g. intent to recommend and intent to revisit) in a sport mega-event, using a quantitative approach with primary data analysis. The data were gathered through a survey on a random sample of tourists (n=314) during a mega-event: The America's Cup World Series took place in Naples (2012-13). The questionnaire was implemented to assess the constructs shown in the theoretical framework: destination image (8 items), event satisfaction (6 items) and behavioral intentions (2 items) through a Likert 5-point scale to measure all the factors referred to the constructs (5=strongly agree to 1=strongly disagree). A PLS (Partial Least Squares) approach to structural equation models was adopted to address the analysis.