The relationship between destination performance, overall satisfaction, and behavioral intention for distinct segments

Destination performance, visitor satisfaction, and favorable future behavior of visitors are key determinants of destination competitiveness. Most empirical work, assuming that overall tourist population is homogenous, investigates the relationships among product performance, satisfaction, and/or behavioral intentions in an aggregated manner. This study investigates these linkages for different segments of Canadian visitors of Las Vegas. The findings confirmed the mediating role of overall satisfaction for both segments and aggregated sample, and revealed variations in linkages and explanatory power of the models. The study concludes that the segment-based approach is more pragmatic because it provides segment-specific implications for destination management and marketing.