DETERMINANTS OF NIGHT MARKET DESTINATION LOYALTY: A STRUCTURAL EQUATION MODEL ANALYSIS

Abstract

In a COVID-19 pandemic world, domestic tourism has taken on a crucial role in generating
jobs, national economic wealth, community prosperity, and sustainability. In Thailand, as in other countries, including China and Japan, policymakers have launched plans to jumpstart domestic tourism and boost consumption. Therefore, this study set out to investigate which factors play the greatest role in a night market visitors’ destination loyalty (DL). The study's empirical data was collected by the use of systematic sampling from ten famous Bangkok night markets. After an audit of the research instrument, 425 questionnaires were used in the subsequent analysis. Before structural equation modeling (SEM) of the study's nine hypotheses, a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) along with a goodness-of-fit (GOF) was performed using LISREL 9.1. In this study, a market visitor’s destination loyalty (DL) was found to be foremost influenced by the visitor's satisfaction (VS). The visitor's experiential value (EV) also played a key role, which included the market's environment, uniqueness, sensual perceptions, and value. The market's destination image (DI) was next in importance, followed by destination attachment (DAt), and the destination's availability (DAv). From Sweden to China, past studies and current leaders have pronounced the importance of the entrepreneurial vitality of night markets and street stalls. Public seller spaces in the form of night markets/bazaars also create tourist destinations from near and far, for both local and foreign visitors. Employment is created and entrepreneurial skills are learned. Globally, international tourism has ground to a halt. Governments are desperately trying to create employment and generate revenue from domestic tourism schemes. Therefore, we suggest leaders and entrepreneurs focus their time and resources on adapting each community's open spaces into pleasant, safe, and easily accessible areas for night market type activities, with DL further enhanced by adopting social media platforms and venues conducive to selfie tourism.