Beyond Natural Beauty: Sustainable Destination Image and Tourist Loyalty in Hainan, China

Abstract

Amid intensifying competition among domestic and international tourism destinations, sustainable tourism development has become essential for maintaining destination competitiveness and fostering long-term tourist loyalty. Despite Hainan’s tropical landscapes, duty-free shopping and luxury tourism facilities, the destination faces challenges related to tourism seasonality, destination substitutability and regional development imbalances. Existing destination image research has predominantly adopted cognitive and affective perspectives, with limited empirical integration of social, cultural, environmental and economic dimensions within a comprehensive sustainable destination image framework. This study examines the determinants of destination loyalty among domestic tourists visiting Hainan, China, drawing on sustainability theory, push–pull motivation theory and destination loyalty theory. Specifically, it investigates demographic and travel-related differences in destination loyalty, examines the effects of four sustainable destination image dimensions, and evaluates the mediating roles of tourist motivation and tourist satisfaction. A quantitative approach was employed using structured questionnaires collected from 412 domestic tourists who had visited Hainan within the past five years through convenience non-probability sampling. Demographic differences were examined using independent-samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA, while Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) was conducted using Smart-PLS to assess the hypothesised direct and indirect relationships. Nineteen of the 22 proposed hypotheses were tested. The findings indicate that educational attainment, family travel group size, flexible working arrangements, previous visitation and leisure-oriented travel are associated with higher destination loyalty. Social, cultural, environmental and economic destination images, as well as tourist motivation and satisfaction, demonstrate significant positive effects on destination loyalty. Furthermore, social, environmental and economic destination images significantly influence tourist motivation, whereas cultural destination image has no significant effect. These findings reveal differentiated motivational pathways through which sustainable destination image contributes to tourist loyalty. The study extends sustainable destination image research by integrating four sustainability dimensions with motivational and satisfaction-related mechanisms and demographic heterogeneity. Practically, it offers insights for tourism policymakers and destination managers to develop differentiated tourism strategies, strengthen destination competitiveness and advance sustainable island tourism development.