Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

• Somayeh Esmaeilzadeh ¹
• Narges Delafrooz ²
• Ali Gholipur ²
• Nasrolah Molaei ³

¹ Ph.D. Student in Business Management, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

² Assistant Professor of Business Management, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran

³ Professor of Geography, Rasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rasht, Iran.

Abstract

Introduction
The tourism industry has significantly improved local economies in the last two decades. Considering the importance of tourism and its competitive market in the world, tourist destinations compete head-to-head in order to attract tourists and increase their share of the industry’s income. However, some recent malpractices, such as unfair or fraudulent behavior and failure to provide services as promised, have exacerbated the crisis of trust in tourism as an important issue worthy of further attention. Trust is a prerequisite for improving many marketing variables such as loyalty, travel intent, destination attachment, and repeat visits. To date, a comprehensive scale for constructing tourist trust in a tourist destination has not been provided. Most researchers in tourism studies tend to borrow trust measurement tools from other sectors such as social sciences, branding, and e-commerce. Some prefer to develop a scale for a specific area of tourism, for example, for medical tourism and shopping. Moreover, the design of some current scales seems to be based on a qualitative approach lacking credibility. A systematic literature review also showed that there is no comprehensive scale for constructing tourist trust in a tourist destination.  To fill this research gap, the present study deems it necessary to develop a more comprehensive and multidimensional scale for tourist trust that considers different stakeholders.
 
Materials and Methods
 
Based on a mixed methods design, the present research used grounded theory to analyze the data and develop a trust measurement scale. The statistical population in the qualitative section consisted of academic experts, policymakers, and planners in the field of tourism in Gilan. The purposive sampling method was used to select a sample of 12 participants. The study also relied on the criteria of validity, transferability, reliability, and verification to assess the reliability of the interview interpretation. Concerning the quantitative aspect, convenience sampling was used to select the statistical population of 389 tourists visiting different cities of Gilan Province. The research employed exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis to ensure the validity of the structures and identify the main dimensions and factors shaping the tourist trust.
 
Results and Discussion
In the qualitative stage, six main categories were found to be constitutive of trust in the tourism industry. They included the trust in tourist destination management, travel agencies, tourism service providers, tourist destination residents, other tourists, and digital content. Concerning the quantitative aspect, 389 incoming tourists to Gilan Province were analyzed. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis showed that the six research structures are adequately accurate in measuring the relevant structures.
 
Conclusion
Considering the findings of previous studies, the present research proves to be innovative. The proposed scale for measuring tourist trust is relatively comprehensive, covering the different perspectives of destination stakeholders (management, travel agencies, service providers, residents, other tourists, and digital content) at both institutional and interpersonal levels. The scale is valuable given the fact that tourism research on trust solely focuses on a single or several groups of organizational stakeholders (e.g., the government) which are studied by tourism institutions or travel agencies among tourists, residents, and travel guides. The proposed measurement indices for each dimension also cover more components compared to similar research attempts. In addition, the proposed scale is presented with an overview, and unlike previous studies, it is not restricted to a specific type of tourism, such as e-tourism, medical tourism, or shopping tourism. It is thus a more reliable scale for measuring various dimensions of trust.

Keywords

• Tourism
• Trust
• Tourists' Trust
• Guilan Province