Abstract:

In providing the competitive advantage between destinations, the memorable experiences of tourists are highlighted as an important element as the tourist attractiveness, the quality of service and the uniqueity of the destinations. Because the positive or negative memories of tourists about their previous trips to the destinations directly affect their subsequent destinations and travel preferences. In this scope, the study aims to determine the effects of the memorable experience dimensions of the destination on the travel intentions of local tourists visiting the Side destination in the period May-September 2019. The 500 survey forms prepared in this framework were delivered by face-to-face communication to local tourists. The data obtained from the surveys (456 surveys) were analyzed in the SPSS program. The results of the analysis found that local tourists were very affected by their previous travel experiences (75) and intended to return to the Side destination (83). The conclusion is that the memorable experiences of the destination tourists are made up of the dimensions of hedonism, innovation, knowledge, meaningfulness, participation, local culture and prosperity. It is also concluded that the memorable experience sizes of all destinations have influenced tourists’ intentions to travel back to the destination at a high and positive level.

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