Chapter 13 Unveiling the Customer Experience–Loyalty Nexus in Tourism During Crises

Though customer experience (CX) is identified as a key research priority, empirically led insight with tourism consumers' resulting emotional attachment (EA) and customer loyalty (CL) remains scarce, particularly during the COVID-19 crisis. Adopting service-dominant logic, this study develops a model that investigates the impact of customer engagement (CE) and customer co-creation (CC) on CX, which consequently effects EA and CL during the COVID-19 crisis in the tourism industry. First, our results suggest that CE and CC positively affect tourism CX. Second, results revealed the CX's significant positive effect on EA and CL. Third, findings confirmed the CE's and CC's indirect impact on EA and CL, as mediated via CX in pandemic situations. Our study offers key implications for destinations to develop tactics in surviving during a pandemic to rebuild tourism.