Perceived authenticity and the heritage tourism experience: the case of Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum

ABSTRACT This study explores the relationship between perceived authenticity of the tourism experience and destination image, satisfaction and loyalty, and the moderating effect of visitor expectation. Data from Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, China, were analyzed via structural equation modeling. The results indicate that perceived authenticity has a direct and indirect positive impact on loyalty behaviors through destination image and satisfaction. Visitor expectation enhance the destination image and the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty behaviors. This suggests that the proposed theoretical framework predicts tourists' intentions for heritage tourism sites, offering valuable theoretical and practical implications for sustainable development.