Using Location Based Augmented Reality To Improve Destination Image Of China-Beijing:Role Of Immersive Experience,User Engagement,Perceived Service Quality And Authenticity

Tourism industry is a booming industry that is consecutively growing and outperforming from last seven years globally.The tourism sector in China has also developed into one of the most essential contributors in the domestic economy of the country.In today's era,destination image is considered a vital enabler for tourism that indicates how tourists perceive that particular destination in tourism context.Destination image and immersive experience has gained significant attention in tourism industry.In this regard,the current study is aimed at exploring the impact of immersive experience through augmented reality on the destination image along with the mediating role of user experience,perceived service quality and perceived authenticity through augmented reality.The study used a positivist philosophy orientation that was used to design a deductive approach based quantitative study.The data regarding the aforementioned variables was collected from 422 individuals that visited Beijing and used Location Based Augmented Reality(LBAR)technology during their city tours by the use of an online questionnaire-based survey.The sample collection was performed through purposive and convenient sampling techniques.The results obtained through the analysis have indicated that not only the impact of immersive experience through augmented reality on destination image is significant but the mediating roles of user experience;perceived service quality and perceived authenticity are also significant as per the results of the research.Thus,all the hypotheses that were formulated in this study were found to be true through SEM based hypothesis testing.This study is very important for the tourism industry and the role of augmented reality in that industry.