Destination labels for historic villages: The impact on perception, experience, and satisfaction

Many historic villages are trying to exploit the appeal of cultural heritage, an authentic atmosphere, and beautiful landscapes to emerge as rural tourism destinations. This study investigated the capacity of destination certifications and labels to positively influence tourists’ perceptions, experiences, and satisfaction from the perspective of destination competitiveness. As a case study, we selected an Italian village which was awarded the label of one of ‘The Most Beautiful Villages in Italy’. Multinomial logistic regression models were fitted to investigate differences in the ratings of tourists who were or were not aware of the label. The results suggested that the label could provide a significant competitive advantage to tourism in historic villages. Indeed, tourists who were aware of the label were more likely to rate their experience higher in terms of authenticity, personal involvement, and memorability. They also reported higher overall satisfaction and re-visit intentions. A relationship between tourists’ awareness of the label and the likelihood of a positive quality rating emerged only for those attributes strictly related with the main focus of the label. The findings of this study have important policy implications for historic villages’ tourism development.