Forming destination loyalty in pilgrimage tourism: its antecedents, including tour guides’ professional competencies, memorable pilgrimage experiences, brand identification, and brand love

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate how tour guides’ professional competencies affect memorable pilgrimage experiences and how these experiences, in turn, contribute to destination brand identification, brand love and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – An online, self-administered questionnaire was used to collect the data from 307 Pakistani Muslims who had participated in a packaged Umrah tour. Data analysis was conducted using SPSS and AMOS, including confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. Findings – All three sub-dimensions of tour guides’ professional competencies significantly affect memorable pilgrimage experiences. In addition, memorable pilgrimage experiences have a positive influence on brand identification and destination brand love, which in positively affect destination loyalty. Originality/value – Unlike prior studies, the current research integrates the dimensions of professional knowledge, skills and attitude to provide a comprehensive understanding of how these competencies enhance pilgrims’ experiences and foster destination brand identification, love and loyalty. Accordingly, this study not only addresses a theoretical gap but also enriches scholarly discussions by providing a new lens on how tour guides’ competencies shape pilgrims’ emotional and behavioral outcomes in the context of Islamic tourism. By doing so, this research highlights the strategic significance of qualified tour guides in Muslim pilgrimage tourism and offers meaningful implications for both tour operators and destination marketers.