The Effect of Destination Image and Satisfaction on Tourist's Intentions to Visit a Place

To succeed in tourism industry، tourists and their behaviors should be studied. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of tourists'' satisfaction and destination image on their visit intentions in the short، medium and long term، to evaluate the tourists return process and identification their behavior in Tehran city. These variables are considered as factors influencing on their intentions to either return or not return. The study is of applied research، and in terms of the purpose، is a descriptive research. The statistical population of the research is all of the tourists visiting Tehran city in the summer of 2013. For this purpose، a sample of 390 people was selected using convenience sampling. Questionnaires were used to collect data for which the reliability and validity was assessed using Cronbach''s alpha and confirmatory factor analysis. The conceptual framework of the research was examined using the structural part of the structural equation model، called path analysis. Results indicate that there are significant differences between satisfaction and intentions to visit at different intervals depending on the people''s destination image. Satisfaction has impact on intentions to return in the short term but in the medium term، the impact is less. People destination image in short – term creates a willingness to visit the destination، yet in long – term، such impact becomes less.