Word of mouth (WOM) is becoming recognized as an important form of promotion and an important source of information influencing consumer's attitudes and purchase behavior. WOM is especially important in the tourism industry, whose intangible products are difficult to evaluate prior to their consumption. The purpose of this paper is to survey the effect of WOM on tourists' decision for travelling to an Islamic destination.
Data were collected through a field research among 224 inbound tourists who have visited Isfahan as an Islamic destination, and the data were analyzed using regression and correlation. Additionally, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applicable for the inference relationships between tourist characteristics and using WOM. The survey period was from June 2 to June 29, 2010.
Two findings have been concluded in this survey. First, WOM affects the decision of tourists for travelling to Isfahan. Second, nationality, gender, purpose of trip, and previous experience of travelling were associated with using WOM among prospective tourists.
Managers should develop complete understanding of WOM and try to stimulate WOM about destinations among tourists, because most tourists are influenced by information from informal sources.
The paper shows that customer‐oriented tourism programs improve the numbers of inbound tourists to a particular destination.
