TY - JOUR KW - Castle hotels KW - Destination competitiveness KW - Destination experience KW - historical heritage KW - Perceived image KW - Regional impact AU - Z.E. Horváth AB - The region of Northern Hungary is historically rich in tangible and intangible heritage destinations such as fortresses, castles, and cultural routes. Former castles of the aristocracy, converted to four- and five-star hotels, are among the favourite tourist destinations in the region. Destination stakeholders of these attractions have a prime interest in designing and delivering a complex and memorable tourism experience that will attract more visitors and return visits. The responsibility of regional and local destination management lies in finding an appropriate mix of attractions and corresponding experiences, attracting visitors/guests and creating repeat patterns of return. The research, involving a sample of 360 castle hotel guests, and using Partial Least Squares structural equation path modelling, reveals significant correlation between historical interest, motivation, and perceived image, predicting guests perception of the entire region. Visitation patterns, together with geographical embeddedness, can be further explored to increase destination competitiveness. BT - Regional Statistics DO - 10.15196/RS06109 LA - English M1 - 1 N1 - Publisher: Hungarian Central Statistical Office N2 - The region of Northern Hungary is historically rich in tangible and intangible heritage destinations such as fortresses, castles, and cultural routes. Former castles of the aristocracy, converted to four- and five-star hotels, are among the favourite tourist destinations in the region. Destination stakeholders of these attractions have a prime interest in designing and delivering a complex and memorable tourism experience that will attract more visitors and return visits. The responsibility of regional and local destination management lies in finding an appropriate mix of attractions and corresponding experiences, attracting visitors/guests and creating repeat patterns of return. The research, involving a sample of 360 castle hotel guests, and using Partial Least Squares structural equation path modelling, reveals significant correlation between historical interest, motivation, and perceived image, predicting guests perception of the entire region. Visitation patterns, together with geographical embeddedness, can be further explored to increase destination competitiveness. PY - 2016 SP - 164 EP - 192 T2 - Regional Statistics TI - Assessing the regional impact based on destination image UR - https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85010866431&doi=10.15196%2fRS06109&partnerID=40&md5=ae6092a1814cf523799a5fc2e397eed3 VL - 6 SN - 20639538 (ISSN) ER -