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Article

Cultural Centre, Destination Cultural Offer and Visitor Satisfaction

Northern Institute, Charles Darwin University, PO Box 795, Alice Springs, NT 0871, Australia
Sustainability 2017, 9(11), 1984; https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111984
Submission received: 26 September 2017 / Revised: 21 October 2017 / Accepted: 28 October 2017 / Published: 30 October 2017
(This article belongs to the Section Tourism, Culture, and Heritage)

Abstract

:
This paper aims to establish the link between tourists’ perceptions on cultural offers and their overall satisfaction, and explore the implication of this link for sustainable tourist destination management. Assessing online customers’ reviews, this study identifies a positive correlation between visitors’ perspectives and experiences at the on-site cultural centre and visitors’ destination satisfaction. It suggests that the on-site cultural centre plays a critical role in building up visitors’ perception on cultural attributes of the destination, and its impact on visitor satisfaction is a double-edged sword. Visitors’ positive perspectives on the cultural centre enhance visitors’ experiences and contribute to their destination satisfaction; however, not only does a negative perspective on their cultural and spiritual experience compromise visitors’ satisfaction, but also subsequent negative online reviews damage the destination image and discourage visitor return/visit. The findings help destination management organisations to better understand visitors’ preference for cultural centres and therefore to improve visitors’ cultural experience. This paper appeals for further study of on-site cultural centres’ role in forming destination cultural attributes, and of social media’s potential in enriching cultural experience.

1. Introduction

Tourism can be an effective tool for the conservation and management of protected areas [1]. Well-managed tourism can generate the financial and political support needed to sustain the values of protected areas. It can also increase understanding of reserves and their environmental and cultural values, and contribute to enriching visitor experiences. Parks in Australia represent the greatest tourism assets in Australia [2]. Indigenous participation in tourism has been recognised in the national long-term tourism strategy as important to the Australian tourism industry’s competitiveness and to economic development for Indigenous Australians [3]. Indigenous culture has been playing or is assuming to play an important role in park tourism to propose to provide cultural experiences for visitors.
Each visitor experiences a tourist destination differently. Their perceptions are formed by the facilities available, the opportunities offered and the experience and knowledge thus gained [4]. The value perceived from a destination positively affects their likelihood of revisiting and suggesting destinations to others [5]. Although early research on visitor satisfaction with destination focused more on satisfaction at the global level (i.e., overall satisfaction), an attribute-level evaluation of satisfaction has recently emerged and is yet to be fully researched [6]. Visitors’ overall destination satisfaction depends on their valuation of attribute satisfaction and destination image [7]. For its sustainable development, a tourist destination should plan tourism products not only for overall satisfaction but also for the contribution made by each attribute of the tourist destination to overall satisfaction [8].
Research into the association between visitor satisfaction and evaluation of destination attributes has suggested that the visitor’s positive experiences of both the products and the perceived values of destination attributes positively influence overall satisfaction [7,9,10,11]. Obviously “cultural tourists” regard cultural offers as one of the most important “pull” factors for any tourist destination [12]. However, few studies explore the relationship between visitors’ satisfaction/dissatisfaction with a destination’s cultural attributes (cultural satisfaction) in general, its cultural centres in particular, and with their overall satisfaction. There is a scarcity of evidence-based research in this field. This study seeks evidence of the link between visitors’ perspectives on a destination’s cultural offers and their overall satisfaction, by testing the correlation between the two variables. This study uses social media as a research tool to collect online customers’ reviews. It discusses what e-WOM about cultural offers implies for visitor satisfaction and tourist destination management, as exemplified by Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP) in Central Australia. It addresses three questions: (1) Do visitors care about a destination’s cultural offers? (2) Does a site-based cultural centre contribute to visitor’s satisfaction? And, (3) what does this mean for sustainable destination management?

2. Literature Review

2.1. Park and Heritage Tourism and Destination’s Cultural Offer

Tourism is always an important option for park management, especially where local communities reside in or are closely associated with [13,14]. Another broadly accepted opinion suggests that heritage sites contribute to tourism development. For example, World Heritage Sites (WHSs), where the cultural and natural endowments are officially recognised by UNESCO, have been found to have significantly positive effects on the promotion of domestic or foreign tourism either in specific countries or at a worldwide level [15,16,17,18]. It has been found that tourist destinations with typical cultural or natural elements constitute one of the chief attractions for international visitors [19,20].
Recognition of cultural values has been a major driver of substantive changes in park and heritage management philosophy and practice. Cultural values cannot be separated from the people who connect to and value it, neither can heritage sites and parks exist in isolation from and without the support of the broader community [21]. Cultural values of the tourist destination can be expressed in multiple ways. Being components of cultural values, the social value and spiritual value have been difficult to understand and therefore been ignored to some extent [22]. From a perspective of tourism management, the cultural values can be only delivered to and experienced by visitors through specific cultural offers. Cultural offers are substantial assets (tangible and intangible) offered in a tourist destination to carry its cultural values. Besides officially designated cultural heritage sites and assets (such as UNESCO’s cultural WHSs), cultural offers can be tangible arts, museums, landscapes, or intangible cultural heritage and social value, such as tradition, custom, knowledge and spiritual reliefs. Information centres, cultural centres or visitor centres are all important presence, showcase and interpretation of the cultural values of the tourist attractions including heritage sites.

2.2. Visitor Experience, Satisfaction and Cultural Offers

Packer and Ballantyne [23] define the visitor experience as “an individual’s immediate or ongoing, subjective and personal response to an activity, setting, or event outside of their usual environment” (p137). This definition highlights the link among visitors’ experience, their emotions (associated with satisfaction), and their post-visit behaviours (such as return visit and recommendation to others). Prayag, Hosany and Odeh [24] tested a model linking visitors’ behavioral intentions with their emotional experiences and satisfaction. They suggested that emotions associated with the destination experience at a heritage site induced satisfaction, positive word-of-mouth reporting and revisiting intentions. Research suggests that the destination image, visitor satisfaction and destination loyalty positively correlate to and influence each other [7,9,25,26]. On one hand, visitor satisfaction is an important factor for the commercial success of the tourism industry [27,28]. On the other hand, maintaining “a high level of tourist satisfaction and ensure a meaningful experience to the tourists” is an important indicator of “sustainable tourism” [29] (p. 11). Research also reveals the impact of visitors’ dissatisfaction and negative experiences on tourist destination management. For Babin and Griffin [30], dissatisfaction statements obviously relate to visitors’ overall satisfaction and intention to return. Negative experiences may not determine overall satisfaction with destinations but will still make them less attractive, making a return visit less likely, as visitors are always sensitive to negative aspects of a destination [10]. Therefore, tourism decision-makers must try to boost the positive aspects of their destinations and to remedy negative ones. Crilley, Weber and Taplin’s [31] research at Kakadu National park in Australia shows that benefits attained by visitors are stronger predictors of an overall positive response to a park visit, and therefore suggests that the visitors’ desired benefits should be paid greater attention. It is important to understand what benefits are dependent on the biophysical, socio-cultural and managerial environment, and the offered visitor activity in the destination.
Cultural endowments can be important attributes of a destination. Visitors use cultural attractions to meet cultural needs, acquiring new knowledge and experiences [32]. In an early study of European tourist destinations, Dahles [33] suggested that cultural offer would have an increased impact on the visitor’s satisfaction level. Nowadays the cultural products distinguishing each destination are regarded as enhancing the value of core tourist products and services [34,35]. Evidence indicates that cultural offers influence visitors’ willingness to travel, to revisit and to recommend destinations to friends [27,35,36]. Cultural and heritage attractions are sometimes claimed to be more important than other factors in influencing overall satisfaction [26].
The differences in perceptions on cultural offers have been reported. Do Valle et al. [35] suggest that the more satisfied the visitors are with the destination’s cultural offer, the more they see the visitor experience as ‘‘cultural enrichment’’ expanding their knowledge and intellectual horizons. Patuelli, Mussoni and Candela [27] claim that a destination’s culture endowment appears to be more attractive for long-distance visitors. Romao et al. [36] find that there is distinction between the role of tangible and intangible cultural offers in contributing to visitors’ satisfaction and their loyalty to the destination. Figini and Vici [37] further propose that cultural offers can smooth visitation seasonality.
In general, visitor centres and/or information centres are an important component at tourist destinations which contribute to visitors’ understanding of local regions, although visitors have different visiting preferences and purposes [38,39,40]. Visitor centres provide broad information about the destinations particularly of intangible aspects, and have positive influences on visitor behaviours and experiences at tourist attractions [41]. Perceived quality of information resources facilitates adding value to the visitor experience [38]. On-site cultural centres being special visitor centres mainly focusing on providing information associated social-cultural aspects at tourist destinations are literally a part of cultural offers of the destinations rather than an external attachment.
The literature review has revealed that there is an association between cultural attributes and tourist satisfaction. Together with natural endowments, cultural offers are critical for a tourist destination, as well as for the sustainable development of tourism. Visitors’ experience with cultural attributes at the tourist destination will impact their satisfaction, and their satisfaction/dissatisfaction will determine their return visit and their WOM which will affect prospective tourists’ visit. This study will investigate the online evidence in central Australia, to test the association between tourists’ perceived cultural offers and their overall satisfaction, and to further explore the implication of this association for sustainable tourist destination management.

3. Methodology

3.1. Study Site

Home to the iconic Uluru massif, Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park (UKTNP) is an internationally recognised world heritage site (WHS), one of the few world sites to be dual-listed by UNESCO for outstanding natural and cultural values. UKTNP is also an important tourist destination in Central Australia. In 2014, 276,000 people visited the park, mostly from abroad [42]. An earlier research focusing on cultural tourism ranked central Australia region (Alice Springs and Petermann Region) as one of top 10 cultural tourism destinations for international visitors in Australia [43]. Given that the region has unique traditional indigenous cultures, it was expected that culture would have a greater weight in attracting visitors. Indigenous culture has significantly contributed to regional economy and local tourism development in the region [44].
The Uluru massif is the core of the park and it is the top tourist attraction there. Visitor perceptions of Uluru can be interpreted as overall destination perceptions. The nearby Uluru-Kata Tjuta Cultural Centre (as Cultural Centre thereafter) is one of the most important means of exhibiting the cultural heritage; it provides park visitors with information and souvenirs, i.e., tangible cultural offers. The site road infrastructure is constructed so as to make visitors visit the Cultural Centre before they visit Uluru. The Cultural Centre is not just a facility supporting visitor activities but also in itself an important cultural attribute of the destination. From visitors’ perspectives, they have high expectations to experience indigenous arts and culture, but there has a lower level of visitor satisfaction on the experience [45]. Lack of accessible and informed indigenous cultural products and services might be an important reason [45,46].

3.2. Online Data Collection

Visitors in their travels rely increasingly heavily on social media, before, during and after travel. From the perspective of research methodology, social media has become an important research tool for studies in many academic fields, including tourism and hospitality. It is particularly useful in engaging research targets and collecting data through businesses’ social media protocols and online travel communities [47].
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site and most popular in the tourist community to make online reviews on tourist destinations and tourist services. This study collected online customers’ reviews of their experience in the park from TripAdvisor’s website. From the 14 things to do in the UKTNP recommended by TripAdvisor [48], Uluru and the Cultural Centre were chosen as review sites. Totally 1747 TripAdvisor online reviews (including a total of 522 non-English reviews) on Uluru (1472) and the Culture Centre (275) have been collected. The collected information includes reviewers’ profiles (membership names—TripAdvisor Usernames, and membership levels—Top Contributor, Senior Contributor, Contributor, Senior Reviewer, and Reviewer), visited date, reviewed date, their ratings on the attractions (at different levels—Excellent, Very Good, Average, Poor, and Terrible), comments, park management’s responses to comments, and “helpful” votes from the audience. The data search occurred on 22 April 2015. This means that customers’ comments were made after the date were not included in the analysis.

3.3. Data Analysis

The study applies both qualitative and quantitative methods. All information was retrieved and input into excel datasheets. Data entered datasheets were re-organised and made analysable.
SPSS was used to investigate the correlation between ratings of Uluru and the Cultural Centre. In total, fewer visitors made review on the Cultural Centre (i.e., 275, compared to 1472 on Uluru), by matching the reviewers TripAdvisor usernames, it is found that most of them (204, i.e., 74.2%) made also review on Uluru. This allowed for the correlation analysis to be conducted.
A four-quadrant model analyses visitors’ negative comments to identify their causes. To focus on what the factors are that negatively influence on visitors’ reviews, I analysed all reviews which rated average and below (i.e., average, poor and terrible) to clarify the determining factors leading to negative reviews. In this case, I used Google Translator to translate non-English reviews into English to catch key points. Meanwhile, the “Average” group was paid a special attention to ensure possible negative comments likely made by this group of reviewers caught without neglect.

4. Results

4.1. Correlation between Visitor’s Evaluation of the Cultural Centre and Overall Satisfaction

Experienced visitors more likely make online reviews. Among reviewers, “Top Contributor” and “Senior Contributor” dominated, taking 66%. This suggests that most reviewers were experienced and they could be expected to make a rational judgement and their comments could be reasonably trustworthy, as suggested by [49].
A significant positive correlation was found between reviewers’ ratings of Uluru (overall satisfaction) and the Cultural Centre (cultural attribute satisfaction). Statistical analysis suggests that the ratings of Uluru and the Cultural Centre positively correlated (mean of Ratings Uluru = 4.6, mean of Ratings Centre = 4.0; Person Correlation = 0.36, Sig. (2-tailed) = 0.000 < 0.01, n = 204). There was a moderate positive correlation between their evaluation of the Cultural Centre and Uluru (0.3 < r = 0.36 < 0.5), meaning that the higher the reviewers rated the Cultural Centre, the higher they rated Uluru.
It is found that there is a difference in the correlation among tourists from different countries. For Australian visitors, there is a stronger positive correlation (r = 0.42; n = 63); for visitors from the UK, the correlation is high (r = 0.6; n = 29); and for those from USA, the correlation is low (r = 0.2; n = 30). Although it is not an intention of this paper to explore the reasons of this difference, it is probably associated with the cultural background and the traditional connection between Australia and origin countries. This supports the existing literature regarding the differences in perception on cultural offers [27].

4.2. Negative Comments and Visitor Satisfaction

From all 185 reviews that rated the destination less positively (from three categories: “Average”, “Poor” and “Terrible”), a total of 207 negative mentions (1.1 mention per review) emerged, grouped into 8 clusters: (1) expensive; (2) inadequate; (3) too commercialised; (4) disappointing tour services; (5) over-regulated; (6) bad weather; (7) lack of cultural sense; and (8) other negative comments.
For Uluru itself, the negative reviews mentioned all 8 identified clusters with different levels of frequency. Most mentioned were “expensive” (23.53%), “inadequate” (18.38%) and “too commercialised” (12.50%). Feelings of disappointment included “over-rated/hyped”, “over-advertised”, “just a rock, nothing special”, “nothing to do” and “boring experience” etc. Although complaints about “lack of cultural sense” were only 8% of all negative comments, most ratings (72.7%) were from “Average” scores. For example, “100_Mario” commented in December 2011: “though fascinated by the natural environment, we could not pick up the spirituality that makes the place unique”.
Regarding the Cultural Centre, complaints about the information services and lack of local Indigenous participation dominated. “Fenix78”, for instance, commented in January 2013 that: “Aboriginal people are not very visible and bound to the areas where they perform outstanding works of painting but that are sold at high prices in the gift shop”. Out of 71 negative points mentioned, 30 (42.25%) specifically criticised the cultural offers for being “lifeless”, “static”, “no link to the locals”, “lack of indigenous people”, “wrong”, “less creative”, “nothing to learn from” and “superficial”, while 11 (15.49%) expressed its general inadequacy by using the terms “simple”, “general”, “small” and “could be better”. A relatively high proportion of negative comments (36.62%) criticised “only a pricey shop” which should have been an “information centre” and not a “shop”, still less a “pricey shop”. These comments obviously reflected extreme disappointment among the visitors who had expected a “cultural centre”. Combining Uluru and the Cultural Centre, the three most negative points frequently mentioned (Figure 1) were the “expensive[ness]” (28.02%), “lack of cultural sense” (19.81%) and “exaggerated hype” (17.39%).
As suggested by Alegre and Garau [10] and Babin and Griffin [30], these negative statements will make destination less attractive by reducing their return visit willingness, and spreading negative WOM to discourage potential first-time visitors’ come. From a sustainable tourism management perspective, this raises an issue for the management to timely remedy the negative comments.

4.3. Dissatisfaction with Cultural Offers

Using the relative frequency of negative comments made by visitors, all negative comments are mapped in a four-quadrant model (Figure 2). The relative frequency of the comments raised in one category, compared with the same issues raised in all three categories, defines the x-axis, while the relative frequency of the comments raised in one category, compared with all comments raised in the same category, defines the y-axis. With three categories of less positive review ratings (Average, Poor and Terrible), 33% (approximately one-third) is the average applied to divide the x-axis, and the 15% (approximately one seventh) is the average applied to divide the y-axis, since 7 clusters of negative comments (8 altogether, including 1 “other negative comments”) are identified. When the dots (located by both relative frequencies) are to the right of the 15% line (in Q1 and Q4), it suggests that these comments are raised within a category more than other comments; when the dots are above the line of 33% (in Q1 and Q2), it suggests that these comments are raised by one category more than other categories; when the dots are in Q1, it suggests that these comments are raised more than others within or across the categories.
The four-quadrant model, shows that the reviews rating “Average” dominated the negative comments. This category of reviews made all 8 clusters of negative comments, three in Q1, four in Q2. Meanwhile most negative comments in “Poor” and “Terrible” are in Q3 (4 and 5 respectively). This suggests that “Average” reviews are more critical and more negative than the two other categories, because they account for a larger number of reviews and wider range of issues.
The “expensive” is often regarded in all three categories as negative, followed by “lack of cultural sense” often found in both “Average” and “Poor” categories. Other frequent negative comments include “disappointing tour services” (often found in the “Terrible” category) and “over-regulated” (frequent in the “Poor” category).
To Q1, visitors gave 5 clusters of negative responses, namely, “expensive”, “inadequate”, “disappointing tour services”, “over-regulated” and “lack of cultural sense”. These comments can be understood as major negative perceptions which would harm Uluru’s destination image and negatively affect visitor satisfaction.
To Q4, “expensive” and “lack of cultural sense” comments were raised in the “Poor” and “Terrible” reviews. Although they are less frequent in the total of negative comments (because of the fewer total comments than in the “Average” reviews), both categories concerned the “expensive[ness]”, and the “Poor” category criticized the “lack of cultural sense”.

5. Discussion

The positive correlation between the ratings of the Cultural Centre and Uluru endorses the view that the cultural offer positively contributes to visitors’ overall satisfaction with a tourist destination. It suggests that the more satisfied visitors are with the Cultural Centre, the more satisfied they tend to be with the destination overall. Better understanding of culture and information associated with the park and the region will contribute positively to the understanding and appreciation of Uluru. The positive evaluation of cultural satisfaction will contribute positively to visitor overall satisfaction. Cultural offers matter when visiting a tourist destination, not just for “cultural tourists” but also for other tourists (visitors). This study provides evidence that tourist perceived culture offers and their destination satisfaction are linked in central Australia.
The criticism of “lack of cultural sense” and “disappointment” suggests that the cultural elements of the UKTNP have been somewhat neglected and thus have not met visitors’ demands for cultural experiences. This region is being marketed as an extremely important Australian indigenous centre, rich in natural and cultural endowments; hence, visitors expect to encounter both. The failure to communicate the connection between the local culture and the natural features of the landscape has compromised the cultural visitors’ experience. Communicating this relationship should be a component of the marketing of the destination market. The only viable approach to broadening the park’s indigenous cultural tourism is to engage, not exclude, local indigenous Anangu communities. However, how to engage local communities remains an issue. While tangible cultural attributes are important, intangible cultural offers are equally important. Visitors seek intangible cultural resources (providing spiritual experiences) but give their experiences one of main negative comments. This is strongly associated with social and spiritual values which are failed to be offered or accessed. While it supports the observation by Australia ICOMOS [22], it has a call for direct indigenous engagement in providing such experiences to visitors. While these intangible experiences must be enhanced by tangible resources—products, services and assets, it requires local Anangu communities’ engagement and culturally rich tour services. Indigenous people’s participatory activities and authentic products and services, with multi-media technology, would contribute significantly to this enhancement.
This study suggests that the cultural centre plays a critical role in building up visitors’ perception on cultural attributes of the destination. However, the impact of cultural centres can be a double-edged sword. A cultural centre, an on-site cultural centre in particular, does not necessarily contribute positively to visitors’ evaluation of the cultural attributes of the destination. When it is organised and operated inappropriately, it could damage the destination’s image and diminish the visitors’ visitation experience. It is worthwhile to further explore the multiple roles of cultural centres (especially on-site cultural centres) in iconic tourist destination management.
Negative comments damage the destination image and discourage tourism. However, timely and properly handling the negative comments could minimize the negative impacts and could turn them into opportunities to improve the destination management towards sustainable tourism. Social media provide a good platform and channel for businesses and park management to deeply engage with customers and quickly respond to these comments. It is critical, from the marketing perspective, to concentrate on the effect of the social media on the destination image and to establish a more responsive mechanism to handle visitor feedback, especially negative comments. It is important to pay more attention to average ratings. The review analysis suggests that the “Average” rating seems not to really mean the neutral, average, rather than slightly negative. Exploring how social media can enhance cultural experience is important for tourism managers and researchers.
Complaints about tour companies significantly negatively affect the destination image of UKTNP. There is no evidence available from this research to establish any direct connection between the complaints and possible cultural offers, but it seems reasonable to assume that more cultural knowledge and therefore more cultural association offered to visitors by tours and their tour guides would amplify visitors’ experience and improve their satisfaction (as suggested by Patuelli et al. [27] and Do Valle et al. [35]). From sustainable destination management perspective, it is important and critical to cooperate with visitor management authorities and organizations to regulate the tour operation, help tour businesses to improve their services and to enrich social–cultural components in services. In a broad context, the “Big Tourism” strategy which advocates the broad collaboration between industries and stakeholders would encourage the sustainable tourism development in a friendly environment of social economic development and harmony, and deliver better services to visitors and enrich their visitor experiences.
This study once again inevitably raises the issue on indigenous participation in local tourism development in Central Australia. There has been a negative trend for international indigenous tourism visitors, with numbers declining both Australia and the NT including Central Australia since 2006. Economic turmoil and financial crisis have been blamed as main reasons, but the indigenous tourism sector itself had to rethink its management and marketing strategy and re-adjust to win back the market. The market failure has been suggested as one major reason [50]. The mismatch of destination supply and visitor demand has been condemned as a factor holding back tourism development in the region. The big disappointment with lack of Indigenous cultural engagement raised by visitors in this case supports previous studies regarding indigenous cultural tourism. The positive correlation between tourist perceived cultural offers and tourist overall satisfaction tested in this case might give another explanation about why this disappointment could contribute to the decline in tourist numbers in this region on one hand, but on the other hand, it shows a way to win back the market, i.e., to enhance cultural offers including authentic indigenous cultural experience. This is a call not only for an innovative architecture design, creative information provision and vivid local culture engagement for a cultural centre establishment at a tourist destination especially at a heritage tourism destination, but also for an incentive mechanism to encourage the participation and involvement of indigenous businesses. Social enterprises owned or managed by Indigenous people may encourage substantial participation and engagement of local indigenous people in regional development activities, and improve directly and indirectly the authenticity of indigenous cultural services and products/cultural offers in tourism development.

6. Conclusions

Tourists, not only “cultural tourists” and international tourists, but also general tourists and domestic tourists, care about the cultural aspects of their destination. The positive perspective on cultural offers and on-site cultural centres will enhance visitor satisfaction with a destination. However, negative perceptions (dissatisfaction) of intangible cultural offers such as social and spiritual experiences significantly compromise their satisfaction. Subsequently, negative comments shared online damage the destination image, discouraging return and other visits. An on-site cultural centre does not necessarily contribute positively to visitors’ evaluation of the cultural attributes of the destination, especially when visitors seek intangible cultural experiences such as social and spiritual experiences which are normally ignored by destination management. This study raises questions about indigenous participation in sustainable tourism development in central Australia in particular, as well as about the role of local community engagement in forming the cultural attribute of tourist destinations in general. It advocates a “Big Tourism” strategy of engaging industries, governments, local communities and other stakeholders to collaborate in tourism management. It has a call for active and direct involvement of indigenous people and indigenous businesses in providing cultural services to contribute to both tangible and intangible cultural attributes of tourist destinations for sustainable development.
This study has its limitations. The data collection is not based on the purposely designed survey but on TripAdvisor’s general travel reviews. Although the data is objective and avoids the bias in survey, it seems loose and dispersed with regards to its yearly distribution and representativeness of tourist origins and visit seasons. Therefore, when conducting comparative analysis, the sample size is limited. It would be better if a field survey could be conducted to verify the online information. This limitation suggests that the generalisation of the study results must be taken with caution.
The study implies the necessity of redefining the role of on-site cultural centres to enhance their positive contribution to forming cultural attribute of tourism destinations. Future research needs focusing on the integration of local authentic cultural and spiritual endowments into the destination cultural offers and their impacts on tourist overall satisfaction, and on the linkage between destination cultural offers and tourist destination promotion and marketing. For example, it is worthwhile to conduct further studies of how to use social media to enrich the tourist cultural tourism experience; of how to identify the difference in perceived cultural offers among different tourist groups and its implication for specifying marketing strategies targeting variable tourist market segments.

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares no conflict of interest.

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Figure 1. Frequency of negative comments.
Figure 1. Frequency of negative comments.
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Figure 2. Four quadrant model of negative comments.
Figure 2. Four quadrant model of negative comments.
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Zeng, B. Cultural Centre, Destination Cultural Offer and Visitor Satisfaction. Sustainability 2017, 9, 1984. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111984

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Zeng B. Cultural Centre, Destination Cultural Offer and Visitor Satisfaction. Sustainability. 2017; 9(11):1984. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111984

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Zeng, Benxiang. 2017. "Cultural Centre, Destination Cultural Offer and Visitor Satisfaction" Sustainability 9, no. 11: 1984. https://doi.org/10.3390/su9111984

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