Heritage Communication, Perceived Conservation, and Cultural Heritage Visiting Behavior Among Chinese Tourists: Evidence from Chengde, China

Chengde, China, is famous for its Qing Dynasty imperial gardens, which are a World Heritage Site. In recent years, it has received increasing attention from heritage research scholars. From a tourism perspective, tourists’ visits are important for supporting economic benefits, heritage conservation, and sustainable development. This study integrated the four dimensions of the 4E heritage communication framework—experience, exchange, everyplace, and evangelism—with heritage interpretation quality to develop a model to uncover cultural heritage visiting behavior. Based on the survey data of 887 Chinese tourists who have visited Chengde’s cultural heritage sites, structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed. The results showed that experience, exchange, everyplace, and evangelism, together with heritage interpretation quality, were all positively associated with cultural heritage visiting behavior. Perceived destination image and perceived conservation both significantly predicted cultural heritage visiting behavior and served as significant mediators in most of the proposed indirect relationships; however, the indirect path of evangelism through perceived destination image was not supported. Source credibility strengthened the relationships between the five antecedents and cultural heritage visiting behavior. Therefore, this article encourages the development of high-quality, comprehensive marketing strategies to attract more people to learn about World Cultural Heritage, while simultaneously improving guided tour services and their quality. It also emphasizes building a more positive cultural tourism image and conducting precise public relations to ensure that World Cultural Heritage receives support and attention from governments, educational institutions, and travel agencies.