Cross-Sectional Associations of Sport-Event Image, Embodied Experience, Place Attachment, and Tourist Loyalty in Heritage Tourism

Sport events may connect tourism promotion with cultural heritage destinations, but the pathway linking event image to tourist loyalty remains incompletely specified. This cross-sectional field survey examined sequential associations among Event Image, Embodied Experience, Place Attachment, and Tourist Loyalty in 386 valid responses retained from 412 collected questionnaires. All four constructs were measured with five-item, 5-point Likert scales and evaluated using partial least squares structural equation modeling. Event Image was associated with Embodied Experience (β = 0.470, p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.383–0.551), Embodied Experience with Place Attachment (β = 0.507, p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.421–0.589), and Place Attachment with Tourist Loyalty (β = 0.524, p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.430–0.611). The direct Event Image–Tourist Loyalty path was not statistically significant (β = 0.100, p = 0.060, 95% CI −0.004–0.203). The sequential indirect association through Embodied Experience and Place Attachment was supported (β = 0.125, p < 0.001, 95% CI 0.074–0.184). These results indicate an embodied, place-based association rather than temporal causality and suggest that event visibility alone may be insufficient to explain loyalty in heritage settings.