Effect of cultural heritage digitalisation on sustainable tourism: Mediating role of constructive authenticity and destination image

Abstract

Tourism destinations face increasing pressure to demonstrate sustainability while competing in a digitally saturated information environment. This study investigates how cultural heritage digitalisation shapes sustainable tourism outcomes among Generation Z tourists through a sequential cognitive perceptual process involving constructive authenticity and destination image. Grounded in the Stimulus Organism Response framework, the study proposes that digital representations of cultural heritage act as external stimuli that shape tourists' subjective construction of authenticity, which in turn enhances destination image and ultimately drives sustainable tourism behaviour. Data were collected from 410 Gen Z tourists visiting major heritage destinations in Rajasthan, India, using a structured questionnaire, and analysed through PLS-SEM with destination image and sustainable tourism modelled as higher-order constructs. All hypothesised direct paths were supported, with cultural heritage digitalisation exerting the strongest effect on constructive authenticity (β = 0.737), and destination image emerging as the most powerful predictor of sustainable tourism (β = 0.704). The sequential mediation path through constructive authenticity and destination image was also significant (β = 0.322), explaining 75.2% of the variance in sustainable tourism. These findings advance authenticity theory by positioning digitalisation as a primary driver of constructive authenticity formation in developing heritage contexts, and offer actionable guidance for destination managers on designing digital content strategies that foster authenticity perceptions, strengthen destination image, and reinforce long term sustainability outcomes.