ABSTRACT
Pasikuda is one of the prominent places in Sri Lanka for local and international tourists. According to the tourism strategic plan 2017–2020, Sri Lanka attempts to change the value proposition. At this juncture, it is important to explore Pasikuda’s brand equity and how it is created. Therefore, the major objective of the study is to investigate the impact of functional attributes of Pasikuda on the creation of its brand equity, and to explore the mediating role of brand equity between functional attributes of and revisit intention for Pasikuda. In order to achieve this objective, a questionnaire was designed and administered among 182 international tourists who were visiting Pasikuda. Findings suggest that ten functional attributes of Pasikuda contribute to its destination brand equity, and in turn the created destination brand equity fully mediating to revisit intention of Pasikuda. Therefore, destination marketing organizations can utilize those attributes in their promoting of Pasikuda as a destination. Further, it is also recommended that hoteliers and other tourism service marketers should employ the functional attributes of Pasikuda to position and promote their attractions and services.
