Introduction
Recent years have seen a rise in the popularity of coastal travel locations worldwide (Williams et al., 2016). These coastal locations receive thousands of visitors annually, and it is anticipated that this number will rise over the ensuing years. In actuality, by increasing business activity, producing revenue, and creating jobs, tourism has significantly changed the socioeconomic landscape of coastal communities.
 
In a same vein, visitors to the Mazandaran region are becoming interested in beach tourism. Every year, a large number of tourists visit Mazandaran, one of Iran's northern provinces. The province's beaches, which are among its most popular tourist destinations, are ideal for coastal tourism since they provide a variety of recreational and tourism amenities in addition to having a distinct climate. Despite this growing trend, there hasn't been much focus on conducting additional research and analysis on how visitors perceive Mazandaran's coastline tourism amenities, services, and possibilities. However, the literature on tourism highlights the notion that effective tourism destination marketing is an understanding of visitor behavior, specifically how visitors perceive the destination's image, service quality, contentment, and loyalty.
 
Methodology
The current study uses a quantitative research methodology and is descriptive-survey and correlational in nature and methodology. It seeks to characterize, elucidate, and pinpoint the elements impacting visitors' allegiance to coastal locations while also investigating the connections among them. The visitors who have been to the beaches of Mazandaran make up the statistical population of this study. The sample size was determined using Cochran's formula because of the statistical population's size. As a result, 350 surveys were examined and evaluated.
A questionnaire was the main instrument used in the data collection process, which combined field and library research. There was a total of 29 closed-ended questions on this survey. Expert comments were used to guarantee the validity of the questionnaire, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate its reliability.
The research's conceptual model is based on Hasan et al.'s (2019) researches. Perceived service quality and perceived value are the independent factors in this model; destination image, attitude toward travel, and visitor satisfaction are the mediating variables; and tourist loyalty is the dependent variable. Using SPSS version 20 and PLS version 3, descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, together with structural equation modeling (SEM), were used to analyze the data that was gathered.
 
Results
The image of seaside attractions is greatly influenced by perceived service quality, according to the results of structural equation modeling. The positive beta coefficient (0.463) validates the positive effect, and the T-Value statistic for perceived service quality and destination image (8.504) surpasses 1.96. Perceived service quality also directly explains 46% of the variance in destination image, 31% of the variance in tourist satisfaction, and 12% of the variance in attitude toward visiting, according to the standardized path coefficient between perceived service quality and destination image (0.463).
35% of the variation in destination image, 51% in visitor happiness, and 38% in attitude toward travel are directly explained by the perceived value variable. 22% of the variation in visitor loyalty, 12% in visitor happiness, and 12% in attitude toward travel can be directly explained by destination image. 60% of the variation in tourist loyalty can be directly explained by the variable of attitude toward visiting, whereas 42% of the variation in tourist loyalty and 59% of the variation in attitude toward visiting may be directly explained by the variable of tourist satisfaction.
The study's conclusions show that tourists' sentiments are greatly influenced by perceived service quality, perceived value, destination image, and contentment. Additionally, visitor loyalty is greatly impacted by the perception of the place, visitor satisfaction, and visitor attitudes.
 
Discussion and Conclusion
The study's findings demonstrate the important influence that perceived value and service quality have on the perception of a location. The results logically support the notion that these two factors are important in forming a favorable perception of Mazandaran's seaside attractions, despite the paucity of research looking at them as predictors of destination image. The findings also show that visitors' opinions about traveling to coastal locations are influenced by their perceptions of perceived value and service quality (Shahijan et al., 2015; Han & Kim, 2010). These studies contend that while perceived value influences travelers' propensity to visit, perceived service quality is a major determinant of visitor attitudes.
Furthermore, the empirical results show that, in the context of seaside tourism, the influence of perceived value and service quality on travelers' sentiments is distinct and new. Perceived value was the most significant element in encouraging tourists to have a positive attitude toward visiting coastal areas, as seen by the larger coefficient for perceived value among the direct paths from perceived service quality and perceived value to attitude.
The study also shows that visitor satisfaction significantly improves their opinions on traveling to coastal locations. Although the causal relationship between these two variables has not been thoroughly studied, the present findings demonstrate a causal relationship between attitude and satisfaction in behavioral aspects, offering a solid theoretical basis for including these variables in behavioral intention models.
Last but not least, the research underrepresents the integrated relationship between destination image, satisfaction, and attitude within a single model in the loyalty process. The new results support the inclusion of these factors in a single model, providing a more thorough knowledge of their interconnections, as these linkages have been studied independently in previous research.
 
Funding
There is no funding support.
Authors’ Contribution
Authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work declaration of competing interest none.
Conflict of Interest
Authors declared no conflict of interest.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to all the scientific consultants of this paper.