<![CDATA[The mechanism through which City Brand Trust strengthens tourist engagement in Muslim-friendly destinations remains underexplored, particularly in emerging halal tourism markets. This study offers novelty by integrating Integrated Digital Marketing Tourism (IDMT) and Destination Image within the Muslim-Friendly Tourism framework, examining City Brand Trust as a critical mediating mechanism a previously untested relationship in Indonesian urban tourism contexts. This study investigates the effects of IDMT and Destination Image on Intention to Engage, with City Brand Trust as a mediator, focusing on Bandung City as an emerging Muslim-friendly destination. Using a quantitative approach, survey data from 200 tourists were analyzed via Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). Results indicate that IDMT and Destination Image significantly and positively influence both City Brand Trust and Intention to Engage. Furthermore, City Brand Trust significantly mediates the relationships between these antecedents and engagement intentions. This research contributes to tourism marketing literature by establishing City Brand Trust as a pivotal variable that bridges digital marketing strategies and destination image with behavioral engagement in Muslim-friendly tourism a novel theoretical extension beyond conventional revisit intention models. This study highlights the strategic role of city brand trust in the digital tourism ecosystem. Practically, it underscores the necessity of aligning digital marketing with destination image enhancement to foster sustainable tourist engagement in Muslim-friendly contexts.]]>
