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Studies about destination image have been discussed extensively in the literature due to its impact on tourist behavior. Despite the significant number of contributions, existing models are outdated in the context of globalization. This chapter synthesizes relevant literature and evaluates the effects of social media on destination image formation. Built on the seminal work by Gartner and that of Tasci and Gartner, the chapter extends the existing understanding with a conceptual model. The construct posits that, with the social media sites as the agent, an overall conative image of a destination can be formed by the overlap of provision and evaluation of cognitive and affective information by and among suppliers, consumers, and third parties.

The aim of the paper is to develop a conceptual model of the process by means of which the induced tourism image of a destination is created. The model focuses on the role tourism agents' relational networks play in this process and particularly on the effects of the links with external actors – i.e. tour‐operators – on the destination's induced image.

Based on Gartner's definition of image formation agents, it is assumed that there are tourism agents that use the tourism image as a pull factor to influence the buying behaviour of potential visitors. Basically, these agents are: internal actors, located within a particular tourism destination, and external agents – i.e. tour‐operators – which are not normally associated with any particular destination, but have stakes in the travel decision process of potential visitors. In parallel, it is assumed that the tourism destination is a web of relational networks where the agents are connected by means of collaborative links that facilitate the supply of a tourist product or experience to the visitors.

In this paper two potential gaps in the induced tourism destination image formation process are found, and that the position of relevant actors in the network and the structure of the network are two determinant factors of the emergence – or inhibition – of these gaps. It is also suggested that these gaps and the lack of collaborative links among internal and external actors would affect the coherence of the supplied tourist products and the satisfaction with the tourist experience.

The relevance of the paper lies in a new approach to the induced tourism image formation process focusing on the destination's relational network and, in particular, the network of relations with external agents (i.e. tour‐operators).

This paper aims to explore the formation of a destination image (DI) threatened by terrorism. The study sheds light mainly on the 2015 terrorist attacks targeting a beach resort. It allows us to understand the motives behind it, as well as the information stimuli and DI construction for tourists who visited the destination despite the threat of terrorism and those who changed their travel plan.

A Netnography and in-depth semi-structured interviews were carried out. The two qualitative studies offer a methodological complementarity to capture the motivations, the impressions, the beliefs and the feelings of tourists who visited the destination hit by the terrorism and those who cancelled their visit or substitute the destination.

The results suggest that rational fatalism, compassion, curiosity and better offer value are the main motivations expressed by tourists who visited the destination during the summer of 2015. On the other hand, fatalism, solidarity with the European community, worse offer value and perceived insecurity seem to be the main causes behind the traveller’s reluctance to visiting Tunisia. The findings also uncover differences regarding information sources and reflections on media coverage of the events. Indeed, some tourists develop antagonistic feelings towards the destination alternatively positive and negative.

This is one of the first studies investigating the responses of tourists visiting a destination threatened by terrorism in a real-time situation. It also elucidates the process of DI formation for both tourists visiting the destination and those who cancelled/ substituted it.

This research uses interpretive phenomenology to investigate the effect of visitor–destination interactions and image formation. It seeks to understand the processes that lead the visitor to make sense of his destination experience for her/himself and to others, and transmit that image through his story. A subjective personal introspective SPI and longitudinal observation have been used to collect data and acquire an insider perspective on the image of France as a place experienced by an Asian researcher who is living, experiencing, working, visiting, and traveling in France. The results of this research tend to move the understanding of destination image formation forward by taking a holistic approach that allows researching personal image perception and construction from genuine insider perspective as it is qualified by the individual within his own experiences. The main contribution of this research is to show how the image of a destination might evolve from a tourism destination to a mundane consumption place. This idea emphasizes the transformation of a tourist to a nontourist consumption place.

This study aims to shed some light on destination image formation by exploring whether image is altered as a result of tourists’ experience intensity with a destination.

A visitor experience intensity index was developed based on the amount of events and attractions visitors have already attended/visited or were planning to attend/visit during their stay. The data were collected using self-administered questionnaires and the total sample consisted of 400 tourists in Linz, Austria. Principal component analysis, multivariate analysis of variance and discriminant analysis were applied to analyse the data.

The findings indicate that the higher the experience intensity score, the more favourable the cognitive and affective evaluations of destination image, indicating that tourists’ experiences are central in the formation of the in situ image.

The “level of psychological involvement” with the destination should be considered by future studies, as this paper focussed on level of experience intensity.

This paper supports the effective and innovative solutions for place marketing and branding of tourist destinations such as promoting experiences that further enhance destination image. The study also assists places with bad reputation or negative image, like the selected case study (Linz, Austria), in repositioning themselves as attractive experience providers.

The paper’s originality lies in applying “mere exposure theory” in tourism and using an innovative way of measuring tourists’ experience through an intensity index. The study addresses a significant, but still neglected image determinant, that of experience intensity, contributing to a better understanding of the in situ destination image formation process.

The purpose of this paper is primarily to examine the impact of cultural background on image formation by looking at Macao's regional tourism destination image perceptions by its main tourist markets of China (PRC), Hong Kong and Taiwan. Other image formation components are explored within this context, such as the impact of travel behaviors, travel motives and sources of information on Macao's image.

A face‐to‐face survey (random sampling) was conducted in the departure areas of the international airports in Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai and Taiwan (Kaohsiung). This uncovered perceptions of actual visitors and potential visitors to Macao, and allowed for only those with the ability to travel to be interviewed.

Multivariate analysis conducted on the data revealed significant differences between the Chinese travelers from the various cities on leading image perception attributes, travel behaviors, travel motives and influences of sources of information.

Cultural background, while recognized in the image research as an important component in destination image formation, has been rarely examined in tourism destination image studies with research conducted on one nationality or group of people based on specific demographic indicators (such as student, leisure or business traveler). The research reveals important implications for the successful positioning and branding of a destination targeting at various markets even within one nation or culture, and questioning overall effectiveness of future image research that proposes national marketing and promotional strategy based on one source group.

As competition continues to intensify within cities and regions for domestic and international travel, the paper shows that there is a need to design tailored marketing, promotion and public relations programs in order to optimize influence on specific travel segments.

This paper aims to contribute to conceptualization of destination image (DI) and shed light on the overlooked socio-cultural aspects of tourism along with recent technological changes. It endeavours to develop a framework to conceptualize DI formation considering socio-cultural, political, historical and technological influences.

Unlike the orthodoxy in tourism research, tourism phenomenon is approached from a wider social science perspective. To cast light on the progress in DI research, a critical literature review is followed by evaluation of the well-known DI formation frameworks in tourism literature. Seminal articles, cornerstones of DI studies, are critically discussed in this paper. While stressing the prominence of these studies, their shortcomings are also examined.

The paper introduces a novel framework of DI formation that helps bring DI research further through a wider socio-cultural perspective. The framework incorporates holistic characteristics of DI and the contemporary technological environment.

This paper proposes a nuanced and more holistic understanding of DI. While most of the previous studies overlooked socio-cultural, historical, political, economic and technological factors, they have been explicitly addressed in the framework proposed in this paper.

The purpose of this study is to analyse how tourists form the cognitive, affective and unique images of a tourism destination, taking into account that: travellers use user-generated content (UGC) as one of the more important sources of information about the destination, sources of information influence on travellers’ motivation to visit some destination and motivations influence on the dimensions of the destination image.

Taking into account the works of Beerli and Martin (2004), Seabra et al. (2007) and Qu et al. (2011), this paper proposes an integrative model that shows how different types of information sources influence on individuals’ motivations, as well as the different dimensions of the image of the tourist destination are influenced by tourists’ motivations. Moreover, the design and validation of new scales of measures, adapted to the new tourist profile 2.0, is proposed. The model is empirical tested by analysis of 541 national and international tourists, as well as residents in Mallorca: data were analysed using a structural equations model.

The results confirm the strength and robustness of the constructed theoretical model, and contrasting the assumptions made in the work. Likewise, also confirms the validity and adequacy of the proposed new scales of measurement to the current reality of the tourism sector. The principal conclusions obtained are: motivations for visiting a place are influenced by information sources consulted by tourists, among which social media can be included; cognitive image is influenced by travellers’ motivations; and affective image is influenced by cognitive one. From these results, some managerial recommendations are suggested.

The present study offers important contributions for both researchers and managers in the field of destination brand image management. At theoretical level, the work provides a deep review of the literature, that has permitted the construction of a strong and robust theoretical model, as well as the design and validation of new measurement tools. Both are designed from the rigour and precision that provides scientific research, allowing the understanding and analysis of the current situation of the tourism sector. On the other hand, the work has important implications on a practical level, providing strategic management and travellers destination marketing organization stakeholders.

This study constitutes an initial, but also newness approach to this line of research. The construction of a theoretical model that: contemplates UGC as information source, and considers the direct and moderating relationships between different variables such as information sources, motivations and the various dimensions of the image.

In order to offer a theoretical and empirical contribution to the theme, the purpose of this paper is to assess the tourist image of the destination Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil, from the tourists’ perspective. The authors specify the latent dimensions involved in the formation of the cognitive, affective, and conative image of coastal tourism destination, through which the authors can analyze and measure the construct.

The research is exploratory, descriptive, and predominantly quantitative. It uses non-probability convenience sampling, consisting of a sample of 425 tourists. Data collection were conducted in the studied destination during the summer season – 2015/2016.

Through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, the authors identified and tested the factors that comprise the image. Structural equation model evaluated the relationship that theoretically exists between the components of the image and the weight of the various components (cognitive, affective, and conative) on the overall image of the destination.

This research contributes theoretically and empirically to the discussions on the components of the destination image, in as much as it analyzes and interprets the cognitive, affective, and conative components of the image of the tourism destination Balneário Camboriú, Santa Catarina, Brazil.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the most critical antecedents of destination loyalty formation (DLF) and to develop a series of propositions for the relationships among the antecedents of loyalty formation and their direct and indirect impacts on loyalty formation.

This conceptual paper provides a comprehensive review of the previous studies that examined destination loyalty and posits a framework of tourist DLF titled Destination Loyalty Formation.

In the proposed conceptual model, the sequential relationships among the antecedents of tourist destination loyalty postulate that previous experiences are the most influential driver that could manipulate tourist destination loyalty. Place attachment and involvement constitute the second most influential factors of DLF. In addition to the above two variables, destination image is proposed to have direct and indirect effects on perception of service quality and satisfaction. Meanwhile, service quality and tourist satisfaction are proposed to have the largest magnitude of direct impacts on destination loyalty.

Previous studies examined most of the antecedents of destination loyalty separately. There is yet an effort to simultaneously consider antecedents of destination loyalty to examine how each antecedent relates to DLF. This conceptual paper attempts to address this issue by proposing a conceptual model that simultaneously considers antecedents of destination loyalty and examines how each antecedent relates to DLF.