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Purpose of this study was to understand intention of tourists to visit a destination by exploring factors related to destination image and self-congruity of tourists with destination image. A quantitative survey-based methodology was employed for gathering data. Study used a convenience sample of 225 students and faculty members from a leading university in India. Regression analysis was carried out for testing the main effect and moderation impact. The results revealed that cognitive destination image and self-congruity had a direct impact on destination image. However, the results did not establish a moderating effect of self-congruity on relationship between destination image and return intention. The study findings have direct implication for destination marketing managers for drafting a positioning strategy for their destinations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influences of information sources, namely organic sources and induced sources, on perceived destination image and destination choice intention of university student travellers to Mauritius.

Data were collected using a convenience sample in a large university in Western Australia. A self‐administered questionnaire was designed using established scales. In total, 388 usable responses were collected and analyzed using a variety of statistical techniques.

The perceived attractiveness of Mauritius as a vacation destination is based on the fact that tourists picture the island as one which offers good value for money and cheap travel. Both information sources are found to have an influence on perceived destination image and destination choice intention. Perceived destination image is found to predict destination choice intention.

The sample is limited to potential tourists in Western Australia. Larger or national sample can be used for future studies. Qualitative methods could be explored in future.

It is recommended that destination marketers should use multiple sources of information to target tourists. In particular, the internet seems to be the highest incidence of information source.

The paper has redressed some deficits in the literature. Prior studies have not examined Mauritius as a tourist destination. Neither have Australians been studied as potential tourists. It has also tested the conceptual determinants of perceived destination image and destination choice intention and has proved that destination image is a multidimensional concept.

This chapter integrates brand identity and equity as a two-dimensional approach to destination branding. By incorporating the supply- and demand-side perspectives, the approach enables different destination stakeholders to be included in this process. Drawing on general branding and marketing literature, the study presents a three-part framework for building and implementing a destination brand. It illustrates consumer-based equity as consisting of the four dimensions: awareness, image, perceived quality, and loyalty. The chapter also offers a critical synthesis of destination image studies and recognizes the important research advancement from image to branding.

Understanding the multifaceted images of tourism destinations is critical for effective destination marketing and management strategies. Traditional approaches, including conceptualization of destination images or analysis of their antecedents and consequences, are commonly used. This study aims to advocate the inclusion of visitors’ latent profiles based on cognitive images to enrich the evaluation and formulation of destination marketing and management strategies.

The analysis focuses on Serbia, an emerging destination, that attracts an increasing number of first-time, repeat and prospective visitors. Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to test the potential dimensions (tangible and intangible cultural destination; infrastructural and accessible destination; active, nature and family destination; sensory and hospitable destination; and welcoming, value for money (VFM) and safe destination) of the cognitive destination image factors scale while subtypes (profiles) were obtained using latent profile analysis (LPA).

The cognitive image component encompasses the perceived attributes of a destination, whether derived from direct experience or acquired through other means. The study identified the following profiles: conventional destination; sensory and hospitable destination; welcoming, VFM and safe destination; secure and active family destination and accessible cultural destination, which are presented individually with their sociodemographic assets.

The main contribution of the paper is the application of a novel method (LPA) for profiling visitor segments based on cognitive destination image. From a theoretical perspective, this research contributes to the extant body of literature pertaining to the destination image, thereby facilitating the identification of discrete latent visitor segments and elucidating noteworthy differences among them concerning a cognitive image.

A sample of 234 U.S. travelers was surveyed at various U.S. airports. A survey instrument was used to measure their perceptions of Mississippi as a vacation destination, their intentions to visit and to reveal their socio-demographic characteristics including their place of residence. The factor analysis of 14 tourist-oriented attributes related to participants' perceptions of Mississippi as a tourist destination revealed three factors: “Cultural and Natural Experience,” “Scenery and Environment,” and “Entertainment.” The environmental factor revealed a significant difference between groups; participants residing in the Western region were not strongly attracted by Mississippi's environmental factor. On the contrary, participants residing in the Southern region perceived strongly Mississippi's entertainment components, especially casinos. In term of intentions to visit, 73% of participants from the Southern region indicated that they would somewhat unlikely or very unlikely visit Mississippi compared to 71% of participants from the Western region who indicated a desire to visit the mentioned destination. This study offers substantial theoretical and practical implications about geographical and cultural distances and their effects on a destination's tourist image.

Lake tourism is a growing academic sub-field of tourism studies with an emerging body of literature. However, little research attention has been given to lake-destinations’ projected or perceived tourism images. Specifically, there has been a scarcity of literature investigating the variables involved in the formation of a lake-destination image. Therefore, this study aims to explore the main attributes that might potentially influence this type of destination, and simultaneously, contribute to conceptualizing and defining lake tourism as recent research area. An explorative study was then conducted in order to generate a set of image variables through the use of textual and photographic data. The results will contribute to characterize potential lake-destinations and to develop a final list of variables specifically related to this type of destination.

This study aims to predict the effect of cultural distance, perceived risk and electronic word of mouth (eWOM) on higher education institutes' students' destination image. In addition, it examines the mediating role of destination image in relation to students' travel intentions.

An online survey was employed to collect data from 200 graduate and postgraduate students. The partial least squares was employed to analyse the hypothesised relationships.

The results of this study found support for the positive effect of cultural distance and eWOM on destination image. Additionally, the mediating effect of destination image was also supported.

This research confirms the vital role of destination image as an antecedent of students' future intention to visit the destination. Moreover, this study contributes to marketing theory by predicting the critical drivers of higher education students' destination image and discussing their applications in the education sector.

The data sample used in this study is composed of 2,638 Chinese tourists who have travel experiences to the South Pacific region. This study examines the effects of memorable tourism experiences, destination cognitive and affective images, and satisfaction on revisit intention and their mechanisms from a cognitive–affective perspective. Results show that destination cognitive image, destination affective image, and satisfaction, respectively, play a mediating effect on the relationship between memorable tourism experiences and revisit intention. Memorable tourism experience is the most important predictor of revisit intention, and it mainly affects the cognitive image of a destination. In line with previous studies, this research has shown that memorable tourism experiences have significant impact on the destination image and tourists' revisit intention, which can provide significant implications for tourism practitioners and destination managers in the South Pacific islands.

This research aims to explore the differences in destination image owing to culture and travel distance among international tourists to northern Norway. A self-administrated survey with a structured questionnaire is deployed at North Cape – the most popular Arctic destination in Northern Norway. Concerning cultural influences on destination images, this study examines the similarities and differences in perceived images among seven cultural groups. For evaluating geographic influences, this study uses six travel regions distinguished by the distance of travel to the study site as the base for the data analysis. Similarities and differences in destination imaged owing to above two factors are revealed by correspondent analyses. For example, Reindeers and Northern Light are the two greatest reflections of Northern Norway in the mind of all respondents. Misconceptions on tourism offerings in the study region transpire among the Japanese. Lastly, this study suggests that the distance of travel may evoke a moderating effect on the destination images. That is the farther the distance traveled the further image distortion exhibited.

Importance-performance analysis (IPA) remains one of the lesser used quantitative techniques to analyze cultural differences in image perceptions. Therefore, this chapter analyzes differences in international visitors' image perceptions for the island of Mauritius in its key generating markets. Using the mixed method, the study identifies image attributes in a qualitative phase initially, followed by the administration of a survey instrument to a quota sample of 1,000 visitors, resulting in 705 useable questionnaires. IPA reveals the existence of significant differences between importance and performance scores on image for the whole sample as well as significant differences by nationality sub-groups. For example, Germans on average have the lowest importance scores, whereas Indians have the highest in comparison with other nationalities. For each market, the study also identifies the influence of fluency levels in main languages spoken on importance and performance scores. Using IPA, the gaps in scores reflect degrees of product customization and re-positioning that is needed for the different markets of Mauritius. Similarities in scores across nationalities suggest the universal importance of some image attributes in destination selection. The chapter contributes to the dearth of literature on cultural differences in image perceptions for island destinations.