Reconceptualizing destination image

ABSTRACT

Our study aims to develop an index for measuring destination image perceptions based on data collected from three prime tourism destinations (destination A = 212, destination B = 194 and destination C = 176 responses) in India in the new normal. There are three studies based on self-reported measures conducted. While the first two studies collected perceptual responses from destinations A and B and were used to validate the factor structure of the destination image, the third study-based responses were used to assess the criterion validity of the destination image index. Our instrument shows that destination image is a second-order index composed of hygiene and vaccination, socio-political environment, natural environment, attractions, and value for money. Implications for managers and practitioners were also provided.

KEYWORDS:

• Destination image
• destination management
• vaccination
• natural environment
• index development

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Payel Das

Payel Das is an Assistant Professor at School of Communications, XIM University, Bhubaneshwar, Odisha, India. She has completed her master’s in mass communication and Doctorate from the Department of Mass Communication, Assam University Silchar, Assam. She has been a Post-Doctoral Fellow, Indian Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi. She has an MBA in Marketing from ICFAI, Sikkim. Her research areas are new media studies, branding, tourism, corporate social responsibility, public relations, media culture and society, and gender studies.

Santanu Mandal

Santanu Mandal is an Associate Professor at GITAM School of Business, Visakhapatnam. He has been a visiting scholar at Spear School of Business, Oklahoma State University, USA. He has published in several reputed journals and has served as adhoc reviewer for many reputed journals. His research interests primarily lie in services operations, technology management, big data analytics and customer relationship management.

Saurabh Kumar Dixit

Saurabh Kumar Dixit, PhD, is a Professor and founding Head of the Department of Tourism and Hotel Management, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong (Meghalaya), India. His research interests include Consumer Behavior, Gastronomic Tourism, and Experiential Management and Marketing. He has so far edited fifteen books that deals with Consumer Behavior, Gastronomic Tourism, Management and Marketing. Presently he is editing Handbooks of Luxury Management and Wine Tourism. He is an editorial board member of various International journals and guest edited special issues for many journals.

Sujit K Patra

Sujit K Patra is an Associate Professor of Marketing at GITAM School of Business, Visakhapatnam, with an overall experience of about 17 years. His research interests are service quality, customer satisfaction, and destination marketing. He has discharged many responsibilities related to academic administration as Proctor of the University and Program chairperson in the past. He was the head of the department of the Marketing area at Birla Global University.

Arun Chandran

Arun Chandran is an Assistant professor working at Happy Valley Business School, Coimbatore and he is currently doing his research at Amrita School of Business, Coimbatore Campus. His research primarily focus on Sustainability in tourism and hospitality industry and he handles finance and entrepreneurship courses, he has got 4 years of industrial and entrepreneurial experience before he switched to academics.