Destination image: to see or not to see? Part II

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to generate insights into the area of tourism destination image. Design/methodology/approach – This paper was based on earlier work that identified a number of gaps in the literature related to destination image, and a qualitative design that incorporated structured interviews generated the results. Findings – Indicated that when individuals (45) were requested to respond to questions that included the terms image and perceptions of a destination, the responses were mostly identical. There was, however, some differences in the content of a small but significant number of responses (15) to the image question. Moreover, these individuals were more animated than the others, and six of them used colours in their response. Research limitations/implications – The representativeness and generalisibility of the findings are limited due to the small and convenient sample that formed the basis of this study. Practical implications – These findings provide interesting possibilities for tourism destination researchers and question whether managers and marketers should use the term image when gathering the information. Originality/value – This paper has contributed to the development of theory related to destination image and has presented insights that have not yet been considered in the tourism literature.