The Measurement of Destination Image: An Empirical Assessment

The purpose of this article is to carefully examine the concept of destination image with the goal of designing more appropriate and rigorous techniques for its measurement. A framework is presented which suggests that to completely measure destination image, several components must be captured. These include attribute-based images, holistic impressions, and functional, psychological, unique and common characteristics. It is proposed that a combination of structured and unstructured methodologies is necessary to measure destination image as envisaged in the conceptual framework. A series of openended questions and scale items are developed and are shown to successfully capture all of the components of destination image.