Understanding the role of destination imagery in mountain destination choice. Evidence from an exploratory research

Authors

  • Arthur Araújo Department of Economy, Management, Industrial Engineering, and Tourism, University of Aveiro Campus universitário de Santiago, 3810-193, Aveiro, Portugal. E-mail: arthurfilipearaujo@gmail.com
  • Lucília Cardoso CITUR – Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, Portugal. E-mail: lucyalves.lucilia@gmail.com
  • Noelia Araújo Business Management and Marketing Department, University of Vigo, Business and Tourism Faculty, 32004, Ourense, Spain. E-mail: naraujo@uvigo.es
  • Francisco Dias CITUR – Centre for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation, and Leiria Polytechnic, Santuário de N. Senhora dos Remédios 2520–641 Peniche, Portugal. E-mail: francisco.dias@ipleiria.pt.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v22i.381

Keywords:

Mountain Tourism; Destination choice; Destination Imagery (DY); Favourite Destination (FD); Customer-based Brand Equity.

Abstract

The present study explores the imagery of mountain tourism destinations. The research is based on customer-based brand equity and destination choice models, and addresses destination imagery through the concepts favourite destination (FD) and autobiographical memory. Through an online, multilingual survey, 711 responses, consisting of words, associated by a self-selected sample of European mountain tourists to their favourite mountain destinations, were collected. Such data was subjected to a deductive content analysis, and the results suggest that the imagery of favourite mountain destinations consists mostly of functional elements. Findings reinforce previous theories regarding the concept of favourite destinations, destination imagery (DY) processing, and destination choice. Future studies should apply such analysis to other tourism products, as well as to different or more representative samples, to verify whether imagery structures differ.

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Published

2019-07-01

How to Cite

Araújo, A., Cardoso, L., Araújo, N., & Dias, F. (2019). Understanding the role of destination imagery in mountain destination choice. Evidence from an exploratory research. European Journal of Tourism Research, 22, 151–165. https://doi.org/10.54055/ejtr.v22i.381

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