Do destination images really matter? Predicting destination choices of student travellers

The purpose of the study was to identify images that are likely predictors of destination choices of college students considering travelling to Turkey in a probabilistic model when two measurements of the dependent variable were involved. Five hundred surveys were distributed to geographically dispe...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of vacation marketing Vol. 7; no. 2; pp. 125 - 142
Main Authors Sirakaya, Ercan, Sonmez, Sevil F., Choi, Hwan-Suk
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01.04.2001
Subjects
destination image
Turkish tourism
college students
tourist destination
likelihood model
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Summary:The purpose of the study was to identify images that are likely predictors of destination choices of college students considering travelling to Turkey in a probabilistic model when two measurements of the dependent variable were involved. Five hundred surveys were distributed to geographically dispersed universities across the USA. Based on a response rate of 65.4 per cent, the study results indicated that travellers can compartmentalise their mental pictures and evaluate each image component according to its importance in choice decisions. Moreover, familiarity with the destination can be considered as a moderator variable in decision-making models. Implications for destination mar keting and management are discussed in light of the study findings.
ISSN:1356-7667
1479-1870
DOI:10.1177/135676670100700203