J.R. Brent Ritchie

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.

The Competitive Destination : A Sustainable Tourism Perspective

The Evolving Nature of Competition and Sustainability Conceptual and Theorectical Perspectives Part I: The Competitive Destination Part II: The Sustainable Tourism Destination A Model of Destination Competitiveness The Macroenvironment: Global Forces Shaping World Tourism The Competitive (Micro)Environment: The Destination and the Tourism System Core Resources and Attractors: The Essence of Destination Appeal Supporting Factors and Resources: Elements that Enhance Destination Appeal Destination Policy, Planning and Development Destination Management: The Key to Maintaining a Sustainable Competitive Advantage Qualifying and Amplifying Determinants: Parameters that Define Destination Potential The Destination Audit: Putting the Model to Work.

Tourism, Competitiveness, and Societal Prosperity

Abstract Each society is faced with the decision of how best to provide for the well-being and quality of life of its citizens. The choices involved span complex economic, sociocultural, political, and environmental considerations. In particular, the economic base that a society chooses for itself has wide ranging ramifications. Increasingly, cities, states, and nations are turning to tourism as an important element in their economic portfolio as they recognize the potentially significant economic rewards at stake. Much of tourism development entails community development. If handled appropriately, tourism can become an important engine for achieving broader social goals. Whereas societies may aspire to achieve these goals, communities are struggling to manage tourism development effectively. Unfortunately, no integrative framework exists for managing all facets of tourism development. In this study the authors examine the link between societal prosperity and tourism using a competitiveness framework.

The service experience in tourism

Abstract This paper outlines the method and results of the scale development process for a construct the authors term the service experience. A stream of research in leisure and tourism has explored the experiential perspective in these industries. While contributors have come to some agreement on what constitutes the experience of leisure and tourism, they have done so from sociological, anthropological and psychological perspectives. We argue, however, that tourism is a business comprising many service sectors. Thus, to translate the consumer experience into managerial action, research into the experience of tourism from a services marketing perspective is warranted. Another stream of research from the general marketing field has shown that subjective, affective and experiential factors comprise a substantial portion of consumer satisfaction with services. In other words, service quality measures may be insufficient to assist in our understanding of satisfaction in the tourism industry. The purpose of this research was to address the issues raised above and to enhance our understanding of the service experience in tourism. To this end, the authors develop and test a scale across three different tourism industries: hotels, airlines and tours & attractions. A factor analysis is used to explore the dimensionality of the service experience. The paper concludes with a discussion of the managerial relevance of the service experience, as well as some suggestions for future research into the area.

Assessing the Impact of Hallmark Events: Conceptual and Research Issues:

This article examines the numerous impacts of hallmark events on the destination area which has generated the event. These effects include not only the economic results but also the physical, socio-cultural, psychological, and political impacts such events have.This article examines the numerous impacts of hallmark events on the destination area which has generated the event. These effects include not only the economic results but also the physical, socio-cultural, psychological, and political impacts such events have.

Destination Branding: Insights and Practices from Destination Management Organizations

Although the concept of branding has been applied extensively to products and services, tourism destination branding is a relatively recent phenomenon. In particular, destination branding remains narrowly defined to many practitioners in destination management organizations (DMOs) and is not well represented in the tourism literature. Consequently, this study has three goals. First, it attempts to review the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of branding as conveyed by leading authors in the marketing field. Second, it seeks to refine and enhance the definition of destination branding (acceptable to and understood by tourism destination managers) to more fully represent the complexities of the tourism product. Third, and most importantly, it seeks to improve our understanding of current destination branding practices among DMOs. The findings indicate that although DMO executives generally understand the concept of destination branding, respondents are implementing only selective aspects of this concept, particularly logo design and development.

The Impact Of A Mega-Event On Host Region Awareness: A Longitudinal Study

A center or region which hosts a major event attracting global attention is affected in many positive and negative ways. From a tourism perspective, perhaps the major benefits sought by organizers are increased awareness and an enhanced imageforthe host region in the international marketplace. It is assumed that this increased awareness and enhanced image will, over the long term, provide a strongercompetitiveposition and greater benefits from tourism. The present research reports thefindings of a five year study to monitor and assess the extent to which one mega-event, the 1988 Calgary Olympic Winter Games, did impact on the international levels of awareness and the image of the host city. Data were collected annually from 1986 through 1989 in some 20 centers in the United States and Europe. The results indicate that, in this particular case, the event dramatically increased levels of awareness and substantially modified the image of the city of Calgary. However, there is also strong evidence that cities considering the staging ofsuch a mega-event must anticipate a significant rate of awareness and image decay, and take steps to counter it, if they wish to remain visible and competitive in the international marketplace.

Development of a Scale to Measure Memorable Tourism Experiences

The quality experiences provided to customers, which are indeed memorable, directly determine a business’s ability to generate revenue (Pine and Gilmore 1999). However, the extant tourism literature has provided limited explanation of the factors that characterize memorable tourism experiences. Thus, the goal of the present study was to develop a valid and reliable measurement scale that will assist in understanding the concept and in improving the effective management of the memorable experience. Following Churchill’s (1979) recommended process, we developed a 24-item memorable tourism experience scale that we believe is applicable to most destination areas. The scale comprises seven domains: hedonism, refreshment, local culture, meaningfulness, knowledge, involvement, and novelty. The data support this dimensional structure of the memorable tourism experience as well as its internal consistency and validity (i.e., content, construct, convergent, and discriminant validity). Theoretical and managerial implications of the study results are discussed in detail.

Promoting Destinations via Film Tourism: An Empirical Identification of Supporting Marketing Initiatives

Film tourism is a growing phenomenon worldwide, fueled by both the growth of the entertainment industry and the increase in international travel. This article proposes a model for exploiting film tourism marketing opportunities. It identifies the optimum marketing factors that encourage film tourists to visit destinations that appear (or are depicted) in the movies. Factor analysis reveals four types of marketing activities in which destinations can engage to promote film tourism: proactive efforts to encourage producers and studios to film at the location, efforts to generate media publicity around the film and its location, marketing activities that promote the film location after production, and peripheral marketing activities that leverage film tourism potential. Results of a stepwise multiple regression analysis indicate a high correlation between film tourism success and one of the four factors: the proactive efforts of destinations that encourage producers and studios to film at their location.

Joint Purchasing Decisions: A Comparison of Influence Structure in Family and Couple Decision-Making Units

Comparisons of perceived influence structure within household decisionmaking units of differing composition revealed substantial variations in patterns of role dominance and response consensus. The result also indicated that although children had relatively little perceived influence on the vacation and accommodation selection decisions studied, they may still affect the outcome of particular choices.