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Literature within the tourism discipline emphasized the importance of destination image due to its effect on both supply and demand sides of marketing. Gunn’s seven-stage model illustrated the process and evolution of image formation of a destination has been used as a guiding model in the study. The purpose of this study is to explore the coherence and the difference between pre-conceived images and post-images of China holding by the North American tourists. Purposive sampling was adapted to reach the target participants who fit the study criteria. Qualitative data were collected from eight interviews with participants from Canada and America. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted during October and November 2011. Essences were developed from the analysis of the interview data by conducting initial coding and focused coding. Findings of the study were concluded into three parts: before visiting China; actual travel experiences; and after visiting China. Consistent with Gunn (1972)’s seven-stage theory, findings of the study showed a clear change between pre-conceived images and post-images holding by participants. Images involved from simple, vague, mythical, and stereotypical to comprehensive, realistic, and holistic. Moreover, advantages and problems of the international tourism in China emerged with the progress of data analysis. The findings reflected the perceptions of China in the eyes of North American tourists; consequently, it could contribute to the future tourism practitioners who aim to promote China to be a desirable international tourism destination.

Tourism destinations need to continuously improve in quality to succeed, if not to survive. To improve quality, current levels need to be measured to identify areas requiring improvement. However, no adequate technique for measuring the quality of a tourism destination has yet been developed. More importantly, tourists' understanding of the meaning of the term 'quality of a tourism destination' has not been investigated; a pre-requisite step for developing a technique for measuring the quality of a tourism destination. This thesis aims to ascertain the attributes and dimensions of quality of a tourism destination and to specify implications for the development of a technique for measuring its quality. To achieve this aim, a qualitative research approach is employed in the first stage of the thesis. The findings from this stage are used to inform the ensuing, mainly quantitative phase. The main results are summarised here. Firstly, seventy-five attributes and twelve dimensions of quality of a tourism destination were revealed in the qualitative phase of the study. Secondly, in the quantitative stage, an analysis of mean score values revealed that tourists strongly associated all seventy-five attributes and twelve dimensions with the quality of a tourism destination. Thirdly, it was established that the twelve dimensions of quality of a tourism destination differ in either breadth or scope from both service quality dimensions widely used in tourism and product quality dimensions from the quality management field. This thesis suggests that the quality of a tourism destination can best be defined as 'conformance to tourist requirements'. The main hypothesis; that there are significant differences in interpretations of the meaning of 'quality of a tourism destination' within groups oftourists, is rejected. Finally, the thesis ascertains that a tool for measuring the quality of a tourism destination can be developed based on the findings of the thesis. Such a tool, though predominantly quantitative, should include open-ended questions. This would allow changing tourist needs to be captured periodically and the results used to update the tool for measuring the quality of a tourism destination.

Literature within the tourism discipline emphasized the importance of destination image due to its effect on both supply and demand sides of marketing. Gunn’s seven-stage model illustrated the process and evolution of image formation of a destination has been used as a guiding model in the study. The purpose of this study is to explore the coherence and the difference between pre-conceived images and post-images of China holding by the North American tourists. Purposive sampling was adapted to reach the target participants who fit the study criteria. Qualitative data were collected from eight interviews with participants from Canada and America. Semi-structured interviews with open-ended questions were conducted during October and November 2011. Essences were developed from the analysis of the interview data by conducting initial coding and focused coding. Findings of the study were concluded into three parts: before visiting China; actual travel experiences; and after visiting China. Consistent with Gunn (1972)’s seven-stage theory, findings of the study showed a clear change between pre-conceived images and post-images holding by participants. Images involved from simple, vague, mythical, and stereotypical to comprehensive, realistic, and holistic. Moreover, advantages and problems of the international tourism in China emerged with the progress of data analysis. The findings reflected the perceptions of China in the eyes of North American tourists; consequently, it could contribute to the future tourism practitioners who aim to promote China to be a desirable international tourism destination.

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This research studied a possible strategy to attract Nicaraguan people to visit Taiwan as tourists. Taiwan is known as East Asia’s sole island bisected by the Tropic of Cancer. Undoubtedly, it is rich in tourism resources; it’s developing its destinations, theme and lifestyle as well as health and fitness tourism. Taiwan has great potential in ecological travel such as bird watching, and whale and dolphin watching, and theme travel like festival tourism, cultural tourism and medical/recuperative tourism. Now with firsthand experience, Taiwan has shown me fascinating places of unique splendor, beauty and traditions. As a Nicaraguan citizen, I have sympathized and shared similar experiences with my countrymen (Nicaraguans) while living and studying in Taiwan. They have manifested great interest in traveling. Undoubtedly, Nicaraguan people are willing to visit, know, and explore places, especially Asian countries. As a result, we did interviews to a focus group of Nicaraguan students, first-time Nicaraguan visitors and a diplomat to study whether my countrymen would choose to travel to Taiwan as tourists. In the interviews, we found common themes, categories and patterns that suggest to us that Nicaraguans would choose Taiwan as a tourist destination. Providing affordable tourist packages to these visitors would give the opportunity to have access and channels to travel to Taiwan. This in turn, led us to suggest a way to attract Nicaraguan visitors to travel to Taiwan as tourists. Keywords: Tourism, Nicaragua, Tourist attraction, Tourist destination, Destination image

The value of tourism as a driver of economic and social development in Africa cannot be overstated. Tourism is regarded as a source of foreign currency, employment creation and more importantly, a means of achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Notwithstanding its contributions, many African countries are yet to reap the full benefits of the industry. While the current pandemic has adversely affected tourism across the continent, it has also created opportunities for rural tourism. Rural destinations in Southern Africa could tap from this new trend as local and international visitors seek to experience open spaces and rural settings. Succeeding in these highly competitive tourist markets, however, requires effective destination promotion which can be achieved by ensuring that the projected image of a destination reflects its identity. By focusing on Nyanga, a typical rural tourist destination in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, this study sought to analyse the projected destination image against its identity as perceived by the local community. To establish the projected image, a content analysis was done for Nyanga’s images as portrayed on the online platforms of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), the official destination promoter. A total of 44 pictures were analysed from the ZTA website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter handle. The destination identity was evaluated through semi-structured interviews with seven residents who were purposively selected through snowball sampling. Participants were also asked to give their opinion on the images of Nyanga that were showcased on the online platforms of the ZTA. This was done to ascertain whether the images were reflecting the true identity of Nyanga, from the perspective of the local community. The findings of the study reveal that there is a gap between the projected image and Nyanga’s identity. While the projected image emphasises on the natural environment and the portrayal of humans interacting with nature and each other, the identity is hinged on culture and religion. Elements relating to history, authenticity, and knowledge also shape the identity of Nyanga even though these aspects are not incorporated in the projected image. The study provides important insights for enhancing the promotion of Nyanga and creating opportunities for sustainable development.

To explore the destination images of Thailand as a tourist destination from the point of view of Swedish Generation X tourists in Västerås by examining their satisfaction/dissatisfaction and behavioral intentions after traveling to Thailand. To test the theoretical DI formation and interrelationships of those components. A qualitative research approach with in-depth interviews to collect empirical date derived from respondents’ first-hand experiences. Destination Image Theory was used as a background and Content Analysis Approach was used to analyze data.  Thailand was perceived positive and negative by Swedish generation X tourists in Västerås. They were satisfied with their stay at Thailand. After traveling to Thailand, most of them would like to revisit Thailand, but few of them want to travel to new destination. All of them are willing to tell friends or relatives about their experiences in Thailand.

The increase in tourism for as well Sweden and Stockholm’s archipelago leads to a heightened competition between the different destinations in the archipelago. There’s also an increase in branding cities and places around the word as well as creating an identity for tourist to recognize themselves in a destination. The creation of a place brand and identity may be one of the most important factors for destinations competitiveness. This study examines how Vaxholm tries to create an identity to influence the destinations current image. The aim of the study is to examine how a destination brands itself to mediate an unified image. The aim is answered by three different question formulations, which contains how Vaxholm brands itself by the cooperation between different stakeholders and how this cooperation is working. The data has been gathered by seven different interviews in a qualitative fashion with members from the organisation “Destination Vaxholm”. The respondents where both members in the destination as well some of them hade a more leading role. The empirical evidence has later been analysed through previous theories written in the field, which makes the study deductive. The results show that Vaxholm is branding their destination through the organisation “Destination Vaxholm”. Through this forum the different stakeholders are allowed to develop and reinforce events and activities, which currently exist on the destination. The members have a will to create an identity and image, which tells a visitor that, its possible to travel to the destination all year around, not just during the summer. The organisation is newly created which makes the cooperation between stakeholders new and the trust between them hasn’t been questioned yet. The result also shows that the organisation is democratic and the will to cooperate between the different members is vital. / Turismen till Sverige och Stockholms skärgård ökar vilket leder till en ökad konkurrens när de olika destinationerna inom Stockholms skärgård vill locka turister. Det har även blivit en ökning i att skapa varumärken för städer och platser runt om i världen samt att skapa en identitet för turister att känna igen sig i. Att en plats skapar ett starkt varumärke och identitet kan vara den viktigaste konkurrerande faktorn för destinationen. Denna studie undersöker Vaxholm och hur destinationen bygger upp sitt varumärke genom olika aktörer. Studien innefattar även hur Vaxholm försöker att skapa en identitet för att påverka imagen destinationen har i dagsläget. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur en destination bygger upp ett varumärke för att på så vis förmedla en gemensam image. Studiens syfte har besvarats genom tre olika frågeställningar vilka innefattar hur Vaxholm bygger upp sitt varumärke genom samarbetet mellan olika aktörer på destinationen samt hur detta samarbete ter sig. Studiens empiri har samlats in på ett kvalitativt sätt genom sju stycken semi-strukturerade intervjuer med medlemmar från organisationen “Destination Vaxholm”. Respondenterna var såväl inom styrgruppen som vanliga medlemmar inom organisationen. Empirin har sedan analyserats mot tidigare skrivna teorier inom forskningsämnet vilket gör studien deduktiv. Resultatet visar att Vaxholm bygger upp sitt varumärke genom den ekonomiska föreningen “Destination Vaxholm”. Här samlas det aktörer från olika sektorer för att utveckla och förstärka evenemang samt aktiviteter som finns på Vaxholm. Destination Vaxholms medlemmar vill skapa en identitet och image över destinationen att det är en året om destination istället för en ”sommardestination”, vilket präglar destinationen i dagsläget. Organisationen är nyskapad vilket gör att samarbetet mellan de olika aktörerna är nytt vilket resulterar i att tilliten mellan aktörerna inte har behövts ifrågasättas än. Resultaten visar även på att det är en demokratisk organisation vilket endast fungerar om medlemmarna har en vilja att samarbeta med varandra.

In the last thirty years, a large number of studies have researched the destination image that visitors, travel industry representatives, students, and general consumers have of tourist destinations. However, few studies have analyzed the perceptions that local residents have of their own countries as tourist destinations. Local residents can provide valuable information about their countries as tourism destinations and can help tourism marketers determine how to represent local culture in more authentic and sustainable ways. Local residents can also provide valuable information about how to improve tourism development based on their experiences living in the area. Residents can further provide information and services to visitors and are themselves an integral part of tourism at a destination. This study focused on understanding how destination marketing portrays the people and places of a destination and how residents perceive the visuals used in destination marketing and promotion. Using a visual qualitative approach, the study analyzed the images of recent promotional campaigns employed by the Puerto Rico Tourism Company. The study then interviewed Puerto Rican residents regarding their attitudes toward tourism development in general and toward the specific imagery used in the campaigns. Overall, residents had rather positive opinions of tourism in Puerto Rico. They also had largely positive attitudes toward the visual imagery used to market the destination. However, they felt the portrayal was incomplete and did not reflect the modern way of Puerto Rican daily life.