Developing an Integrated Process-Based Model of Tourists’ Destination Brand Equity: A Conceptual View

Abstract

Tourists’ destination branding and the formation of destination equity are considered among the most critical areas of tourism marketing. This conceptual paper presents a holistic framework of tourist’ destination brand equity by highlighting the role of social, personal, and cultural factors in forming a tourist knowledge of a given destination that ultimately leads to destination equity. In addition, the proposed framework also highlights the role of rational and emotional paths in the formation of tourist knowledge of a destination. Once a tourist develops knowledge about a goal, it then forms the equity of a given tourist destination. The proposed framework thus adds a novel model of tourist destination-based equity by incorporating the role of social, personal and cultural factors and how rational and emotional aspects develop a tourist knowledge that further leads to destination equity. In the same vein, the proposed model provides a guiding map to tourism policy makers and practitioners on how to develop equity of a particular tourist destination.