Destination Image and Memorable Tourism Experiences: Literature Gaps and Conceptual Exploration

Abstract

In the globalized world, tourism industry is acknowledged as an opportunity to contribute to the overall development of a destination. Destination image is a major tool for a destination's attractiveness and a main pull factor in the tourist decision-making process. Therefore, destination image has been extensively studied to examine its formation process and to explore the relationship with other tourism decision-related structures. Previous studies on destination image focus on measurement development and the relationship between destination image, satisfaction and behavioral intention. Empirical research related to destination image and memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) is scant. In addition, most studies regard destination image as an overall element, ignoring the relationship between the core components of the destination and MTEs. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the tourists' perceptions of the destination image (cognitive image, affective image, and conative image), and memorable tourism experiences (MTEs) using Stimuli-Organism-Response(S-O-R) model. To achieve the above objectives, this paper proposes a conceptual model reflects hypotheses about the inter-dependence of destination image and memorable tourism experiences. The proposed framework not only lays the groundwork for further empirical research, but also benefits tourism players in strategizing tourism experience marketing.