Tourism Destination Image and Motivations: The Spanish Perspective of Mexico

ABSTRACT

The notion that a tourist has about a certain destination is conditioned by his vision of it, and this behavior is the result of his perceptions (Baloglu & McCleary, 1999; Goodrich, 1978). The outcome of this information assessment process is currently known as destination image (Milman & Pizam, 1995). Based on the model of Baloglu and McCleary (1999) we propose a model which explains the process of destination image formation. For testing this model, we have gathered information from residents in Spain, with Mexico as a destination. For this task, a covariance analysis was estimated by maximum likelihood with EQS.

KEYWORDS:

• Tourism
• marketing
• destination image
• Latin America
• Mexico
• structural equations

The authors appreciate the support and comments of Carles Murillo Fort, Director of Observatorio de Relaciones con Latinoamerica (ORLA) of Pompeu Fabra and Maria Jose Miquel, University of Valencia, Spain. The authors also acknowledge the helpful comments by the participants at the 2008 ASEPELT (Asociación de Economía Aplicada) conference in Barcelona, Spain and the 2008 CLADEA (Consejo Latinoamericano de Escuelas de Administración) meeting in Puebla, Mexico. The usual disclaimer applies.

Notes

1. The range, 25- to 60-years-old, has been selected to include emancipated people who are able to do an intercontinental trip as well as to exclude retired people whose behavior could be differently determined.

2. Mexico is the world's seventh tourist destination whereas Spanish tourism represents the EU's largest source (Secretaria de Turismo de México [SECTUR], 2006).