Studying place image: an interdisciplinary and holistic approach

Abstract

This study uses an interdisciplinary view informed by two related streams of research that have evolved independently of each other, “Tourism Destination Image” and “Product Country Image”, to research the place image construct. A theoretical model is applied to simultaneously measure image dimensions from both streams in order to better understand relationships between them. Australia, a country that has a strong “general country” and “tourism destination” image but a weaker “product” image, is used as the study target. We use comparative cross-national data from culturally similar (Canada) and dissimilar (South Korea) countries and a mixed method analysis culminating in a LISREL-tested, two-country, three-dimensional structural equation model.

Keywords:

• destination image
• product country image
• interdisciplinary approach