Supply side factors as determinants of Ethiopia’s image as a destination

ABSTRACT

While destination image remains among well-researched themes in the tourism literature, studies on its determinants have largely focused on demand-side factors. The current study investigates the influence of supplyside factors in explaining the image of Ethiopia as a destination. Quantitative data were gathered from 399 international tourists through a structured questionnaire using a convenient sampling technique. Hierarchical linear regression was employed as a major data analysis tool. Findings from analysis of cognitive images of tourists revealed that, though the factors of destination resources, infrastructural elements, political and economic factors and human aspects significantly determine the country’s image as a tourist destination, the predictive power of tourism resources is far greater than the combined ability of all the other determinants.

KEYWORDS:

• Destination image
• country image
• hierarchical linear regression
• tourism supply
• Ethiopia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Amare Yaekob Chiriko

Amare Yaekob Chiriko is assistant professor of Tourism and Hospitality Management at School of Hotel and Tourism Management, Hawassa University, Ethiopia. His research interests include tourism economics, cultural tourism, tourism destination marketing, and ecotourism