Title: A qualitative assessment of destination saliency

Authors: Chun-Chu Chen; Yueh-Hsiu Lin

Addresses: Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University, TAMU 2261, College Station, TX 77843, USA. ' Graduate Institute of Hospitality Education, National Kaohsiung University of Hospitality and Tourism, 1 Sung-Ho Rd., Hsiao-Kang, Kaohsiung 81271, Taiwan

Abstract: The concept of destination image has been the centre of attention among researchers who are interested in destination marketing, while it has also been argued that previous studies on the topic have failed to capture the salient dimensions of destination perceptions. This research intended to measure the salient images of Hualien, a tourist destination located on the east coast of Taiwan. Through the use of free-elicitation, a qualitative method of asking respondents to freely express their ideas and feelings, this research successfully obtained an abundance of qualitative images of Hualien, which also supported that free-elicitation is an effective tool for assessing salient destination perceptions.

Keywords: destination marketing; destination image; destination saliency; qualitative assessment; free-elicitation; online data collection; destination perceptions; salient images; tourist destinations; Taiwan.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLTM.2012.048945

International Journal of Leisure and Tourism Marketing, 2012 Vol.3 No.2, pp.146 - 160

Published online: 05 Sep 2012 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article