Prominence of organic image in tourist destinations: Indian leisure tourism narrative

Abstract

Purpose The process of understanding a tourist begins with an extensive evaluation of tourist’s perceptions about a destination. Though destination image has been widely discussed in tourism literature since the 1970s, little attention has been given to organic image despite its relative significance. First, this study aims to clear the existing ambiguity in the cognitive component of destination image by organizing and structuring the extant literature. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study then seeks to identify the salient organic image attributes in tourists’ consideration for travel options through the application of repertory test. Respondents’ statements on 25 competing destinations in Madhya Pradesh, India were transcribed verbatim for analysis. A measure of frequencies and commonality among 12 construct themes was then carried out. Findings Along with history, heritage and culture, this study found tourists to have considered organic image attributes associated with destination stereotypes as important discriminators between competing leisure tourist destinations. Moreover, the elicitation of context-specific attributes along with a note in the pattern of tourist responses highlighted the merits of repertory test when presented with different category triads. Originality/value This study differs from other organic image studies as it evaluates the prominence of organic image in the context of leisure tourism. Being one of the few studies to have extensively discussed the organic image component, this study contributes to the progression of organic image literature.