Economic Valuation of Tourism Destination Image

Abstract

This paper develops a novel methodology for estimating the value of destination image, which incorporates two principal advantages over the methods used to date. First, it allows tourism destination image to be assessed in economic terms, so a formal cost–benefit analysis can be executed to ascertain whether or not a specific marketing action should be implemented. Second, it enables a disentangling of the economic assessment of tourist destination image in terms of destination attributes. This can be used to design marketing actions aimed at optimizing marketing efforts to enhance a destination's image.