Unveiling Indian Tourism Destination Image: A Structured Approach

Abstract

With poising economic changes, sustainability issues, technology disruption driving tourists’ behaviours, the global tourism industry was at the outset to manage and brand the destinations strategically. This needed careful evaluation of tourists’ perception on the tourism destinations. While literature had numerous measurement frameworks, destination image assessment required more contemporary and comprehensive approach that aligned with the external changes in the business and economic environment. This research used RDS technique and identify the 430 tourists. With the finalized sample of 351, three-stage analysis was carried out on the selected destination image components. The findings revealed the structural relationship between the cognitive, affective, and conative components and uncovered the novel dimensions such as regeneration and responsibility elements that were previously overlooked. This comprehensive framework produced and validated in this research would facilitate the policy makers and destination marketers in designing destination branding strategies with an emphasis on integrating sustainability elements for destination future.

Keywords: Destination, Cognitive Image, Affective Image, Conative Image, Sustainability, Destination Branding

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