Residents’ perception and attitudes towards tourism impacts

1.   “Residents’ perception and attitudes towards tourism impacts”

Introduction

Tourism as any other industry can have positive and negative impact on tourists and local population. The main goal of this case study to find out how tourism impacts are perceived by the resident  population, which factors affect the relationship between impacts, and how perceptions are formed on the example of mountain resort of Folgaria in Northern Italy.

Tourism in mountain areas has to generate the local economy when the local people are leaving the mountain regions to urban places. Nevertheless, the development of tourism should be carefully promoted because it can put intense pressure on the environment. The increase in importance of winter tourism, has also led to a series of both positive and negative effects for many Alpine destinations. The negative consequences of mountain tourism are landscape deterioration and erosion, deforestation, inappropriate and uncontrolled development of ski-centres, loss of habitats and disturbance of endangered species, high air and land pollution due to unsustainable use of water to produce artificial snow.

The objective of this case study is to determine the factors and variables affecting the attitudes of locals towards tourism development, and identify the different behaviours and responses within a tourism destination.

Methodology

The researchers explore the specific case of the small rural community of Folgaria in the southeast of Trentino (Italy). Community of Folgaria is characterized by aspects representing the peculiarities of most mountain resorts. 444 questionnaires were distributed and 297 questionnaires were collected from local families. The questionnaires include economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts issues and possible future tourism development policies. The cluster analysis has demonstrated the existence of different groups within which members have common features and similar perceptions and attitudes.

Results

According to the research work most of the residents showed the positive economic impacts of tourism as an attractor of economic investment and spending that creates greater benefits than costs. In addition, the social and cultural impacts are recognized to be positive, but at a lower degree. In respondents opinion tourism is valuable opportunity to meet people as well it provides more services and facilities to the local community. In terms of the future tourism polices, the different groups identified in the cluster analysis exert different positions.

Conclusion

Due to the survey local community of Folgaria believe that tourism has more positive impact than negative. This survey was based on the work by previous research and some parallels can be identified between the clusters in this study. The research shows that cluster analysis is a appropriate methodology to explore

locals’ perceptions and attitudes according to tourism and it can be applied to different environments. The residents can be divided into three segments protectionists, ambivalent and cautious and tourism supporters who are likely to affect the local community’s support for a tourism project.

Using a cluster analysis can help to identify what factors create more enthusiasm and what factors should be addressed in order to increase tourism acceptance and support.

Recommendations

It is necessary to solve environmental issues, to develop eco-friendly programs and in involving directly the local community within the framework of public discussions. In order to develop green tourism, the economic, social and environmental aspects of sustainable development must include the collective interests of all stakeholders.

The public sector must participate in the education and preparation of stakeholders, estimating risks and solving the issues within the environmental management. It is also necessary to gather more information about the approaches of residents within the possibility to implement winter tourism. In order to achieve mutual understanding between tourists and locals cultural exchange programmes should be done. Also tourism managers should focus on creating policies during off-seasons in order to stable tourism dependent areas and remain employment rate. 

2. “An exploratory study of the role of pervasive environments for promotion of tourism destinations”

Introduction

In order to improve the destination area and attract more tourist arrivals  and get economic advantages it is necessary to use new strategies. Nowadays communication technology (ICT) plays the main role in all industries as well in the tourism sector, by providing innovative tools capable to organize tourist’s holidays, and supplying fast and efficient information on consumer behaviour. Tourism industry might increase the chances of success by using the potentialities of these technologies along with new business practices and strategies. One of the most efficient tools might be represented by pervasive environments, which have not been completely explored in the tourism literature.

In this paper researchers explore users responses related to the introduction of a pervasive environment within the promotion of Calabrian archaeological heritage.

The main goal of this study is to identify how the pervasive environments can improve users’ experience, and deliver tourism contents capable of increasing sightseer interest to visit really the place showed by virtual reconstructions.

The objective of the research is to study the relationships among pervasive environments and tourists’ behaviour, with emphasis on the perceptual and cognitive support provided by technologies.

Methodology

The survey is based on a qualitative approach, focused on a questionnaire distributed among tourists. The pervasive systems are based on a decentralized computing landscape  that is a consist of digital world, represented by the virtual reconstruction of objects, scenarios. The researchers asked respondents to explore the pervasive environments which reproduce some Calabrian scenarios, and answer some specific questions related to the experience. The interviews have been analyzed with the MaxQDA software for the content analysis. 

Results

According to respondents’ answers each characteristic was coded. It includes the following codes: innovative, better than a traditional tourism guide, attracting, exciting, three-dimentionality, influence on tourist choice, interesting,

interactivity, possibility to touch the objects, no mental effort, quality of the images,

marketing tool, promotion. The most important code is the desire to visit the original

place of the virtual reconstructions after the virtual experience. According to the survey all the interviewees (100 per cent) expressed the desire to visit the places to make a comparison between the real site and the reconstructed one. 

Conclusion

Using virtual systems and ICT for promotion of tourism destination is new strategy to develop and enhance tourism business model. The researchers examine  the possibility to use pervasive environments for

presenting a tourism destination in an innovative and attractive way.

According to the survey respondents are very interested in the virtual reality tools and especially in the level of interactivity of the system, as well as in the innovative way for delivering tourism information. Actually, the experience in the pervasive environments can motivate potential tourists to really visit the place.

Recommendations

Tourism managers should use pervasive environments for catching potential tourist’ in order to develop and promote tourism destination in national as well in a global perspective.

Travel agencies can use these tools with the purpose of supporting consumers in the creation of their tourism package, by providing the possibility to virtually taste it in advance and easily find the one which best fits their own needs. 

3. “Understanding the effects of market orientation and e-marketing on service performance” 

Introduction

In the marketing literature market orientation is one of the key concepts of the company in implementing marketing concept. It is market information relating to current and future customer needs, dissemination of intelligence and organization wide responsiveness to it. Market orientation is also associated with  business performance. According to Narver and Slater (1990) market orientation include three behavioural components: customer orientation, competitor orientation, and inter-functional coordination.

A market-oriented firm satisfy and attract new customers, achieve the desired level of growth and market share, and consequently accomplish desirable business performance.

In this article authors examine e-marketing as it helps to develop value chain efficiencies, reduce costs, gain positive word-of-mouth promotion, enhance channel relationships. 

The objective of the research is to identify the distinct effect of market orientation and e-marketing on firm performance within the context of travel and tourism services.The key concepts of relationships between market orientation, e-marketing, and business performance are described to form the hypotheses of the study.  

Methodology

The survey was done on the example of travel and tourism services in Greece. According to the research Greek tourism firms adapted ICTs at a certain degree but they do not fully exploit them. Data were collected from an e-mail survey of 350 Greek travel and accommodation services firms. 

Results

The hypotheses of the survey are proved by the conceptual model. According to the results market orientation had significant positive and direct effects on tourism performance and e-marketing whereas e-marketing exhibited a direct effect on performance. 

Conclusion

The authors were the first who highlighted the relationships between market orientation, e-marketing, and performance. The results verify that market orientation identifies service performance though, this is a dual mechanism, a direct and an indirect effect, mediated by existing marketing resources such as e-marketing. Market orientation is not able  to operate in isolation from other resources.

The findings of the  investigation also support a contributory relationship between market orientation and e-marketing. The results of the research show that market orientation forms the foundation that increases the effects of other marketing resources within the firm such as e-marketing. Referring to the article marketing resources

do not operate separetely but complement each other to achieve business performance. 

Recommendations

In order to be competitive in turbulent environment tourism firms have to adopt  new technologies, implement the marketing concept and develop a culture within their organization that will focus on customers, pay attention to rivals, and achieve inter-functional coordination of resources. They also should

continuously upgrade on-line business systems so that they keep distribution costs low and offer added value to their customers Nevertheless, they need to invest in human and technological resources that will qualify them in changing their business culture to a market-oriented environment. 

4. “National marketing strategies in international travel and tourism” 

Introduction

Marketing is about anticipating demand, recognizing it, stimulating it and finally satisfying it. It is the function of business to produce goods and services that satisfy consumer wants and needs at a profit. Practitioners underestimate marketing contribution to travel and tourism as well misunderstand the nature and value of the markets discipline for the travel and tourism industry.

According to the research there are three approaches to strategy that may be used by the travel and tourism industry: consumer-oriented, competition-oriented and trade-oriented orientation approach. Nevertheless, two first approaches may be insufficient for they neglect the role of intermediaries in travel and tourism. Thus, a third approach to strategy identify the intermediaries' desires, problems and demands.

The article examines each of these three approaches to strategic marketing, they should not be considered as alternatives, for they may be integrated into an overall strategy. 

The main objective of the article is marketing a country's tourism destinations as a whole rather than on marketing a particular tourism product such as an individual airline, hotel chain or resort. A national tourism authority promotes a country's destinations, sometimes directly to tourists and sometimes through intermediaries. 

Methodology

This research is based on qualitative research approach, where data was collected using in-depth interviews with 41 experienced practitioners in Germany, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, in order  to achieve literal and theoretical replication from a range of public and private organizations marketing and distributing tourist destinations/products in the two overseas markets. Data was analysed with a accurate case study methodology. The results of this research assist in clarifying the conceptual issues provided in the literature, linking theoretical marketing knowledge about strategies in the discipline of international travel and tourism marketing.

Results

The research  findings differ from expectations from the literature, that is, the contributions of the article. This research contributes to findings in strategic travel and tourism marketing management by proposing a number of core strategies according to an organisation's position (leader or nicher) and its approach to its overseas market (customer-oriented, competitor-oriented, and trade-oriented). 

Conclusion/recommendation

Travel and tourism marketing as a management discipline has been often misused and served the needs of policy makers rather than practitioners.

This research defines the first three-dimensional approach to examining marketing and distribution strategies such as consumer-oriented, competitor-oriented, and trade-oriented strategies for public and private travel and tourism organisations.

Mainly the research is focused on public and private organisations, which actively market, through an overseas office, a tourist destination and its products/services to intermediaries and target markets in overseas markets.

The survey highlighted the strategic marketing issues of Australian and New Zealand travel and tourism bodies, in relation to their UK and Germany markets. Within Europe, these two tourist-generating regions are priority markets for Australia and New Zealand in terms of visitor arrivals and also travel and tourism expenditure. Therefore, it is hard to use the results of  these markets to other markets of Australia and New Zealand.

5. “An assessment of the competitiveness of the Moroccan tourism industry” 

Introduction

Nowadays the tourism industry becomes a key component of the service-driven economy in many countries across the globe. The economic impact of global tourism activities is presenting concerned countries and markets with new realities, challenges and opportunities. As a result, tourism countries have to advance their markets, services and strategies more systematically. The research is focused on Moroccan tourism industry, that tries to change its policies, but first of all they have understand their current strengths, weaknesses and opportunities relative to their rivals.Even though Morocco nas tourist potential, it suffers from serious manageable restrictions. It is necessary to develop innovative practices and targeted investments.

The objective of this study is to identify the current relevant forces which form the Moroccan tourism industry. The researchers use shift-share technique to examine the existing competitive realities of the Moroccan tourism sector. The survey findings have practical implications to Moroccan tourism leaders, as they attempt to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the growth of the global tourism market. 

Methodology

The investigation is made by the shift-share technique that is accounting-based model. The main advantage of the shift-share technique is its simplicity and it does not require primary data collection. In contrast, its limitations center around concerns such as temporal nature, theoretical content and predictive capabilities of the technique. The authors of the article analyze tourist arrivals, from different regions of the world, to Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt. The shift-share analysis is used to identify the existing competitive position of Morocco in relation to its major rivals. 

Results

The research explored the growth in tourist arrivals to four destinations   between 2002 and 2005, from five major regions of the world (America, Europe, Eastern Asia-Pacific, Western Asia and Africa). The data of the survey is based on  Statistical Yearbook 2005 which was published by the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Statistical Division. The results of the shift-share analysis showed that Morocco has not performed well comparing to other rival-countries in the region. This was attributed, in part, to focusing on markets with less potential for growth. 

Conclusion

In general Morocco, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt are lagging behind in terms of attracting tourists (about 24.7 million tourists in 2002). Europe is considered as main source of tourist arrivals into this area due to the historical and commercial ties with European countries. The study defines that Morocco have no competitive advantage in any of the regions, with the exception of Africa. According to statistics African market is relatively weak in terms of purchasing power. Hence, Moroccan policymakers have to redefine the tourism image of the country through emphasizing new products such as religious, eco and rural tourism. Therefore, external benchmarking may be useful if it is aimed on countries like Spain, France and Italy. Morocco needs to systematically target more promising tourism markets and develop more innovative tourism-related services in order to be more competitive on the growing global tourism market. 

Recommendations

The synergy of the public and private sectors of the Moroccan tourism industry is necessary to develop the tourism infrastructure, efficient strategy and practices. Tourist policymakers of Morocco should aim on increasing the total tourist volume as well as increasing revenues per tourist. To achieve this primary goal, short and long-term tactics and strategies should be done. The Moroccan government has to invest in and improve quality of educational system as it is foundation of any field. In addition, partnership between the private sector and the public sector is needed in order to promote the tourism and cultural image of Morocco through hosting well international events and exhibitions. The Moroccan Government should redifine its commitment and national priority towards the tourism industry. 

6. “The future of destination marketing: the case of Cyprus”

Introduction

The primary goal of the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO) is to operate the process of destination marketing that has been enhanced with the advent of electronic marketing methods.  Efficient destination marketing process is the successful integration of traditional with electronic marketing activities, based on the developed model. It is described by inherent difficulties which result from the complexity in operating different interests of the multiplicity of stakeholders involved.

Destination marketing is current management process of creating, communicating, and delivering value to customers by the stakeholders involved in a destination’s tourism management process.

Electronic marketing methods present unique and powerful communication channels that have driven traditional marketing communication methods used for promoting a tourism destination. It is an effective exchange of information between the seller and the customer in order to get  intended marketing outcome.

The objective of this article is to explain the augmented destination marketing process that has resulted from the introduction of electronic marketing methods. The researcher describe the factors that contribute to the process of destination marketing on the basis of an integrated marketing model. The main aim of the case study is to get information about the tourist buying behavior by putting forward a framework to operate the destination marketing process for Cyprus.

Methodology

The research methodology is  an exploratory based on the open-ended approach of grounded theory. The author used expert interviews with senior marketing executives at the Cyprus Tourism Organization (CTO), while an extensive study of the existing procedures that are being followed in carrying out the CTO’s marketing department’s functions facilitated further information analysis. Tourist’s expectations data were collected from a web-user behavior analysis, reflecting upon relevant marketing theories and information systems approaches.

Results

The research highlights the augmented process of destination marketing planning and offers efficient methods through which National Tourism Organizations able to operate it successfully.

The findings of the study and its role are significant as the process of destination marketing planning is described by complexity due to the diverse interests of the stakeholders involved.

Conclusion/recommendation

Summarizing the study NTO’s marketing activities includes the integration of traditional with electronic marketing processes in order to understand customers’ expectations and facilitate the process of their satisfaction. Nowadays customers expect more, and tourism destinations have to maximize the satisfaction levels of customers’ expectations, and support the customers throughout the buying process. Following the article a key goal for NTOs is accurate introduction and implementation of an integrated marketing model for the facilitation of the process of destination marketing.

Inefficient implementation of an integrated marketing model of CTO will cause to customer frustration with high-potential losses to the destination Cyprus and result in a competitive disadvantage. Nowadays in turbulent business environment CTO have to enhance its marketing strategies globally to be competitive in tourism market.

The study recommends using the integration of electronic marketing processes into traditional marketing processes for enhancing the organization’s marketing processes. Electronic marketing activities will help the CTO to identify customers’ preferences and deliver high level of customer satisfaction in order to build long-term relationships. 

7. “International tourists’ image of Zhangjiajie, China: content analysis of travel blogs”

Introduction

Zhangjiajie is first national forest park and one of the most popular tourist destinations in China. Due to increasing flows of visitors to the destination, tourism has become the main industry of the economy.

Destination image is an important tool influencing tourist preference and decision making. According to the article word-of mouth or advice from friends and relatives is the most influential source of pre-purchase information. Tourism managers have to understand Western tourists’ images of Zhangjiajie in order to develop efficient tourism marketing strategy.

Nowadays online travel journals and internet travel blogs are becoming more important as many web sites provide free or inexpensive travel blog formats. According to the article online blogs offer useful information about tourist destinations, moreover, travelers can share their experience and communicate with other travelers. Using data from travel blogs is an effective tool in understanding the strengths and weaknesses of a destination.

Methodology

The author used travel blogs to measure and understand negative and positive images of destinations formed by travelers. For the survey twenty-two travel blogs were collected through the Google search engine and only fifteen were appropriate for the investigation. The researcher used NVivo software for qualitative data analysis to perform content analysis of the blog data.

Results

The article  presents that travel blogs is efficient instrument for analyzing Western travelers’ image of destination.

The text of the travel blogs was analyzed by word frequency. From researcher’s viewpoint the majority of bloggers were likely to be traveling either alone or with one companion. The survey data shows that Western travelers are not quite interested in visiting cultural/historical attractions in Zhangjiajie.

The investigation finds out that Western travelers were likely to be interested in experiencing and learning wild nature within natural settings and not too touristic. Also, analyze reveals negative experiences on various travel occasions. The most common theme commented on was about episodes related to communication problems and accommodation quality.

Conclusion/Recommendation

The research paper is aimed to examine Western travelers’ perception of Zhangjiajie as a tourist destination, using travel blogs to identify negative and positive images from travelers’ point of view. In common, Western

tourists were amazed by the beautiful natural landscape and express satisfaction with nature-based tourism attractions. Unfortunately, there is an also negative impression from the place such as poor accommodation quality,

 lack of English speaking tour guides, lack of English menus at local restaurants,  being overcharged, and over-crowdedness in major tourist attractions. The government  should focus on visitor management in order to increase the number of visitors, the timing of visitation, geographic distribution and behavior of tourists.

Due to the article Western tourists’  activities and the number of places they normally visited were very low. Analysis of travel blogs are important for deeper understanding of the dynamics of tourist experience.

8. “Innovation in destination marketing”

The use of passive mobile positioning for the segmentation of repeat visitors in Estonia 

Introduction

Nowadays in competitive business environment   special subfields of marketing “Place marketing” and “destination marketing” have appeared.

The researchers explain the importance of the long-term relationship between the host country and visitors. It also underlines the key role of loyal customers in destination marketing. Loyal customer relations show to the positive attitude of the customer, which leads to positive perception of the overall image of the place.

The rapid development of information technology solutions help to collect and analyse information about customer behaviour. Though, using technology developments in destination marketing are not efficient. Information about tourist flows is not accurate, concentrating mainly on the information  about tourist accommodation. According to the studies the information and communication technologies (ICT) and geographical information systems (GIS) are new investigation methods in geography and tourism studies. New methods of geographical studies are related with mobile (cellular) phone positioning datasets and location-based services (LBS). Mobile positioning data is important in space-time behaviour studies.

The research paper is aimed on passive mobile positioning (PMP) method as new data sources for analyzing different segments of repeat visitors. This data will be useful for the improvements in the destination marketing strategy and for the development of new services for different segments of loyal customers.

The objective of the study is to define how the improvements in the mobile positioning technology able to create new segmentation of repeat visitors that affect on the destination marketing policy making. Additionally, authors present theoretical review on the creation of an innovation model of the destination marketing of the country and providing a new approach of segmentation of repeat visitors.

Methodology

PMP data provide the location of phones in network cells that is automatically stored in the memory of service providers. This data source offers a good potential for analyzing the geography and mobility of the population. The researchers use data from the billing memory of roaming calls of the mobile operator Eesti Mobiil Telefon (EMT) for segmenting tourists. Every telephone in the database has a list of visited days and list of unique visits. This data is used for detecting visiting behaviour and further for segmentation. Data for the survey was collected from 32 million call activities with 650,000 ID-s.

Results

Following the results the mobile positioning is able to develop the quality of data about tourism flows in Estonia. The researchers find out different segments of repeat visitors: loyal and not loyal; somewhat loyal, loyal and very loyal; transit; long-term; one-day and visitors who are loyal to certain events. The survey observes and determines the duration, timing, density, seasonality and dynamics of visitations.

Conclusion/Recommendations

The article highlights how technological innovation provides a foundation for the new segmentation of repeat visitors that affects to improvements in the destination marketing policy making of the country. The researchers were the first who develop the innovation model for the destination marketing of the country and offer the new approach to the segmentation of repeat visitors. For the survey they used the PMP method as the innovation enabling factor that presents a database of characteristics of repeat visitors like their nationality, visiting frequency, and timing.

The PMP method has a great potential for creating the new focus in destination marketing of the country. According to the article example the Estonian tourism managers could diversify and develop tourism strategy by addressing multiple segments of repeat visitors. The Estonian government is focused extension the duration of the repeat visits, it was impossible to analyze the outcome of the policy.

The PMP method should be used as an instrument to get accurate information about tourists and, create and execute efficient strategies to extend the duration of repeat visits of multiple segments of visitors. 

9. “Place branding’s role in sustainable development”

Introduction

Place marketing is defined as increasing the tourist number, it also plays an important role in regional and urban development, place and/or country positioning in international relations and maintaining continued infrastructural and economic growth.

According to the literature a place brand is a perception that people have about a place, city, region or a country and a place’s reputation among those people that the place embraces. Successful place branding includes the responsible and intelligent application of disciplines from commercial and corporate branding, along with new collaborative leadership and partnership development practices within stakeholders.

The objective of the article is to define the place branding and its influence on the continuous development and sustainable growth of a place, by reflecting on the aspects of traditional branding, product branding, corporate branding, place marketing and destination branding.

Methodology

The research paper was based on the city of Liverpool and its Liverpool ’08 place brand campaign. This campaign also helps to explore the effects of a mega-event on a place and provides a unique opportunity to define  how a place branding campaign may have impact on sustainable  development of a place. Methodology was made through the interview  with the key stakeholders including senior representatives (such as chief executives, chairpersons, board directors and/or senior managers) from 14 key authorities and organisations both from the public and

private sectors who  responsible for creating and delivering the Liverpool place brand image.

Results

Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software (CAQDAS) – NVivo was used for the investigation. The researchers applied “first-cycle” and “second-cycle” coding methods to exercise effective data analysis. A “convergent” interview technique was used to achieve data saturation.

The survey showed that place branding plays an important role in the sustainable development of a place, provided that the momentum of progress is maintained. Consecutively, this sustainable development is able to promote the place and create stronger place brands.

Conclusion/Recommendation

Place branding can also be defined as “maintaining momentum” in order to deliver sustainable development. The survey shows that the careful preservation of place-embedded assets plays the main role, because it includes complimentary and integrated logistics, improved infrastructure for business and employment purposes, strong associations with the existing cultural and sporting legacies. According to the research place branding plays an important role in  growth prospects of a place and indicates an urgent need to understand better the place branding concept and its inter-relationship within sustainable development, in order to implement place branding practices more successfully.

Following the study the promotion of the growth prospects of the place brand includes:

The development of the traditional artistic, cultural and architectural heritage that could build a stronger brand identity;

Positive media involvement which confirms the economic well-being and growth in a place;

Attraction of investments from both public and private sectors in order to create a financial stimulus for further economical development;

Improvement of lifestyle standards and housing facilities which makes a place more attractive to visit, live and settle in the longer term;

Increasing place brand loyalty, through marketing tools as “word of mouth” and viral marketing which drives brand image and brand extension.

10. “The influence of consumer’s event quality perception on destination image”

Introduction

Many countries realize the importance of holding international sport events that can boost national economy, enhance infrastructure, and commercial and social and cultural aspects Also, they receive a lot of international attention through media and contribute to increase domestic tourism. Successful event can improve the destination image and community pride of residents, though there is high level of competition among countries to host international sport events. 

Following the study destination image can be influenced by several sources including promotional activities such as a media guides, local cultural and entertainment options, word-of-mouth, infrastructure as well as the quality of the service. It can be explained  as an individual’s overall perception or the total set of impressions of a place.

Hence, it is crucial to develop and implement effective promotional and marketing strategies to improve destination image among tourists.

The objective of the research is to identify the influence of the tourists’ event quality perceptions of an international sport event on destination image. The study observes the specific issues: Is there any positive influence of event quality factors of an international sport event on the destination’s image? Which specific event quality

factors (i.e. intangible and tangible) are important in predicting three different dimensions (i.e. cognitive, affective, and conative image) of destination image? 

Methodology

Data  for the research are collected during the Tour de Korea, an annual bicycling stage race, which is held in seven-to-ten regions in South Korea for ten days. Event quality factors are analysed by Parasuraman et al.’s (1985, 1988) scale of intangible factors (six items) and Wakefield and Blodgett’s (1999) scale of tangible factors (three items). According to investigation,  destination image is measured with a total of 17 items (five items for cognitive image, six items for affective image, and six items for conative image). The research methodology is based on 451 questionnaires.

Results

The findings of this study identify that intangible event quality factors, rather than tangible factors, were significantly related to cognitive image, affective and conative image. Summarizing the investigation, the event quality perceptions, particularly intangible factors, positively influence the destination image.

Conclusion

To host international sport events is very important and efficient strategy to enhance and promote destination image. The research is based on the South Korean context that recently hold several eco-friendly  public sport events  in order to improve their destination image. The authors explain the theoretical relationship between event quality perceptions of an international sport event and the host city’s destination image. The findings explain tourist’s positive perceptions of the quality of an international sport event help to improve the destination’s image. According to the investigation tourists  develop positive cognitive, affective, and conative image through an evaluation of intangible service factors, related to the venue’s environment.

Recommendations

The event and tourism managers hosting international sport should first of all improve quality of the event that will develop destination image. It is necessary to develop effective strategies to enhance both intangible and tangible aspects of event quality. The community is also important key for the event as they provide the best possible physical environment which directly effects their event quality perception. Finally, partnership of the local government, event organizer, sport organization, and locals will help to enhance the event quality and destination image. 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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