Assessing destination image: An online marketing approach and the case of TripAdvisor

Abstract

Destination image is a popular research domain in the tourism literature. Yet, limited studies focus on destination image as reflected through actual tourists’ evaluations and reviews on social media. Taken the significance of social media and the relationship between country and destination image, the study embarks upon to assess the cognitive, affective, conative image components. The study presents the destination image concept from the tourists’ point of view, as they review Istanbul on TripAdvisor throughout the summer in 2013. This study, although limited in scope, will be of interest to academic researchers and industry practitioners who are seeking to better understand the behavior of travelers using the Internet.