Formation of the image of a tourist destination
As the result of a perceptual and cognitive process,
the destination image is formed from several sources of
information (reference groups, group membership, media,
etc.). Thus, any person can build an image of any
destination (in their mind) without ever having been
there. In other words, the image of the destination will
be based on historical, political, economic and social information
which, in turn, will shape the image that the
person already held (Echtner & Richie, 1991). The value
system of each individual will eventually influence
the image that they develop of a tourist destination, by
acting as a selective attention filter (Moutinho, 1987).
Also the country of origin of the person influences the
image that they build of tourist destinations (Bonn, Joseph
& Dai, 2005).
Lubbe (1998) proposes a framework that explains
the construction of the primary image of a tourist destination,
identified in Figure 1.