Tourism is a unique and high risk service industry. Due to this uniqueness, it is crucial that CTO/DMOs make
effective and efficient marketing investments. In the marketplace, consumers can be persuaded toward potential
tourism destinations through many avenues, from conversations with friends and family to Internet Web site
exposure. According to this study, one-time exposure to a CTO/DMO Web site is not sufficient to affect a change
in propensity to visit, likely because of prior knowledge. It is hoped that this study contributes to the tourism
literature by emphasizing how entrenched the images are of well-known destinations. It is also anticipated that
marketers of well-known tourist destinations, rather than generating image oriented advertising, will find benefit
in providing potential visitors with reasons to visit, and by paying more attention to the positive effects of less
commercialized, anonymous messages such as publicity.