Islands and Destination Image: The Case of Ios

Stylidis, Dimitrios and Terzidou, Matina and Terzidis, Konstantinos (2007): Islands and Destination Image: The Case of Ios. Published in: TOURISMOS: An International Multidisciplinary Refereed Journal of Tourism , Vol. 3, No. 1 (15 April 2008): pp. 180-199.

Abstract

This study was conducted to identify the image of Ios as a tourist destination as perceived by the visitors, in order to contribute to the formation of an effective marketing plan. The strengths and weaknesses of the image of Ios were measured and presented, accompanied with a number of recommendations. The findings revealed that Ios has a very strong destination image as a party island, with the majority of the visitors being international young students coming to enjoy the relaxing atmosphere and the party mood of the island. As a result, Ios needs to strengthen its image compared to other islands or destinations which offer the same product, by promoting its competitive advantages, such as; the nightlife, the relatively low prices, the relaxing atmosphere and the friendliness of the locals.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Destination image, Islands, Ios
• Subjects: O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O1 - Economic Development; M - Business Administration and Business Economics ; Marketing ; Accounting ; Personnel Economics > M1 - Business Administration; L - Industrial Organization > L8 - Industry Studies: Services > L83 - Sports ; Gambling ; Restaurants ; Recreation ; Tourism

References

Assael, H. (1992). Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Action, 4th ed. U.S.A: PWT Kent.

Baloglou, S. and Brinberg, D. (1997). Affective Images of Tourism Destinations. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 35, No. 4, pp. 11-15.

Baum, T. (1997). The fascination of islands: a tourist perspective. In D. G. Lockhart, and D. Drakakis-Smith, Island tourism: Trends and Prospects. London: Pinter.

Bignon, V. N., Hammitt, W. E. & Norman, W. C. (1998). French perceptions and images of the United States as a destination country. Tourism Analysis, Vol. 3, pp. 159-171.

Briguglio, L., Archer, B., Safari, J. & Wall, G. (1996). Sustainable Tourism in Islands and Small States: Issues and Policies. Great Britain: Pinter.

Buhalis, D. (2000). Marketing the competitive destination of the future. Tourism Management, Vol. 21, pp. 97-116.

Chen, J. S & Hsu, C. H. (2000). Measurement of Korean Tourists’ Perceived Images of Overseas Destination. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 38, pp. 411-416.

Choi, M. W., Chan, A., Wu, J. (1999). A Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Hong Kong’s Image as a tourist destination. Tourism Management, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 361-365.

Chon, K. S. (1990). The role of Destination Image in Tourism: A Review and Discussion. Journal of the Tourist Review, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 2-9.

Chon, K. S. (1992). Self image/destination image congruity. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 19, No. 2, pp. 360-363.

Conlin, M. V. & Baum, T. (1995). Island Tourism: Management Principles and Practice. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Connell, J. (1988). Contemporary Issues in Island Tourism. In M. Pacione (Eds.), The Geography of the Third World: Progress and Prospect. London: Routledge.

Cooper, C. & Hall, M. (2005). Oceania: A Tourism Handbook. Great Britain: Cromwell Press.

Crompton, J. L. (1979). Motivations for Pleasure Vacation. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 408-424.

Crompton, J. L. (1979). An assessment of the Image of Mexico as a vacation destination and the influence of geographical location upon that image, Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 18-23.

Dann, G. M. S. (1996). Tourist Images of a Destination-an alternative analysis. In D.R. Fesenmaier, J.T. O’Leary, and M. Uysal (Eds.), Recent Advances in Tourism Marketing Research. London: The Haworth Press.

Dann, G. M. S. (1996). Socio-cultural Issues in St Lucia’s Tourism. In L. Briguglio, R. Butler, D. Harrison, W.L. Filho (Eds.), Sustainable Tourism in Islands and Small States: Case Studies. Great Britain: Pinter.

Dichter, E. (1985). What is an image. Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 78-81.

Driscoll, A., Lawson, R. & Niven, B. (1994). Measuring Tourists Destination Perceptions. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 499-511.

Echtner, C. M. & Ritchie, J. R. B. (1991). The Meaning and Measurement of Destination Image. The Journal of Tourism Studies, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 2-12.

Echtner, C. M. & Ritchie, J. R. B. (1993). The measurement of Destination Image: An empirical Assesment. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 31, No. 4, pp. 3-13.

Embacher, J. & Butte, F. (1989). A Repertory Grid Analysis of Austria’s Image as a summer vacation destination. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 3-7.

Fakeye, P. C. & Crompton, J. L (1991). Image Differences between Prospective, First-Time and Repeat Visitors to the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 30, No. 2, pp. 10-16.

Gallarza, M. G., Saura, L. G. & Garcia, H. C. (2002). Destination Image: towards a conceptual framework. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 29, No. 1, pp. 56-78.

Gartner, W. C. (1989). Tourism Image: Attribute Measurement of State Tourism Products using multidimensional scaling techniques. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 16-21.

Gartner, W. C. (1996). Tourism Development: Principles, Processes and Policies. United States: John Wiley and Sons.

Gartner, W.C. (1993). Image formation process. In M. Uysal, M., and D.F. Fesenmaier (Eds.), Communication and Channel Systems in Tourism Marketing. New York: Haworth.

Goodrich, J. N. (1978). A new approach to Image Analysis through multidimensional scaling. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 3-7.

Gunn, C. (1972). Vacationscape: Designing tourist regions. Austin, Texas: University of Texas.

Gunn, C. (1997). Vacationscape: Developing Tourist Areas, 3rd ed. United States of America: Taylor and Francis.

Haahti, A. & Yavas, U. (1983). Tourist perceptions of Finland and selected European countries as travel destinations. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 34-42.

Hunt, J. D. (1975). Image as a factor in tourism development. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 13, pp. 1-7.

Ioannides, D., Apostolopoulos, Y. & Sonmez, S. (2001). Mediterranean Islands and Sustainable Tourism Development: Practices, Management and Policies. Great Britain: Cromwell Press.

Laws, E., Scott, N. & Parfitt, N. (2002) Synergies in Destination Image Management: a Case Study and Conceptualisation. International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 29-38.

Lockhart, D. G. (1997). Islands and tourism: an overview. In D.G. Lockhart, and D. Drakakis-Smith (Eds.), Island Tourism: Trends and Prospects. London: Pinter.

Loukissas, P. (1982). Tourism’s Regional Development Impacts: a Comparative Analysis of the Greek Islands. Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 9, pp. 523-541.

Lubbe, B. (1998). Primary image as a dimension of destination image: an empirical assessment. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 7, No. 4, pp. 21-43.

Manologlou, E., Tsartas, P. & Markou, A. (2004). Geothermal energy sources for water production- socio-economic effects and people’s wishes on Milos island: a case study. Energy Policy, Vol. 32, pp. 623-633.

Mayo, E. J. (1973). Regional images and regional travel behaviour. In The Travel Research Association Fourth Annual Conference Proceedings. Sun Valley: Idaho.

Milman, A. & Pizam, A. (1995). The role of awareness and familiarity with a destination: the central Florida case. Journal of Travel Research, Vol. 33, No. 3, pp. 21-27.

Murphy, L. (1999). Australia’s image as a holiday destination-perceptions of Backpacker visitors. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 21-45.

O’ Leary, S. & Deegan, J. (2003). People, Pace, Place: Qualitative and quantitative images of Ireland as a tourism destination in France. Journal of Vacation Marketing, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 213-226.

Phelps, A. (1986). Holiday destination image-the problem of assessment. Tourism Management, Vol. 7, No. 3, pp. 168-180.

Reilly, M. D. (1990). Free elicitation of descriptive adjectives for tourism image assessment. Journal of travel Research, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 21-26.

Royle, S. A. (1989). A Human Geography of Islands. Geography, Vol. 74, No. 2, pp. 106-116.

Royle, S. A. (1997). Tourism to the South Atlantic islands In D.G. Lockhart, and D. Drakakis-Smith (Eds.), Island Tourism: Trends and Prospects. London: Pinter.

Selby, M. & Morgan, M. J. (1996). Reconstructing place image: a case study of its role in destination market research. Tourism Management, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 287-294.

Stabler, M. (1988). The image of destination regions: theoretical and empirical aspects. In B. Goodall, G. Ashworth (Eds.), Marketing in the Tourism Industry: The promotion of destination regions. Great Britain: Routledge.

Walmsley, D. J. & Jenkins, O. (1993). Appraise images of tourist areas: Application of personal construct. Australian Geographer, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 1-13.

Wong, P. P. (1997). Singapore: Tourism Development of an Island City State. In D.G. Lockhart, and D. Drakakis-Smith (Eds.), Island Tourism: Trends and Prospects. London: Pinter.