| Author: | Wang, Suo-sheng Samson |
| Title: | Image analysis of the Pearl River Delta sub-regional travel destinations |
| Degree: | M.Phil. |
| Year: | 1998 |
| Subject: | Tourism -- China -- Pearl River Delta Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | Department of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | xiii, 143 leaves : ill. ; 30 cm |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | As the importance of the tourism industry grows in Asia, more and more governments are looking to tourism as an area for cooperation with one's neighbors. One example of subregional tourism cooperation is the arrangement entered by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, aimed at jointly promoting the Pearl River Delta (PRD) sub-region as a new tourist product. Given the importance of destination image analysis in tourism marketing (Schiffman and Kanuk 1994), image analysis and image identification becomes a major task for the tourism marketers of the PRD sub-regional travel destinations. The study emphasized the importance of creating accurate and integrated images of the respective destinations in the sub-region and of the sub-region as a whole, and the need to identify each destination's distinctive image. The main purpose of this study was, therefore, to analyze the image differences of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau in the context of the PRD area. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 303 tourists who had visited the PRD sub-region. Tourists were asked to rate their perceived images of each destination as well as the perceived importance of motivational attributes for visiting the sub-region. Canonical correlation analysis was used to assess the nature of the relationship between the selected sets of destination and motivational attributes. The findings revealed that: Eight destination image dimensions emerged from a factor analysis of 31 attributes, namely, 'assurance', 'restaurant/hotel', 'accessibility', 'amenity services', 'mixed culture', 'entertainment', 'Chinese culture', and 'local attitudes'; The PRD area as a whole was perceived favorably by tourists; The destination images of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau were perceived differently by tourists where Guangdong was perceived to hold some advantages over Hong Kong and Macau in terms of 'Chinese culture'. Hong Kong was perceived to be a safe and convenient travel destination and its image was perceived to be dominant in the PRD area. Macau's image could hardly be differentiated from the bright lights of Hong Kong; Tourists visiting this sub-region had a set of unique determinant destination dimensions leading to their satisfaction with each destination; Four motivational dimensions (i.e. 'culture/history seeking', 'benefit/safety seeking', 'prestige/social interaction' and 'novelty seeking') were identified with tourists visiting the PRD area expecting mostly to visit this area's unique cultural and historical attractions, and finally, It was found that there was a positive relationship between the destination and motivational dimensions. The results of this study implies that image analysis with an approach of using two sets of variables (destination and motivational attributes) could help to assess destination images more accurately and completely. While respondents' perceptions on destination attributes helped to identity the key image attributes, the tourists' motives in choosing a certain travel destination has provided tourism marketers clues for developing a destination image. For example, such an understanding can assist management in 'fine tuning' its abilities to help an organization define its image to be projected in promotional campaign (Crotts and Rekom 1994). |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | open access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| b14258778.pdf | For All Users | 4.46 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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