Destination image literature: 2001 – 2007

Abstract

The topic of destination image has become one of the most popular in the tourism literature. A review of 120 destination image articles published in the literature between 2001 and 2007 was undertaken to provide researchers with a reference guide to the context, method and focus of previous studies. The analysis follows a previous study by Pike (2002), which reviewed 142 destination image papers published during the period 1973 –2000. Collectively, the two analyses categorize over 260 papers from the first 35 years of published destination image research. Key issues to emerge from the current review include: the exponential increase in studies related to destination image, a continued lack of qualitative methods, lack of an explicit travel situation, and the risk of uninformed responses.