The role of destination personality in predicting tourist behaviour: implications for branding mid-sized urban destinations

The purpose of this study was to explore urban tourists' perceptions of the personality of a mid-sized city destination in Greece and to assess the effect of destination personality on the city's overall image and tourists' behavioural intentions. Experience with the destination was t...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Current issues in tourism 2015-12, Vol.18 (12), p.1132-1151
Main Authors: Apostolopoulou, Artemisia, Papadimitriou, Dimitra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
city branding
destination image
destination personality
domestic urban tourism
tourist behavioural intentions
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Summary:The purpose of this study was to explore urban tourists' perceptions of the personality of a mid-sized city destination in Greece and to assess the effect of destination personality on the city's overall image and tourists' behavioural intentions. Experience with the destination was taken into account as the sample consisted of three distinct groups of urban tourists: local residents, past visitors of the city and non-visitors. Through a mixed-methods approach, excitement and sincerity were found to be the predominant personality characteristics of the destination across all respondents. Further analyses offered support for the significant role of personality in influencing overall destination image and predicting tourists' intention to (re)visit the city or recommend it to others. Differences among the three groups as well as implications of the findings for branding small or mid-sized urban destinations are also discussed.
ISSN:1368-3500
1747-7603
DOI:10.1080/13683500.2013.878319