Destination Brand Personality: Visitor Perceptions of a Regional Tourism Destination

Abstract

Despite a growing body of work on destination branding in general, particularly at a country or nation level, there has been little investigation of whether or not tourists do attribute brand personality characteristics to tourism destinations and whether or not tourists' perceived self-image and the "brand personality" of destinations are related. The aim of the study presented in this article was to explore the relationships among four key constructs proposed for destination branding and choice process: tourist travel motivations, destination brand personality, self-congruity, and visitation. The study involved a survey of tourists' perceptions of a branded regional tourism destination—the Whitsundays—in Queensland, Australia. Data were collected from a total of 277 participants yielding a response rate of 62%. The results provided general support for the proposal that tourists ascribe personality characteristics to destination. Furthermore, the study found that there is a level of congruity between tourists' self-image and their perceptions of the destination brand personality.