Destination Image Versus Risk Perception

Abstract

The literature on destination image and risk perception studies was reviewed to provide tourism researchers with a summary of the key cognitive attributes identified in both literatures. A content analysis was conducted, and the main findings revealed an overlap between the attributes assessing each concept in terms of cognition. This is due to the fact that image studies tend to describe the attributes of tourism destinations positively, whereas risk studies tend to adopt the negative version of them. Theoretical implications and suggestions for future research studies are discussed.