Image interplay between events and destinations

Abstract

AbstractEvents have become increasingly important in acting as image builders for their host destinations (i.e., cities, regions). Equivalently, the image of a destination can have an impact on event perceptions, resulting in careful considerations for event managers and destination stakeholders to make when pairing an event with a host destination. As a contribution to event and destination image impact research, this paper systematically conducts a review process and identifies peer‐reviewed articles that fall within its established research criteria, thereby synthesizing and gaining new perspectives, as well as presenting new implications by conjoining aspects of destination and event image research. To conduct the review process Cooper's (1988,Knowledge in Society) taxonomy of literature reviews was used. Events play a positive role in impacting a destination's image, whether by increasing awareness and familiarity, reducing negative images, providing believable associations and authenticity as well as community support, or ensuring the host gains positive associations from the event. Destination impacts on events’ images were a far less researched area and therefore revealed a very sparse amount of results. The review for the first time focuses on image implications for both events and host destinations, as opposed to just image impacts from an event to a destination.