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destination image — English
The characteristic which typifies a place in the imagination of the public. When people think of the Kruger National Park, they immediately think of the “Big Five”, namely lions, leopards, rhinos, buffaloes and elephants. That is the image the broad public has of this destination and that is the reason why most visitors go there. On return, everybody asks whether you have seen lions and then the rest of the Big Five. Every famous or well-known destination has an image. The image of New York City is Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty, Paris is associated with the Eiffel Tower, Rome with roman ruins, Hong Kong with densely packed high buildings, Las Vegas equates to gambling, the image of Arizona is desert and the Grand Canyon, that of Egypt is pyramids, Russia means flat snowy plains, and Africa as a whole means vast, empty plains with endless herds of antelope, the odd lion pride catching a zebra and crocodiles devouring wildebeest. Marketers would be short-sighted if they did not use these destination images to their greatest effect, and their challenge is to convince the visitors that there is more to all these destinations than these well-known “image” sights. A tourist destination that has no well-known image has to turn its most unique or most striking feature into an irresistible, “must-see image” to entice visitors and then use this image in the best interest of the destination. UNESCO’s outstanding promotion of all the different world heritage sites serve as a good example of how destination image could be used effectively.
