Kathrin Jaszus , Anett Erdmann , Jose M. Ramos-Henríquez , Jose M. Mas-Iglesias
{"title":"Evaluating tourism destination images: Integrating survey, neural responses and artificial intelligence","authors":"Kathrin Jaszus , Anett Erdmann , Jose M. Ramos-Henríquez , Jose M. Mas-Iglesias","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2026.101089","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2026.101089","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study introduces a triple-method approach to evaluate tourism destination attractiveness by integrating consumer surveys, neurophysiological measurements, and large language models (LLMs). Drawing on dual-process theory as a conceptual and interpretive framework, we examine how different measurement methods, individually and in combination, can help explain tourists' preferences for destination images. The study involved 96 participants from two countries who were shown in an experiment ten images representing various tourism types while collecting self-reported data, neurophysiological measurements, and LLM-based image assessments. To analyze image rankings and relative preferences, we adopted a multi-stage analytical approach. Our findings suggest that each measurement method captures distinct aspects of tourist decision-making: Survey measurements primarily correlate with fast-affective responses. Neurophysiological data reveal affective and cognitive responses not detected in self-reports. LLMs offer complementary evaluations. However, the incremental explanatory value of LLM-based assessment varies by image-type. Combined measurements also differ in effectiveness across tourism types, underscoring the need for tailored evaluation approaches.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 101089"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146160345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Siya Wang , Lingyuan Zhang , Qingqian Li , Yuning Wang
{"title":"Slow live streaming of destinations: Enchantment and digital transformation in China's sacred mountains","authors":"Siya Wang , Lingyuan Zhang , Qingqian Li , Yuning Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101064","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101064","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Slow live streaming of destinations is an emerging technological application in tourism that offers a low-narrative, real-time view of destinations. Unlike commercial live streaming, it minimizes editing, narration, and advertising, emphasizing continuous, unfiltered transmission of natural landscapes. This approach enhances viewers' sense of presence and immersion, creating a stronger emotional connection with the destination. This technology is particularly effective for remote or hard-to-access locations, reshaping public perceptions of such places. For example, Meili Snow Mountain, located on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau and revered by local residents, was long inaccessible due to its rugged terrain. With network infrastructure installation and the rise of slow live streaming of destinations on platforms like TikTok and Kwai, virtual access to this once-hidden landscape is now possible. The socio-cultural impact of slow live streaming of destinations remains underexplored. Using Weber's concept of disenchantment, this paper examines how technology reshapes perceptions and dilutes traditional meanings. Based on five years of fieldwork in the Zang Plateau, this paper introduces the concept of digital disenchantment and re-enchantment to analyze changes in destination imagination and perception. The study finds: first, technical, social and psychological drivers all contribute to the development of slow live streaming of Meili Snow Mountain; second, three types of perception reflect the complexity of technology acceptance—Fostering Place Attachment (re-enchantment), Diminishing Mystique (disenchantment), and Sharing Sacredness (re-enchantment). The paper also discusses destination strategies to sustain tourism appeal in response to digital challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 101064"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145625377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Curating local voices to construct projected destination image: A case study of the ‘Join Me in Jamaica’ campaign","authors":"Nicole A. Hay , P. Monica Chien , Lisa Ruhanen","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101082","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101082","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"40 ","pages":"Article 101082"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145822773","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Cristobal Barra , Ignacio Vargas , Eduardo Torres-Moraga
{"title":"The more you visit, the less you experience: Exploring the decline of destination brand experience with increasing number of visits","authors":"Cristobal Barra , Ignacio Vargas , Eduardo Torres-Moraga","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101066","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101066","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Although destination brand experience is central to tourists’ evaluations and behaviors, little is known about how repeated visits shape that experience. We examine whether and why destination experience declines as the number of visits increases and propose a novelty-reduction account whereby repeated visits can reduce perceived novelty and hedonic stimulation, leading to a fading effect. Two complementary studies test this account. Study 1 (n = 372) surveys outbound tourists across destinations to estimate the direct and moderated effects of prior visits on each experience dimension. Study 2 (n = 900) focuses on inbound tourists to a single destination to replicate and extend the analysis with moderated-mediation models. The results show that a greater number of prior visits is associated with weaker sensory, affective, behavioral, and intellectual experiences among international (but not domestic) tourists and indirectly reduces destination love, enthusiasm, and endorsement through these experience dimensions. The findings position the number of visits as a useful segmentation variable for destination marketing. In practice, destination management organizations can sustain engagement and attachment by curating differentiated itineraries for first-time vs repeat international visitors and by rotating distinctive experiences designed to refresh perceived novelty.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101066"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145546288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"What can emotion regulation theory offer in understanding how tourists can react positively to tourist destinations hit by natural disasters?","authors":"Wee Kheng Tan , Yu-Min Wei","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101061","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101061","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Restoring tourist flows to earthquake-stricken destinations as quickly as possible is a top priority in post-disaster recovery strategies. Drawing on leisure constraint theory, travel motivation theory, and emotion regulation theory, this study investigates how tourists' post-earthquake travel motivations, leisure constraints, and attraction visit intentions shape their adaptive emotion regulation strategies towards an earthquake-stricken destination (i.e. perceiving such destinations positively). Partial least squares analysis was applied to data from 291 respondents concerning Hualien, a popular tourist destination in Taiwan that was severely impacted by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on April 3, 2024. Findings indicate that travel motivations exert a substantially stronger influence on adaptive emotion regulation strategies than leisure constraints. Strategies involving active ‘doing-away’ (i.e. reframing) of the earthquake context are primarily driven by travel motivations, whereas strategies based on comparing the earthquake to other negative situations to downplay its perceived severity are mostly affected by leisure constraints. Moreover, financial incentives were found to enhance positive perceptions of earthquake-affected destinations by promoting the use of positive reappraisal and positive refocusing strategies. In addition to their constraining role, leisure constraints also demonstrate enabling potential by contributing to tourists' intentions to visit affected attractions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101061"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145416750","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Better together? Stakeholder collaboration as a driver for ecological innovation in community model destinations","authors":"Anna M. Burton , Christoph Pachucki","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101058","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101058","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study explores the role of stakeholder collaboration in fostering ecological innovation within community model tourism destinations. As destinations face increasing ecological challenges, understanding how diverse stakeholders facilitate the adoption of sustainability practices is essential. Despite a growing body of literature exploring the economic dimensions of destination development, the specific mechanisms by which stakeholder collaboration catalyzes environmentally sustainable innovation have received less scholarly attention. Using a Flexible Pattern Matching Approach (FPMA) and qualitative interviews in Austrian destinations reveals how learning and dynamic capabilities, including experience accumulation, knowledge integration, and strategic visioning, serve as drivers for sustainable innovation capabilities. The findings demonstrate that collaborative relationships facilitate knowledge exchange, build trust, mobilize resources, and align sustainability concerns, leading to ecological innovations such as energy communities, sustainable transport, and slow food travel initiatives. By advancing the strategic net framework, this study offers practical insights for destination managers and policymakers, highlighting how collaborative efforts and supportive policies can balance economic, social, and environmental goals, ensuring long-term sustainability for tourism destinations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101058"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145404619","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Destination image and the myth of uniqueness: A profile analysis of leading Italian ski resorts","authors":"Thomas Bausch , Florian Ortanderl","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101063","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101063","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding how destinations establish a distinctive image is central to destination branding research. While uniqueness is often considered a core component of destination brand equity, empirical evidence on how image attributes truly differentiate destinations remains limited. This study addresses this gap by investigating the extent to which perceived image attributes contribute to destination differentiation within a mature and highly competitive tourism context. Using ten leading Italian ski resorts as a case study, nineteen cognitive, affective, and symbolic image attributes were analyzed through an integrated application of ANOVA and profile analysis. This combined approach enables both the detection of significant attribute-level differences and the assessment of overall image profile similarity. The findings reveal strong similarities across resorts, with only minor and statistically weak variations. These results challenge the assumption that attribute-based uniqueness acts as a key differentiator and demonstrate the predominance of holistic destination impressions. The study contributes methodologically by highlighting the analytical value of combining ANOVA and profile analysis and provides managerial guidance for ski destinations in mature markets to build segment-specific image profiles based on distinct attribute combinations or leadership in selected attributes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101063"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145520128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Rural tourism as a catalyst for labor return? A rethinking of return migration from a mixed embeddedness perspective","authors":"Xinrui Wang , Dandan Huang , Meiling Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101041","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101041","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study conducts a typological investigation on return migrants during the development of rural tourism from the perspective of mixed embeddedness. It employs a comparative analysis of return migration in two case sites combined with the pattern-matching method. The findings suggest that return migrants in rural tourism destinations can be categorized into four types based on their motivation and the length of intended stay, including entrepreneurial return migrants, lifestyle return migrants, seasonal return migrants, and drifting return migrants. Return migration is influenced by a mix of cognitive, social, and institutional embeddedness, exhibiting varying degrees of mixed embeddedness among different types of return migrants. Given the heterogeneity among return migrants, the role played by rural tourism varies and is affected by their various levels of embeddedness. By providing a novel typology of return migration and investigating the distinct role of rural tourism, this study offers theoretical and practical insights into migration studies within the context of rural tourism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101041"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144932437","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Gui Lohmann , M. Sadegh Eshaghi , Mona Afshardoost , Brent D. Moyle
{"title":"Weather adaptation strategies in tourism","authors":"Gui Lohmann , M. Sadegh Eshaghi , Mona Afshardoost , Brent D. Moyle","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101054","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Weather conditions impact tourism experiences and influence travel decisions. Nevertheless, studies tend to focus on climate change, with limited research investigating how tourism destinations can prepare for and adapt to day-to-day weather variability. The conceptual ‘Weather Adaptation Model for Destination Typologies’ is proposed, depicting the complex relationship between weather adaptation strategies and managerial interventions. By using a systematic narrative review, this study critically examines the weather-based adaptation strategies available to tourism operators, with emergent findings revealing four key adaptation directions: exiting, protecting, expanding, and sharing. As a result of this review, the ‘Weather Adaptation Managerial Toolkit’ has been developed, comprising seven tools and measures, offering practical insights for formulating and implementing weather adaptation strategies. Furthermore, policy interventions that destination managers, policymakers, and businesses can leverage to mitigate the impact of weather variability on tourism destinations of various typologies are articulated. The paper underscores the emerging field of collective efforts, sustainability, and strategic adaptation measures to navigate the complexities of weather-related challenges in the context of tourism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101054"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220462","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Can destination marketing capitalise on health management?","authors":"Michael Volgger , Ross Taplin","doi":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101067","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jdmm.2025.101067","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>There is limited research on which type of marketing messages tourism destinations should use in promoting a reduced risk to visitors' health. The aim of this paper is to analyse if and how communicating successful health management during a health crisis increases the attractiveness of a tourism destination in the recovery stage. The study applied a randomised experimental design to test the effectiveness of different marketing messages on international tourists' visit intentions at the tail end of the COVID-19 pandemic. The study surveyed 509 potential tourists from Singapore, Malaysia, India, UK and New Zealand regarding their intention to visit Western Australia after the COVID-19 induced border closures had ended in 2022. The results show that, depending on tourist characteristics, intention to visit was increased with communicating the destination's health performance, vaccination rates, and a complimentary travel insurance. The findings hence suggest that factual safety-centred marketing communication can support tourism destinations in the recovery from a health crisis. This implies that tourism marketers should consider the possibility to communicate competences and successes in health management proactively to tourists.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48021,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Destination Marketing & Management","volume":"39 ","pages":"Article 101067"},"PeriodicalIF":7.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145553572","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}