Ireland’s Image as a Tourism Destination in France: Attribute Importance and Performance

Ireland is highly dependent on tourism as an employment and revenue generator. Recent trends, however, suggest that visitors from France, one of Ireland’s key source markets, may have peaked. Tourism images are critical to the success of any destination, particularly because of how they affect the level of satisfaction with the tourist experience. Ireland is frequently acknowledged as a successfully branded and marketed tourism destination. Nonetheless, few image studies to date have focused specifically on Ireland, and none has analyzed the image of Ireland as a tourism destination in France. The aim of this study, therefore, was to redress this knowledge deficit. A questionnaire was used to examine the importance of certain destination attributes for French tourists and to determine how French visitors rate Ireland’s performance with respect to these attributes pre- and postvisitation. This information was subsequently incorporated into an importance-performance analysis grid.

[1]  A. Morrison,et al.  The Tourism System: An Introductory Text , 1985 .

[2]  K. Chon.  The role of destination image in tourism: A review and discussion , 1990 .

[3]  S. Pike.  Destination Image Analysis: A Review of 142 Papers from 1973-2000 , 2002 .

[4]  Hanquin Q. Zhang,et al.  Application of importance-performance model in tour guides’ performance: evidence from mainland Chinese outbound visitors in Hong Kong , 2004 .

[5]  Charlotte M. Echtner,et al.  The Measurement of Destination Image: An Empirical Assessment , 1993 .

[6]  W. Olins.  Branding the nation — the historical context , 2002 .

[7]  Marion Joppe,et al.  Toronto’s Image As a Destination: A Comparative Importance-Satisfaction Analysis by Origin of Visitor , 2001 .

[8]  K. Michael Haywood,et al.  Managing Word of Mouth Communications , 1989 .

[9]  J. Crompton.  Motivations for pleasure vacation , 1979 .

[10]  J. Hunt,et al.  An Analysis of State Image Change Over a Twelve-Year Period (1971-1983 , 1987 .

[11]  Arzu Ünel,et al.  Destination image and its modification after travel: an empirical study on Turkey , 2000 .

[12]  Roger J. Calantone,et al.  Multiple Multinational Tourism Positioning Using Correspondence Analysis , 1989 .

[13]  A. Woodside,et al.  A General Model Of Traveler Destination Choice , 1989 .

[14]  R. Prentice,et al.  Evoking Ireland: Modeling tourism propensity , 2000 .

[15]  Michael D. Reilly.  Free Elicitation Of Descriptive Adjectives For Tourism Image Assessment , 1990 .

[16]  C. A. Gunn.  Vacationscape;: Designing tourist regions , 1972 .

[17]  Susan I. Stewart,et al.  Communication strategies to reach first-time visitors , 1998 .

[18]  M. Kneafsey,et al.  The cultural tourist: patron saint of Ireland? , 1994 .

[19]  Robert S. Dilley,et al.  Tourist brochures and tourist images. , 1986 .

[20]  Cultural variations in perceptions of vacation attributes , 1988 .

[21]  J. Hunt.  Image as a Factor in Tourism Development , 1975 .

[22]  J. Deegan,et al.  The Changing Contribution of Tourism in a Dynamic Economy: The Case of Ireland , 2003 .

[23]  R. L. Jenkins.  Family Vacation Decision-Making , 1978 .

[24]  B. Whelan.  Bust to boom? The Irish experience of growth and inequality. , 2000 .

[25]  Tat Y. Choi,et al.  An importance-performance analysis of hotel selection factors in the Hong Kong hotel industry: a comparison of business and leisure travellers , 2000 .

[26]  U. Kockel.  Culture, tourism and development : the case of Ireland , 1994 .

[27]  Ugur Yavas,et al.  Importance‐Performance Analysis: : A Case Study in Restaurant Positioning , 1994 .

[28]  Seyhmus Baloglu,et al.  A model of destination image formation , 1999 .

[29]  A. Hunter,et al.  Multimethod Research: A Synthesis of Styles , 1989 .

[30]  Nigel Morgan,et al.  Destination Branding: Creating the unique destination proposition , 2015 .

[31]  Angela Phelps,et al.  Holiday destination image — the problem of assessment: An example developed in Menorca , 1986 .

[32]  P. Pearce.  The Ulysses Factor , 1988 .

[33]  P. Pearce.  The Ulysses Factor: Evaluating Visitors in Tourist Settings , 1988 .

[34]  M. Oppermann,et al.  Visitation of tourism attractions and tourist expenditure patterns ‐ repeat versus first‐time visitors , 1996 .

[35]  L. L. Love,et al.  The state of qualitative tourism research , 2000 .

[36]  J. Crompton,et al.  The Predictive Validity of Alternative Approaches to Evaluating Quality of a Festival , 1995 .

[37]  R. McLellan,et al.  Negative Images of the United States as Expressed by Tour Operators From Other Countries , 1983 .

[38]  J. Crompton,et al.  Image Differences between Prospective, First-Time, and Repeat Visitors to the Lower Rio Grande Valley , 1991 .

[39]  N. Morgan,et al.  New Zealand, 100% Pure. The creation of a powerful niche destination brand , 2002 .

[40]  William C. Gartner,et al.  Tourism Image: Attribute Measurement of State Tourism Products Using Multidimensional Scaling Techniques , 1989 .

[41]  W. Fred van Raaij,et al.  Vacation decisions, activities and satisfactions. , 1984 .