INTRODUCTION
Since the early 1990s, Vietnam has experienced a new start of
tourism development. The country has been gradually building up its
destination image and witnessing growing popularity of tourism
attraction. Recently, the quick economic recovery in Vietnam with annual
economic growth rate of 6.78% in 2010 against 5.30% in 2009 has been
also the key driver for boosting a new wave of international arrivals.
In 2010, Vietnam hosted more than 3 million international tourists out
of 5 million arrivals, a good sign for the tourism industry after the
global recession (Figure 1). It generates a turnover of VND billion 96,
000 (equivalent to USD billion 4).
Relied on potential resources and experiences of the tourism
industry, the Vietnamese authorities plan optimistically to host 7-8
million international tourists and to generate around USD billion 10,
contributing to 5.5%-6% to GDP in 2015. Its key traditional inbound
markets are Asian, especially Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, Australian,
American and European. Recently, Russian tourists emerge as very
potential markets for Vietnam (Figure 2).
[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]
[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]
Despite of increasing popularity of Vietnam as a tourist
destination, the country has been facing fierce competition from its
ASEAN neighboring markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and
Indonesia which have developed their strong tourism destination image
for years. Therefore, in order to attain its tourism five-year plan
objective, Vietnam need to build a strong destination image compared
with its Asian competitors that influences on destination decision
making of international visitors (Crompton, 1979; Echtner, Ritchie,
1993; Buhalis, 2000; Freire, 2002; Hall, 2002; Kotler, Gertrude, 2002;
Lodge, 2002; Pike, 2008; Frochot, Kreziak, 2008; Le, Cooper, 2009). As a
destination image is composed of the perceived and projected image,
incongruities between the perceived and projected image might weaken
marketing efforts of destination marketers to target and position
markets (Cai, 2002).
This paper aims to identify relevant destination image attributes
of Vietnam, both on the visitors' perspective and on the
government's perspective. It also analyzes the level of congruency
between the projected and perceived tourism destination image of
Vietnam. The congruency of destination image anticipated by the tourism
public sector with the image perceived by tourists will help Vietnam as
a tourism destination attract more and more visitors in order to improve
significantly tourism growth as supported by the literature about
destination image (Cai, 2002, Koerte, 2009; Prebezac, Mikulic, 2009; Le,
Cooper, 2009).
RESEARCH ON TOURIST DESTINATION IMAGE
Conceptualization of tourism destination image
Concepts
Destination image is defined generally a sum of beliefs, ideas and
impressions that people have of a particular tourism destination
(Crompton, 1979). In details, it includes perceptions or impressions of
a place (Phelps, 1984, reviewed by San Martin, Rodriguez del Bosque,
2008) or an individual's mental representation of knowledge,
feelings, and global impression about a destination (Baglolu, McCleary,
1999a). Despite the popularity of the concept, its exact meaning seems
"subjective" (Bigne, Sanchez, Sanchez, 2001),
"vague" , and depends on a variety of context, including those
pertaining to the destination images projected by the government or
perceived by tourists (Echtner, Richie, 1991; Jenkins, 1999). To make
the definition of the destination image less abstract, Echtner and
Ritchie (1994) conceptualize the destination image construct by
distinguishing the two distinct dimensions of a destination image:
attributes based and holistic. Each of these two dimensions consists of
functional (or more tangible) and psychological (or more abstract)
characteristics and images may range from those based on common
characteristics to those based on more distinctive or unique
characteristics. At this regard, the destination image construct is
quite rich because it uncovers multi-components. Indeed, it is commonly
viewed as a compound of various dimensions that enhance destination
attractiveness for potential tourists (Mackay, Fesenrhasier, 1997;
Freire. 2002; Blain et al, 2005).
Components and formation of destination image
The conceptualization of destination image also concentrates on
three components: affective, cognitive, and conative, which have a
hierarchical relation. The cognitive component includes knowledge and
beliefs of destination attributes. Affective component is related to how
the person values destination, or what does he/she feel about it. After
the formation of affective and perceptual components, the conative
component is happening, or the travel decision is made (Crompton, 1979;
Echtner, Ritchie, 1993; Freire, 2002). Understanding the formation
process will help destination marketers design effective destination
branding strategy. The formation of image is influenced by the
characteristics of a destination, exposition to information received
about that destination (Baloglu, 1997) and personal factors such as
motivations and social demographic characteristics (Baloglu, 1999,
Crompton, 1979). Following these previous models, Beerli and Martin
(2004) proposed a similar conceptual model of the formation of
destination image where the perceived destination image composed of
cognitive and affective images forming the overall image is influenced
by the two main factors, information sources and personal factors. The
information sources might be secondary such as induced, organic and
autonomous or primary such as motivation, traveling experience and
socio-demographic variables.
In short, the essence of destination image studies is to discover
how people visualize, think, and feel toward places. The perception of
tourism destination image through attributes can influence
tourists' destination choice (Goodrich, 1978; Gartner, 1986; Hunt,
1995; Jenkin, 1999). It also plays also an important role in the
formation of satisfaction of travelers (Buhalis, 2000; Pike, 2008).
Interestingly, due to the multi-dimensional and dynamic nature of
destination image (Kotler, Gertner, 2002; Freire, 2002), researchers
should analyze the composite image in the context of a specific place
and a specific period of time. In addition, the image perceived by
visitors might not be necessarily similar to that projected by the
government or anticipated by destination marketers, and "no two
people see a destination in exactly the same way" (Dann, 1996).
Beside, the relationship of tourists' perception of a destination
attributes and their destination selection might be reinforced by the
importance of some important attributes as some destination attributes
may play a more important role than others (Swarbrooke, 1999).
Therefore, while investigating image of a destination, researchers
should focus not only on a particular place and point of time, but also
on specific segments of population.
MEASUREMENT OF DESTINATION IMAGE
The relationship of tourists' perception of a destination
attributes and their destination selection might be reinforced by the
importance of some important attributes as some destination attributes
may play a more important role than others (Swarbrooke, 1999).
Therefore, it is important for tourism researchers to identify and
measure destination image by capturing destination image core
components.
Attributes components captured
As an image of a destination is defined as a set of attributes,
most of research works focus on the attribute component of destination
image. Echtner and Ritchie (1991, 1993) suggested an empirical research
framework where components captured are composed of attribute-based
images, holistic impressions, and functional, psychological, unique, and
common characteristics.
Methods used
The measurement of tourism destination image has been important for
both researchers and practitioners. An accurate assessment of image
helps destination marketers design an effective marketing strategy
(Reilly, 1990, reviewed by Baloglu, Mangaloglu, 2001). To measure
comprehensively a destination image, researchers did apply structured or
unstructured measurement approaches. Structured approaches include
semantic differential scales or Likert scale format to evaluate the
cognitive (natural beauty, friendly people, value for money, weather,
nightlife, entertainment, ...) and affective components (Exciting
atmosphere, romance, ...) of a tourism destination image (Goodrrich,
1978; Haahti, 1986; Gartner, 1989; Bagloly, Brinberg, 1997; Jenkins,
1999; Hankinson, 2004). Because this method usually requires respondents
to evaluate a set of pre-determined attributes subjectively, it might be
relatively unreliable (Timmermans et al, 1982, cited by Jenkins, 1999).
Meanwhile, unstructured techniques explore the richness of image that
measuring image by pre-identification of attributes fails to capture it
(Gallara, Saura, 2002, reviewed by Zhou, 2005). However, few research
works have used consumers to identify attributes relevant to a
destination image. Therefore, a combination of an exploratory
qualitative study and a validation of the results seems the most useful
method to investigate a tourism destination image. To investigate the
projected and perceived image of Mexico, Crompton (1979) applied content
analysis of written information (reading material, travel brochures) and
unstructured interviews with 36 students to identify the attributes of
Mexico. Particularly, content analysis of both written and visual
information such as brochures, photos, movies) is an effective method to
study the images projected by the public and private tourism
organizations. For instance, Dilley (1986), reviewed by Jenkins (1999)
used this method to reveal the destination images projected by different
national tourist organizations to the North American market. Content
analysis is also used in focus groups or in-depth interviews where
respondents discusses their image of a destination were taped and
transcribed, and then, the important dimensions, constructs or
attributes are extracted (Jenkins, 1999).
The quantitative study will validate the qualitative findings.
Echtner and Ritchie (1991, 1993) suggested an empirical research
framework where components captured are composed of attribute-based
images, holistic impressions, and functional, psychological, unique, and
common characteristics. They propose a combination of structured and
unstructured methodologies to measure the destination image.
IDENTIFICATION OF TOURISM DESTINATION IMAGE ATTRIBUTES OF VIETNAM
In the empirical tourism literature, researchers usually proposed a
set of attributes to identify the image of a particular destination. In
his review of literature on tourism destination image attributes, Zhou
(2005) listed 16 attributes which were frequently used from 28 previous
studies for different destinations during the period 1986 to 2005
namely: (1) Culture, history, (2) Landscape, (3) Services (shopping,
accommodation, food, and transportation), (4) Entertainment, (5)
Relaxation, (6) Climate (pleasant weather, ...), (7) Price (cost, value
for money), (8) Sport, (9) Safety (personal safety), (10) Local
people's attitude toward visitors, (11) Special events and
activities, (12) Accessibility (information available), (13) Adventure,
(14) Wildlife, (15) Close to other destinations, (16) Special animals.
Zhou also pointed out that among them the most frequently used
attributes are: Price, Culture and history, Entertainment, Relaxation,
Landscape, Climate, Safety, Accessibility, Local people attitudes toward
tourists, Special events and activities, Adventure, and Tourism
services. However, these frequently used attributes must be analyzed
with reserve because not all tourism destinations share the same core
attributes and visitors might see a destination in their own perception.
Therefore, the country specificities must be taken into consideration.
In the case of Vietnam, relevant destination image attributes for
Vietnam might not be the same as studied in previous research works.
Based on the empirical tourism literature in Asia and specifically in
Vietnam, we incorporate 9 new attributes which were additionally
identified: (17) Cleanliness, (18) Political stability, (19) New
experience (20) Tourism infrastructure, (21) World heritage sites, (22)
Souvenirs, handicrafts, (23) Convenience, (24) Exotic food, (25)
Interesting local ways of life (Tapachai, Waryszak, 2000; Nguyen, 2008;
Le, Cooper, 2009; Bui, Perez, 2010; Asia-Pacific Travel Intentions
Survey, 2010, conducted by Visa and the Pacific-Asia Association
(PATA)). However, among the 25 attributes identified especially for
Vietnam, we discard 3 attributes namely Sport, Wildlife, and Special
animals that seem less relevant to Vietnam tourism specificities. Thus,
we propose an initial list of 22 tourism destination image attributes
from tangible attributes (from attributes 1 to 8) to less tangible or
psychological attributes (from attributes 9 to 22) in Table 1.
PROJECTED VERSUS PERCEIVED TOURISM DESTINATION IMAGE OF VIETNAM: AN
EMPIRICAL STUDY
Research methodology
Based on our initial literature-based list of attributes, we design
an empirical research to examine how international tourists perceive the
image of Vietnam as a tourism destination. The identification of
attributes perceived by tourists will allow us to confront with our
above literature-based list of attributes selected for Vietnam so as to
adjust our list of attributes suitable to the tourists'
perspective.
Besides, aiming to explore projected and perceived destination
image, unstructured method which does not use any form of descriptions
to measure destination image (Boivin, 1986, cited by Rashid and Ismail,
2008) is chosen because it facilitates to capture the most relevant
destination image attributes. The investigation of congruency between
the projected and perceived image will be processed in three steps as
follows:
Step 1: Exploring the perceived image.
Identifying destination image attributes of Vietnam perceived by
international visitors by conducting an exploratory study with in-depth
interviews with an interview guideline. Respondents were asked to talk
firstly about their perception about the image of Vietnam before
visiting the country. Then, they talked freely about their travel
experience, and especially their perception about attributes forming
destination image. The sample is composed of 43 foreign tourists coming
to Vietnam during the period of June 2010-March 2011 (in which 8 are
repeat travelers) at different tourist sites such as Halong Bay, Hanoi,
HCMC Da Lat, Nha Trang, Mekong Delta, and Mui Ne. Interviewees were
chosen among key target segments in Vietnam: American (7), Russian (12),
Japanese (5), Italian (3), Spanish (4), English (2), French (5), and
Australian (5). All of them come from the upper middle income class of
different categories of profession, from entrepreneurs to employees. The
selection of various markets in our study is explained by the diversity
of Vietnamese structure of international tourists because in our
preliminary study about destination image we tempt to explore the
general perception of international tourists on the tourism image of
Vietnam before moving forward to segmenting the Vietnamese inbound
tourism market as the literature suggests.
Step 2: Exploring the projected image by the Vietnamese government.
To determine the image projected by the Vietnamese authorities, we
use a content analysis on Vietnam's National Administration Tourism
website and promotion tools such as advertising in the mass media and
other marketing efforts to promote the image of Vietnam by the tourism
public sector. In addition, to collect primary data about the projected
mage by the tourism private sector, we also conduct in-depth interviews
with 5 big tour agencies operating in Vietnam to analyze the image of
Vietnam that they want to project. The choice of tour operators and
travel agents in the destination selection process is explained by the
fact that these agents serve as both distribution channels and image
creators (Reimer, 1990). Our content analysis of verbal, written, and
visual information is justified by research works reviewed by Jenkins
(1999) to analyze the projected destination image. Koerte (2009) also
applied by this method to study core attributes projected by the tourism
public and private sector in Tanzania such as Natural environment,
Culture, Marketing, Business, Transportations, Accommodation, Travel
information, Activities, Wildlife, and Attractions.
Step 3: Congruency analysis of projected image by the Vietnamese
authorities and perceived image by foreign visitors.
The level of congruency between the projected and perceived image
will be assessed after confronting core attributes captured from this
empirical study.
Findings: Perceived versus projected tourism destination image of
Vietnam
Our qualitative research indicates that our 22 proposed attributes
from the existing tourism literature seem to match perfectly with those
perceived positively or negatively by our respondents. Interestingly, 4
more attributes are added, namely (23) Memories, nostalgia and colonial
charm, (24) Green, environment protection, (25) Economic development,
(26) Freshness of products, healthy eating habits from foreign visitor.
Indeed, they were really amazed with the Vietnamese consumption of fresh
produce and healthy eating habits (a well-balance of protein,
carbohydrates, and vegetables). More importantly, experiencing a couple
of days in busy cities like Hanoi and Hochiminh city had changed their
image of Vietnam as a quiet and still poor country after the war. Thus,
Economic development seems also a core attribute contributing to the
image of Vietnam. Otherwise, friendly attitudes of residents toward
foreign tourists, cheap purchase, exotic food, souvenirs, traditional
artworks, natural beauty, rich culture, diverse ethnic groups, long
history and colonial charm are positively perceived by most of
respondents. Delicious cuisine, restful feelings, good weather with
eternal sunshine, freshness of produce, new experience, and friendly
people are particularly highlighted by all of international tourists.
For instance, good food such as Pho noodles (Vietnamese beef or chicken
noodle), spring rolls, fresh sea food, regional specialties, tropical
fruit has been always an interesting attribute along with History linked
to the war memories from travelers' relatives, Convenience viewed
by most of respondents as the abundant availability of fruit and food
every corner. Exciting life that means for them overcoming fears to go
across busy streets in the heart of motorbike cities, socializing in
traditional markets by bargaining, Entertainment at Vinperland close to
the beach in Nha Trang, fun when attending different local festivals,
and New experience when riding motorbikes have amazed international
visitors.
In contrast, Poor tourism infrastructure, Unsecured feeling when
going across the streets, and traffic accidents, Bad environment
protection have been causing a negative image of Vietnam as a tourism
destination.
Interestingly, regarding the image projected, among 26 attributes
perceived by international travelers interviewed, only 18 attributes
have been projected by both Vietnamese authorities and tourism agencies
(Table 2).
Results of our study suggest that basically the destination image
components projected by the Vietnamese authorities, in particular
functional and emotional attributes such as Price, Natural beauty,
Safety, Friendly people, Relaxing atmosphere, New experience, Culture
and history, Festivals and cultural events, Exotic food, Good climate,
Tourism services, Adventure, Entertainment and Political stability have
been perceived by international tourists. The "hidden charm"
to discover, "unpredictable" trip experience by questioning
"What next?" (TV commercial broadcasted in CNN during December
2010) in "Vietnam, your destination" promoted by the
Vietnamese public tourism industry have been effectively helping
travelers to connect the place with their experience.
In addition, in order targeting North American and European
tourists, tour operators also use emotional attributes such as Memories
linked to the Vietnam war, Nostalgia, colonial charm with French
colonial architectural motifs of buildings, houses and churches to
enhance the image of Vietnam. Nevertheless, the 7 other destination
image attributes that seem important for tourists to evaluate their
satisfaction such as Tourism infrastructure, Convenience, Green and
environment protection, Cleanliness, Close to other destinations,
Memories, nostalgia and colonial charm, and Healthy eating have not been
projected by the Vietnamese government. Surprisingly, while natural
beauty, friendly people, political stability and diversity of culture
are strongly projected by tour operators and the government, the
attribute that seems very important for international tourists, and
especially for Vietnam to promote a new image of the country with Rapid
economic development has not been highlighted by the Vietnamese tourism
public and private sector.
MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Our research points out that there is a relative level of
congruency between the projected and perceived image of Vietnam as a
tourism destination. However, the major dissonance between the projected
and perceived image is the view of the quality of tourism
infrastructure, convenience, cleanliness, and tourism environment
protection that might undermine the tourism destination image of Vietnam
as the tourism literature taught. In this sense, the public and private
tourism sector in Vietnam has to take aggressive destination marketing
actions focusing on improving the positive image of Vietnam while these
attributes contribute to the sustainable tourism development.
The construction of Vietnam as a tourism destination anticipated by
the tourism industry has long been as a country of natural beauty, a
nation of peace loving with long history and smiling people. Meanwhile,
the success of Vietnam's gradual industrialization efforts since
its liberalization to international trade and investment leading to
unprecedented high economic growth sustained for a long period has not
been projected even though Economic development is positively perceived
by most of foreign tourists. In order to create a new image of Vietnam
as a tourism destination, this attribute seems one of the most relevant
to attract foreign visitors.
As a tourism destination image is perceived differently by
different markets, segmentation of the inbound market might be effective
to enhance travelers' satisfaction and hence increase loyalty.
Due to the quasi-nonexistent of research on the congruency of
projected and perceived tourism destination image of Vietnam, we propose
to validate to our exploratory research to a comprehensive quantitative
research while refining our study with a particular tourist attraction
and a particular tourist segment for future research.
CONCLUSION
While Vietnam has been gaining popularity as an attractive tourism
destination, there is a lack of research on its destination image that
plays an important role to influence tourists' decision making to
visit Vietnam. More importantly, tourism development depends strongly on
the degree of congruency between the projected and perceived image. By
exploring the perception of international tourists toward Vietnam as a
tourism destination, we find out that international tourists seem very
sensitive to personal safety, hygiene and health care, environmental
issues as well as economic path of a country they decide to visit.
Unfortunately, these components have not been anticipated by the tourism
industry. The results of this research will help destination marketers
from both public and private sectors to be aware of the structure of
destination image and to identify the relevant core destination image
attributes so as to take actions on building a strong the tourism
destination image of Vietnam.
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Thi Lan Huong Bui, CFVG, University of Economics of HCMCTable 1: An initial literature-based list of tourism destination
image attributes for Vietnam
No. Destination image attributes of Vietnam
1 Cheap purchases
2 Exotic food, delicious cuisine
3 Interesting local ways of life, rich culture
4 Historical places, world heritage sites, beautiful
architectural buildings
5 Beautiful landscapes and beaches
6 Cultural festivals and events
7 Souvenirs, handicrafts items
8 History
9 Tourism services quality
10 Tourism infrastructure
11 Entertainment
12 Friendly people
13 New experience
14 Convenience
15 Cleanliness
16 Relaxing atmosphere
17 Safety, security
18 Political stability
19 Good climate
20 Adventure
21 Accessibility (information available)
22 Close to other destinations
Table 2: Perceived versus projected tourism destination image of
Vietnam
No. Literature-based Perceived Projected
1 Cheap purchases X X
2 Exotic food, delicious cuisine X X
3 Interesting local ways of life, X X
rich culture
4 Historical places, world heritage X X
sites, beautiful architectural
buildings
5 Beautiful landscapes and beaches X X
6 Cultural festivals and events X X
7 Souvenirs, handicrafts items X X
8 History X X
9 Tourism services quality X X
10 Tourism infrastructure X (-) *
11 Entertainment X X
12 Friendly people X X
13 New, authentic experience X X
14 Convenience X
15 Cleanliness X
16 Relaxing atmosphere X X
17 Personal safety, security (in the X (-) * X
streets)
18 Political stability, peace X X
19 Good climate X X
20 Adventure X X
21 Accessibility (information X X
available)
22 Close to other destinations X
23 Memories, X
nostalgia, (Tourist
colonial charm agents)
Green,
24 environment
protection;
(-) *
25 Economic
development
26 Freshness of
products,
healthy eating
habits
Note: (-) *: these attributes are negatively perceived by respondents