No abstract

This study examines the evolution of the city of Athens’ destination image from 2005 to 2015, in order to exploit the impact of the recent economic recession on individual perceptions. It uses advanced web content mining to analyze Tripadvisor messages that were posted in Athens Travel Forum. The findings show that the image of Athens has remained positive, facing a significant, but short-term, shift during the first years of the crisis. The findings also reveal that the destination image of Athens is only partially shared by people residing inside and outside Greece, and that non-Greek residents have more favorable perceptions towards the destination. The study expands understanding on destination image literature by demonstrating the normative nature of destination images, which - once established - can be particularly resistant to change, even during long term crises

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On-screen tourism destinations provide tourists with a mixture of reality and mass-media experience. This study builds a conceptual framework of authenticity evaluating the relationship between fantasy proneness, authenticity, and destination loyalty. It is among the first to compare perceived authenticity of dual images of a destination, both the film location and the story’s setting. Using Game of Thrones and the city of Dubrovnik as a case, it applies a mixed method of interviews followed by a main survey with both closed- and open-ended questions. The primary findings show that the relationship between authenticity of the film location (Dubrovnik) and loyalty is positive, but such relationship is insignificant for the authenticity of the story’s setting (King’s Landing). This investigation enriches our understanding of the complex assessments of authenticity and expands the theory of imagination by evaluating the effects of fantasy proneness on perceived authenticity in the context of on-screen tourism.

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