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This paper analyses the relationship between the image of a destination and demand duration, focusing specifically on Madeira. A seemingly unrelated discrete-choice duration model is adopted, with data from a questionnaire survey undertaken in 2008 on a sample of homeward-bound foreign individuals departing from Madeira's Funchal Airport. The paper discusses the policy implications of the research findings.

Today, destinations are evaluated by tourists according to safety and risk factors with regard to natural, terrorism and political problems. The portrayal of places in news reports can alter an area's image dramatically, even in a short period of time. Often, natural disasters have impacts on the image of international destinations that endure for months if not years. Hence, media coverage of disasters or crises is of particular concern to destinations where such disasters occur. The Island of Madeira was not prepared for a catastrophe such as the one that occurred in February 2010, and its consequence has been a huge drop in the tourism industry. Driven by the generally accepted importance of destination image as a concept to destination marketers and academics, this article proposes that previous destination image research has tended to underestimate the importance of safety, security and risk. It also proposes a strategic approach to Destination management from proactive pre-crisis planning through to strategic implementation and finally evaluation and feedback.

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This paper adopts a three-stage procedure to measure and test the productivity and efficiency standings of Portuguese travel agents during 2005-2007. In the first stage, the authors use a bootstrapped Malmquist index approach to obtain estimates of total productivity growth. In the second stage, they obtain year-by-year efficiency scores, using a bootstrapped DEA model. A bootstrapped truncated regression is then adopted in the third stage to identify the covariates that explain technical efficiency. Results from a sample of 25 agents indicate that, on average, Portuguese agents experienced an increase in productivity over the period of the study. On the efficiency side, however, most travel agents were found to be operating at a high degree of inefficiency. Differences in productivity and efficiency between individual travel agents appeared to be related to factors such as market share and management style. The results are discussed and policy implications are derived.