Purpose The process of understanding a tourist begins with an extensive evaluation of tourist’s perceptions about a destination. Though destination image has been widely discussed in tourism literature since the 1970s, little attention has been given to organic image despite its relative significance. First, this study aims to clear the existing ambiguity in the cognitive component of destination image by organizing and structuring the extant literature. Design/methodology/approach This exploratory study then seeks to identify the salient organic image attributes in tourists’ consideration for travel options through the application of repertory test. Respondents’ statements on 25 competing destinations in Madhya Pradesh, India were transcribed verbatim for analysis. A measure of frequencies and commonality among 12 construct themes was then carried out. Findings Along with history, heritage and culture, this study found tourists to have considered organic image attributes associated with destination stereotypes as important discriminators between competing leisure tourist destinations. Moreover, the elicitation of context-specific attributes along with a note in the pattern of tourist responses highlighted the merits of repertory test when presented with different category triads. Originality/value This study differs from other organic image studies as it evaluates the prominence of organic image in the context of leisure tourism. Being one of the few studies to have extensively discussed the organic image component, this study contributes to the progression of organic image literature.

PurposeDespite years of research on destination image (DI), studies have surprisingly failed to investigate how tourists perceive and approach destinations that they are not cognizant about. While prodigious amount of information is available on the dimensionality and nature of DI, little is known about the construct with reference to cognizance, geographical proximity and units. Understanding such an aspect would help destination management organizations (DMOs) in refining their marketing strategies and in improving their destination's competitiveness.Design/methodology/approachThrough an extensive review of literature in areas pertinent to the phenomenon being investigated, this article puts forward a series of propositions, which are then used in the framework entailing the proposed construct of destination stereotypes (DS).FindingsWhile identifying an overlap in concepts pertaining to the fields of marketing and tourism, this study postulates that DS facilitate the extension of a destination's dominant impressions to that of another based on various parameters. It further discusses several courses through which impressions of a particular destination are extended to that of another, thereby putting forward DS as a missing link in tourists' reception of destinations.Practical implicationsDS as a construct helps in identifying the source of an impression which may not be the destination in question but instead another destination. Upon construct validity, the proposed framework would yield insights into other competing destinations and thereby effectively help in altering the extant DI.Originality/valueWhile there have been many studies on tourist stereotypes and DI, it is amongst the first few studies to have discussed stereotypes in the context of destinations and their image, especially with an emphasis on cognizance, geographical proximity and units. Therefore, it acts as a meaningful piece of work towards the progression of the DI literature.

Given the relative proliferation of social media users and the significance of information collection in a consumer's decision journey, this study tried to identify the most widely used social media platforms for India's travel information. To evaluate the general trustworthiness of inbound tourists on social media platforms, focus group interviews were conducted across 12 Indian states in which 300 foreign tourists from 85 countries took part. Tripadvisor and Facebook were the two social media platforms with the greatest number of users seeking India's travel information. The findings of the study conclude the use of multiple social media platforms for varied information and destination choice.

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Though there has been an upward rise in the number of publications on COVID-19, tourism and hospitality, researchers have turned a blind eye towards conducting a multifaceted stakeholder assessment of its impact on a given destination and the possible effects of recent developments on the destination’s recovery. To address the latent gap, this study first attempts to assess the impact of COVID-19 on various aspects of a destination’s businesses, workforce and the local community. Taking into consideration the recent pharmaceutical developments and ease in travel restrictions, it then explores the effects of such an intervention on the destinations’ recovery process. 142 valid questionnaires were collected from employees of travel agents, tour operators, transport operators and hotels in the northern part of India. Subsequently, PLS-SEM (partial least squares structural equation modeling) was applied using SmartPLS to test the proposed hypotheses. Through two individual studies in September 2020 and November 2021 i.e. at different stages of the pandemic, this study not only offers insights into the current status of destination recovery but also tests the validity and applicability of recent publications, their proposed recommendations and future practices. Recovery at a destination was found to be a result of the recovery of its businesses, workforce and community. These factors also had positive and negative impacts on each other. The article further suggests the low transformational ability of the pandemic in the context of tourism and hospitality. It is amongst the first few studies to have carried out a temporal assessment of stakeholders for an investigation into the pandemic’s impact on destinations in addition to their recovery.