Stopover destination image: A comparison of salient attributes elicited from French and Australian travellers

In the first 40 years of the destination marketing literature there has been little research published in relation to stopover destination image. While the destination image research stream has been one of the most popular in this domain, most studies to date have not been context-specific. That is to say the image of a destination has commonly been measured without reference to a specific travel situation. The aim of this research was to identify attributes of destinations deemed salient to travellers when considering a stopover during long haul travel. Underpinned by Personal Construct Theory, the study used the Repertory Test technique in personal interviews with French travellers. The findings are then compared to attributes elicited from Australian travellers in an earlier study. While there were a few key differences between the two samples, the commonality of stopover destination attribute salience will enable the development of a questionnaire to measure stopover destination image. Importantly, a number of the elicited stopover destination attributes have not been commonly used in generic destination image studies. The study highlights the value of engaging with the traveller in the questionnaire design stage, and goes some way to support the proposition that, due to the short stay nature of stopovers during long haul travel, destination attribute salience might differ to that for other travel situations.