Projected Destination Image Online: Content Analysis of Official Tourism Websites in China

An appealing projected image of a destination can inform its potential consumers, and in turn, to influence their travel decisions. Consequently, understanding the elements used to represent a destination is critical to the place's marketing. The purpose of this study is to explore the online images that are projected to English-speaking markets by provincial tourism agencies within the three economic zones (eastern, central, and western) in Mainland China. The initial sample included the homepages of the websites of all of the twenty-seven provincial tourism bureaus and four tourism bureaus of direct-controlled municipalities under the supervision of the three economic zones in China. The data were retrieved during the first week of April 2010 through an online search and analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative content analyses. Four main image themes with twelve sub-themes emerged from the qualitative content analysis. The main themes included tasting the locale, social environment, communicating with the outside world, and easing your visit. The calculation of the occurrence showed that six sub-themes were projected by most of the tourism bureaus in the three economic zones, including natural resources/environment, historical and cultural resources, tourist activities, background of the region, infrastructure and facilities, and services. The results also indicate that websites in the eastern zone tended to project images focusing on business, economic development, and quality of life. The websites in the central economic zone seemed to emphasize the factor of communication in their projected images. The western economic zone seemed more focused on local features.