Online destination image: Comparing national tourism organisation's and tourists' perspectives

This study examines the perceived and projected online destination images (DI) manifested in tourist generated content (TGC) and national tourism organisation (NTO) generated content. Through visual content analysis and raise en scene analysis of photographic data as well as content analysis and perceptual mapping analysis of textual data, the differences between perceived and projected online DI of Eastern Taiwan were explored. TGC and NTO contents were both found to have similarly represented Eastern Taiwan as a destination abounds with natural environment, infrastructure, specific activities, and tourist attractions. However, several important DI dimensions were under-represented in the NTO content, for example, food and beverages, transportation, information and accommo-dation. The findings further reveal that the TGC textual content tended to outperform NTO textual content in reflecting affective DI; and photographic content, in general, was more effective in conveying affective attributes. The findings provide useful insights for practice and future research in DI management. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.