The role of social interaction during visitation on social destination image formation

With the support of the social representation approach, this study explores what role social interaction plays in the process of destination image formation in a group vacation travel context. Participants are ten tourists traveling to Jordan on a 10-day packaged tour. Data were collected with pre-and post-visitation in-depth interviews and participant observation conducted during visitation. Findings reveal that intra-group social interaction during visitation affects the cognitive and affective makeup of individuals’ destination image. The proposal of an integrated conceptualization of the investigated process constitutes the main theoretical contribution. Practical implications relevant to industry practitioners are highlighted.