Projected And Perceived Image Web Content Analysis:Destination Image Congruency Between Official Image And Chinese Tourists Image Of Czech Republic

The vast increase of Chinese outbound tourists traveling overseas has drawn attention in the tourism industry.It has become common to use social media in relation to traveling to collect information and knowledge as well as sharing travel experiences and activities.This research attempts to show the congruency and possible differences between the online destination images presented through official tourism stakeholders of Czech Republic and the online destination image that Chinese travelers use when describing their trip.So that the results can offer the opportunity for Czech destination marketers,and international tourism service organizations to target the Chinese tourists more explicitly and to conduct more efficient online marketing and image building.This paper employs a quantitative content analysis to present comprehensive results.Nine of the important destination attributes of Czech Republic were identified based on an approach close to the substitution model.Firstly the topic and study area were considered,then the literature was reviewed in search of useful analysis categorization,and lastly the categories were proposed.The content analysis examined the most used words in numerous blogs and travel agency offerings as well as on the official website of Czech tourism agency.The focus of this analysis was to determine the frequency of the cognitive and affective attributes used by the Czech official travel website and travel agencies to Czech Republic,examining 100 tourism offers on Chinese travel websites Ctrip and Qunar and official travel website CzechTourism.com/cn.Moreover,the goal was to determine the frequency of the cognitive and affective attributes used by Chinese tourists who visited Czech Republic,examining 200 travel blogs on one of the most famous Chinese travel website Mafengwo.After establishing what the projected and perceived image 100 most used words are,they were put into tables,so the congruency between these two images could be analyzed and displayed.The results show that,Czech Republic has been projected as a country that offers various tourist attractions that largely focus on culture,history and nature.A similar pattern can be observed when analyzing travel blogs.Visitors perceive Czech Republic as a culture-wealthy destination with many interesting tourist attractions,however the big difference is that the perceived image is mostly focused on the capital city Prague.The findings indicate a near overall congruency in Accommodation,Cuisine and Activities dimensions.The results suggest,that although resources are invested into improving the overall image of Czech Republic as an attractive destination with various locations around thecountry worth visiting,the majority of Chinese tourists are still limited to mostly write about Prague.