Measuring destination image dissonance: A compositional data analysis of cross-media representations in Sanya’s Tourism
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines Sanya's tourism image disparities across cognitive, spatial, and affective dimensions in Press Generated Content (PGC), Tourist Generated Content (TGC), and Official Generated Content (OGC) (2013-2022), comparing pre-pandemic (2013-2019) and COVID-19 (2020-2022) periods. Results show: cognitive consistency in "tourism/hotels" but TGC focusing on "coastal + food" vs. PGC/OGC emphasizing policy elements; spatial misalignment between policy-driven spaces and tourists' preferred spaces, revealing a systematic dissonance between institutional promotion and on-the-ground practices; affective dominance of "enjoyment/romance" but TGC expressing unmet needs and OGC suppressing negatives. Systematic cognitive divergence exists between official and tourist narratives. The Aitchison distance measuring this divergence jumps from 19.574 in the pre-pandemic phase (2013-2019) to 40.648 during the pandemic-impacted phase (2020-2022), demonstrating that structural gaps between the two narrative systems become more pronounced amid the public health crisis. Targeted strategies are accordingly proposed to narrow such narrative discrepancies.
Source: PLoS ONE
Authors: Xueli Li, Jianlan Ding, Yina Zhang, Tao Hu
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,382
OpenAlex ID: W7222337762