Destination awareness among long-haul non-visitors

Abstract

This study explores destination awareness of 14 Asian destinations and ‘Asia’ as a whole among American and British long-haul non-visitors. It conceptualizes destination awareness as a pre-decisional state grounded in limited cognitive associations and weak or absent affective impressions, with conative elements largely inapplicable, providing a theoretical foundation for future research on non-visitors. The findings show that, except for Thailand, cognitive awareness is shallow, generic, and stereotypical, and that ‘none’ is the most common affective response, challenging the dominant assumption in the destination image literature of structured cognitive knowledge and explicit affective evaluation. Building on a dynamic cognitive–affective framework, five destination classes emerge, extending the current understanding of the cognitive–affective relationship in destination image formation. This study concludes that developing positive and enduring affective associations with each place is critical for addressing cognitive limitations and unlocking long-haul market potential.