The role of tourists icons in first and repeat visitation: Vital information for destination marketers

Icons constitute an important component of destination marketing and usually take centre stage in destination marketing strategies. In the sense used in this paper an icon is a „must see‟ attraction. Key icons for Beijing for example are the Forbidden City and the Great Wall of China. In Paris similar icons include the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe while one of New York‟s best known icons is the statue of Liberty. Despite their importance the role of icons has been largely ignored by tourism researchers. The objective of this research was to compare the significant of destination icons between first time and repeat visitors. From a marketing perspective, an understanding of the role of icons in attracting first time and repeat visitors is critical. The research presented in this paper draws on a large longitudinal database of 4854 valid survey responses from 4972 collected over the period January 2007 to June 2010 in Cairns, Australia.