Abstract:
Destination image is widely accepted as an important aspect of successful tourism development and marketing of destinations. This research, therefore, seeks to investigate how experiences at a South African international airport influence travellers' image of South Africa as a tourist destination and their willingness to revisit the country. The study adopted the positivist philosophy, where it was quantitative nature. Participants were randomly selected through convenience sampling on-site at the airport. Findings of the study revealed that cognitive destination image, affective destination image, and conative destination image all have a direct and positive influence on a tourist's intention to revisit a destination. The main contribution of the study was that cognitive destination image (pre-conceived ideas about a destination) had the most influence on a traveller's intention to revisit that destination. This implies that tourism organisations and airport management companies in South Africa have to focus more on marketing the country as a travel destination in the home countries of those travellers before they visit South Africa.
