The Salient and Organic Images of Taiwan as Perceived by Mainland Chinese Tourists

This research investigates the salient and organic images of Taiwan as perceived by Mainland Chinese tourists. Using the method of free elicitation to ask respondents to describe freely their holistic, psychological and unique images of Taiwan, this research obtained abundant marketing information from 57 potential visitors and 59 actual visitors. The results show that Taiwan is perceived to be a beautiful island with attractive nature and culture. The results also reveal that cultural proximity makes Taiwan a sentimental destination for the Mainland Chinese. The above results provide evidence that free elicitation is an effective method of measuring destination image.