Abstract
Although destination image is one of the most studied topics in tourism literature, little is known about how it is formed in the minds of people and how destination image evolves through destination life cycle stages. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical approach to the destination image formation process. In this conceptual paper, the co-created destination image (CoDI) approach was introduced. Co-creation and tourism area life cycle (TALC) approaches were used as the theoretical frameworks. The main elements of CoDI are interaction value, self-regulated image, and the co-creation process. Twelve CoDIs were developed for the four main stages of the TALC model—namely, exploration, development, stagnation, and decline. The CoDI approach shows that destination image formation evolves throughout the destination life cycle. Co-creation of the destination image is first introduced in this paper, which is used to explain how the image of destinations evolves.