Investigating the influence of business events experience on international visitors’ perceived destination image: The case of Kenya

Abstract

Tourism destinations’in Africa continue to experience stereo-types, prejudice and negative images. These are further ampli-fied and reinforced by international media. Internationalbusiness events provide an opportunity to enhance the desti-nation’s touristic image and competitiveness. This study inves-tigates the influence of business events experience oninternational visitors’perceived destination image. The studywas carried out at three leading business event venues inNairobi, Kenya. Convenience sampling method was used toselect respondents during the events. A total of 335 question-naires were successfully completed and used for data analysis.An exploratory factor analysis identified six business eventexperiences factors important in influencing a destinationimage including destination’s venue facilities, accommodationfacilities, destination attractions, destination accessibility, des-tination safety and security and perceived affordability of serv-ices. Structural analysis indicated that business eventexperiences influenced destination’s cognitive image and theoverall image. Destination cognitive image influenced destina-tion’s affective image and overall image, while the destina-tion’s affective image influenced the overall image. However,business event experiences did not have a direct significantinfluence on destination’s affective image. The study findingsextend the knowledge on influence of events on the host des-tination’s image using business events perspective. Discussionsand implications of the findings are also highlighted.