手绘认知地图是典型的非结构化的研究方法,以旅游为主题的手绘认知地图能够深入的探索旅游者对目的地人、地方或事物所持有的意象,尤其在跨文化的研究中独具意义。本研究通过客流跟踪的调研方式,获得了我国八个主要入境旅游城市美国团队游客的手绘认知地图。在此资料基础上从空间认知元素和空间认知结构两方面对跨文化旅游者目的地意象进行了分析,并讨论了其相对于居民城市意象的共性和个性。最后,发现跨文化旅游者目的地意象认知元素因旅游主题性而超越了城市的一般物质形态,空间认知符号化特征显著,并且呈现出明显的尺度差异。
Destination image is a valuable concept in understanding the destination selection process of tourists as well as destination positioning strategy. The majority of destination image studies have relied on structured surveys developed from the researchers' point of view. Structured methodologies that use a standardized scale are easy to administer and suit sophisticated statistical techniques. Nevertheless, structured methods have been criticized for not being able to capture the holistic and unique components of a destination image from the visitors' point of view. Sketch cognitive map is a typical unstructured research method. Specifically, in cross-cultural study, the tourism-themed sketch cognitive map can help us further explore the images of people, place and things that tourists cognize. As a research methodology, sketch cognitive map gets to the root of perceptions concerning the personal, the social or the cultural and in addition, links so-called qual- itative and quantitative approaches to social science. And this survey received 836 hand-painted cognitive maps. We set the question as "please draw a picture according to your sense of Beijing/Shanghai/Chengdu ... ".Then we analyze two aspects of the American package tourists' sketch cognitive maps.The first aspect is the sketch cognitive map' spatial elements, including cultural constructions, natural landscapes, human activities and tourism supports. The second one is the sketch cognitive map' spatial structure, including haplotype, splashes and spatial pattern. By means of the two aspects we discuss the commonness and difference between tourists' destination image and residents' city image. Finally, we find that because of thematic tourism, cross-cultural tourists' cognitive elements of destination image is more than the general physical form, and they mainly show cultural constructions, natural landscapes, human activities and tourism supports.