Destination image and destination personality Sameer Hosany School of Management, Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham, UK Yuksel Ekinci School of Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK, and Muzaffer Uysal Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia, USA Abstract Purpose – To examine the contentious relationship between brand image and brand personality in the context of tourism destinations. Design/methodology/approach – The paper reviews the literature on brand (destination) image, brand (destination) personality and identifies examples of definitional inconsistencies and instances where the terms brand image and brand personality are used interchangeably. Two studies were carried out to investigate the relationship between the two constructs. Data were analysed using canonical correlation. Findings – Results indicate that destination image and destination personality are related concepts. Canonical correlation analyses reveal that the emotional component of destination image captures the majority of variance on destination personality dimensions. Research limitations/implications – Academics must pay particular attention at distinguishing between brand image and brand personality, since, failure to do so, will hinder research progress and result in poor conceptual developments. Practical implications – Destination marketers can focus on the commonality between destination image and destination personality in order to communicate unique destination features and to influence tourist behavior. Originality/value – This paper fills a gap in the generic branding literature by adopting an empirical stance at delineating the relationship between brand image and brand personality in the context of tourism destinations. Keywords Tourism, Brand image Paper type Research paper Brand management scholars (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 1997) argue that brand image is an essential part of powerful brands. A strong brand can differentiate a product/service from its competitors (Lim and O’Cass, 2001). For the consumer, brands reduce search costs (Biswas, 1992), minimize perceived risks (Berthon et al., 1999), indicate high quality (Erdem, 1998), and satisfy consumers’ functional and emotional needs (Bhat and Reddy, 1998). In the literature, a number of theoretical frameworks exist to understand brands, brand image, brand building and brand management (Keller, 1993; Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 1997; de Chernatony, 2001). Despite the significant importance of brand image The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at www.emeraldinsight.com/1750-6182.htm The earlier version of this research was presented at the 4th Consumer Psychology of Tourism, Hospitality, and Leisure Symposium in Montreal, Canada, in July 2005. IJCTHR 1,1 62 Received July 2005 Revised November 2005 Accepted September 2006 International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research Vol. 1 No. 1, 2007 pp. 62-81 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 1750-6182 DOI 10.1108/17506180710729619