CELEBRITY FAN INVOLVEMENT AND DESTINATION PERCEPTIONS Soojin Lee David Scott Texas A&M University, USA Hyounggon Kim Sejong University, Republic of Korea Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the extent to which people’s involve- ment with a celebrity affects their perceptions of tourism destinations (familiarity, image, and visitation intentions). An on-site survey was conducted in Japan to examine Japanese’ percep- tions of Korea in relation to their involvement with Korean celebrities. The results corrobo- rated several hypothesized relationships. Celebrity involvement positively affected familiarity and visitation intentions. The results also indicated destination images and familiarity were positively related to visitation intentions. This study furthers researchers’ understanding to an emerging form of tourism whose creation is based on the powerful impacts of mass media and popular culture in post-industrial societies. Keywords: celebrity fandom, leisure involve- ment, destination image, familiarity, film-induced tourism. Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. INTRODUCTION Several studies suggest that portrayals and representation in films and television act as powerful forces that stimulate tourism demand (Beeton, 2001; Connell 2005; Hudson and Ritche 2006; Frost 2006; Kim and Richardson 2003; Riley and Van Doren 1992; Tooke and Ba- ker 1996). While these studies contribute to our understanding of the impact of mass media on tourism phenomena, the actual linkage be- tween the diverse components of mass media and tourism percep- tions/behaviors has yet to be explored. The role that celebrities play in stimulating travel has been acknowledged (Beeton, 2005) but re- mains under-researched in tourism studies. Celebrities are cultural icons in mass media driven societies. Scholars have attempted to understand the emergence and popularity of celeb- rities in light of the cultural characteristics of modernity, such as Soojin Lee is a recently graduated PhD student from the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University. Her research interest includes media- induced tourism and tourist behavior. David Scott is a Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences, Texas A&M University. Hyounggon Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Graduate School of Hospitality and Tourism Management at Sejong University. (Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea. Email <hkim@sejong.ac.kr>). Annals of Tourism Research, Vol. 35, No. 3, pp. 809–832, 2008 0160-7383/$ - see front matter Ó 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Printed in Great Britain doi:10.1016/j.annals.2008.06.003 www.elsevier.com/locate/atoures 809