Comparative study on projected and perceived images of show cave scenic spot：A case of Zhijin cave in Guizhou Province

The comparative analysis between the projected and the perceived image of show cave has a crucial influence on promoting the image construction, enhancing the cave’s attraction to tourist and market competitivenes,as all of these have an impact on the tourist’s decision making prior to being on travel. Zhijin cave is located in Zhijin county, Guizhou Province. Being a 4A level national tourist attraction in China and world geopark site, the Zhijin cave is one of the karst caves in the world with the highest cavity density, the most abundant cave types and the rarest stalactites developed in it. As a pioneer site in the development history of tourist caves in China, Zhijin cave is typical and representative with an earlier start of image construction. In this paper, we used network texts as the data source and applied the software ROST CM to conduct a comparative study on projected image and perceived image of the cave, by adopting the methods of content analysis and social network analysis. The main results are as follows， (1) The key focus of official high-frequency words involves natural landscape, image promotion, transportation, tickets, accommodation, and so on, while the core concerns of tourists mainly focus on natural landscape and guide interpretation; (2) In terms of attribute categories, the concern of tourism administration and tourists is roughly the same, mainly focusing on tourism resources and tourism activities. However, there are still many differences in the image of natural resources and tourism activities; (3) From the result of social network analysis, the tourism authority attaches great importance to tourist experience and pay much attention to tourist services and management, while the tourists care more about on-site lightening and tour guide service; (4) In general, tourists’ positive emotions are dominant, while the primary sources of negative emotions are the deficiencies in facility construction and tour management, such as waiting on a long queue for the ticket or entrance, lax service attitude of tour guides, monotonous landscape, and insufficient activity experience.Furthermore, the result of current study comes up with some suggestions that can be applied in the tourism image improvement of the Zhijin cave via, (1) Improving infrastructure, including catering facilities, accommodation and shopping venues; (2) Adding cultural landscape and more on site activities; (3) Enriching the content and experience of research and learning activities; (4) Strengthening tourism management and elevating the service quality; (5) Highlighting the key points of image promotion, shaping a clear and unique scenic brand.