摘要：The main objective of this article is to analyze the destination image construct. More specifically on how the destination website, as a virtual place where the potential tourist can experience some attributes of the tourism service, search for information and get to know a place in a better way, may influence a destination image. To do so first is presented a literature review on destination image, how this construct relates to the use of websites and how it has been measured. Secondly, a case in Brazil was investigated: the state of Pernambuco official websites. The results indicated that the websites combine, not in a well balanced way, both functional and aesthetics characteristics. Destinations compete globally and the web seems to be the most effective instrument to target a broad audience without boundaries. The case here studied, the destination websites from Pernambuco, Brazil, offers the possibility to envision a way to understand how a website can contribute to the image construction or positioning. This paper shows a methodology that can be applied to different websites as a way to evaluate their effectiveness and to a better site design with the balance of functional and aesthetics components.
关键词：Pernambuco; Image. Tourist destinations; Websites; Tourism; Brazil
