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The internet is playing an increasingly important role in destination marketing. To explore the current situation of online marketing in major destinations, this study compared destination marketing organisation (DMO) websites in the USA and China. By applying a modified balanced scorecard approach, website marketing strategies, web page designs, marketing information and technical qualities were evaluated. The main purpose was to determine similarities and differences among the official DMO websites in the USA and China. Four tiers of DMO websites were evaluated: state tourism offices and convention and visitors bureaus (CVBs) in the USA, and provincial and city tourism administrations in China. US DMO websites were found to be superior to those in China in terms of marketing strategies and information, and US CVB sites received the highest evaluations. Based on the evaluation results, recommendations were made on how DMOs can improve their websites to develop them into more effective destination marketing tools.

The tourism industry in Brazil has been growing sharply in the past few years. Among its visitors, US citizens are one of the most important and attractive markets for the Brazilian tourism industry. It is believed, however, that most Americans still know little about Brazil and what it has to offer. This study had three objectives: determine the images that American citizens interested in travel and tourism have of Brazil as a travel destination, determine if they differentiate Brazil from neighbouring Hispanic countries and group them according to similar images of Brazil. Online discussion groups on travel and tourism were used to obtain a sample of this population. The results indicated that ‘natural attractions/interest’ and ‘vacation atmosphere/exoticness’ were the two most important images of Brazil among the respondents. The results also indicated that respondents were unable to differentiate Brazil from Hispanic countries.

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