Patwayati

The present study attempts to bring up eco-destination which is until now still under-researched. Especially, it puts interest in the relationship between image and identification, which is absent in tourism literature. Combined together and tailored to its purpose, it develops new constructs, that is eco-destination image and eco-destination identification. In order to represent the real nature of Wakatobi as eco-destination, it also develops another two constructs as the antecedents of eco-destination image and eco-destination identification, that is perceived eco-support and need for uniqueness. By doing so, it puts together interactively some theories that previously stand mutually-exclusive, especially those of image, uniqueness, subjective norm, and social identity theories. This mixture becomes its conspicuous novelty. The population covers domestic and international tourists over 25 years old. It applies convenience sampling for questionnaire distribution. It applies SPSS for data analysis. The results would be that perceived eco-support has significant effects on destination image and eco-destination identification, while destination image has a significant direct effect on eco-destination identification, which makes destination image only serve as a partial mediator in the relationship between perceived eco-support and eco-destination identification. Need for uniqueness should have an insignificant effect on eco-destination identification, but significant effect on destination image. It means that destination image serves as a full mediator in the relationship between need for uniqueness and eco-destination identification.