The human element is powerful and ubiquitous in tourism promotions. Since the eyes are often considered the gateway to one’s inner self, does the direction of the model’s gaze in tourism photographs matter? In this research, we demonstrate that for natural destination promotions, only when the model is the same gender as the viewer, the model looking away from the viewer (i.e., averted eye gaze) is more effective than making direct eye contact with the viewer (i.e., direct eye gaze). Specifically, in the case of a female (male) model, a photograph of a natural destination featuring an averted (vs. direct) gaze enhances the empathetic response of female (male) viewers, thereby increasing their visit intentions. However, for urban destination promotions, gender congruity is not important. Moreover, featuring a direct eye gaze is more effective among male viewers when the model in the photograph is a female.
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