A handful of icons are still key to a fistful of tourist dollars, according to a recent cross-cultural study.

Tourism students from Australian and the United States went online last year to select tourism destination advertisements that best represented the 2 countries.

Icons such as the Opera House, Great Barrier Reef, Grand Canyon and the Statue of Liberty dominated the views from afar.

Meanwhile, perspectives of the students' home countries included lesser known and often local attractions.

CQU Associate Professor Les Killion said the study confirmed that the images tourists have of specific destinations are dominated by one or two major icons.

He said the study also revealed a lack of knowledge about geography and travel distances.

"Tourists believe once in the country they will be able to visit these attractions ... perhaps on a day trip," he said.

"We have not come very far from the days when international tourists expected to see a kangaroo or a koala in the main street.".

Dr Killion said the collaborative cross-cultural study involved tourism students from CQU and their counterparts from the West Virginia University of Technology (Virginia Tech), under the direction of Professor Nancy McGhee. It would be repeated in April, 2006.

"What is even more significant for regional tourism destinations such as Central Queensland, is that we must try even harder to find an iconic image that has the perceptual strength to 'brand' and position the destination in the minds of visitors," he said.

"This is a major challenge for most destinations, especially when the statistics tell us that most international tourists visiting Australia tend to spend most of their vacation in close proximity to their point of arrival.

"Rural areas especially have a major challenge to draw tourists beyond their arrival point, but there must be a primary attraction that has sufficient drawing power to make such a journey worthwhile.".