Despite Macao’s growing tourism arrival figure and healthy economy, fuelled primarily by the gaming industry, Macao’s tourist image remains relatively entrenched, and is sometimes reported negatively as being solely a gaming destination. This research empirically studied how the image attributes of Macao were affected during the Macao Grand Prix, upon visitor arrival and departure, comparing first-time and repeat visitors’ perceptions, as well as those who specifically came to see the Grand Prix, or for other purposes. An administered survey was used in collecting data from 148 matching respondents, enabling a pre and post analysis of how visiting frequency and purpose of visit (Grand Prix or not) effected image attributes. The results indicated that image perception could fluctuate even after consecutive visits, although the Grand Prix event in itself did not change visitor perceptions. Various forms of information sources were examined in their role in convincing the visitor to journey to Macao during this period, revealing the importance of informal word-of mouth ‘publicity’, but also suggesting the importance of having an integrated marketing and public relations programme.