Tourism Destinations and Brand Image Research

ABSTRACTTourism has a strong influence on the economies of tourist receiving countries. Especially some developing countries depend on tourism revenues as a major source of income. For this reason, while destinations put a lot of effort to attract more tourists and increase tourism revenue, the competition among these destinations increase day by day. Positive image for a destination is important to attract more tourists and generate foreign income. A distorted negative image of a country will lead the decrease in tourist numbers and increase marketing expenses to restore the image. Therefore, the research on tourism destination image is vital for tourist receiving countries. Being one of the most tourist receiving countries in Europe, Turkey is perceived as an inexpensive destination for sea, sun and sand tourism. Tourism planners need more insight into Turkey’s brand image in order to implement strategies to restore its image. This study aims to review the destination branding literature and provide recommendations on the possible research topics in this area of research. 

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