Destination management and marketing fundamentals: A model proposal for the destination izmir

ABSTRACTDoctoral DissertationDestination Management and Fundamentals of Destination Marketing:A Model Proposal for The Destination zmirGökçe ÖZDEM RDokuz Eylul UniversityInstitute of Social SciencesDepartment of Tourism ManagementProgram of Tourism ManagementImage is something more than being a function of information but it is an outcome of theinformation perceived by the tourist. Therefore, it is the image of a destination thatassesses the destination to be considered as a choice in the decision-making process thanthe destination itself. Destination brands are effective and popular tools in the heart ofcommunicating the image of a destination and destination marketing activities. Theservice performance of a destination is crucial as branding depends on the promises ofservice quality and keeping these promises. The success of a destination, depending onmany factors, is not easy at all where many new destinations are entering the internationaltourism market and current destinations are trying to strengthen their competitiveness.Thus, building a strong destination brand by using a right positioning strategy and anattractive image is of paramount in the success of a destination.The destination image is not effective in marketing activities if it represents adream and does not match with the service performance that makes up the destinationexperience. Therefore it is important to understand the management and marketingfunctions of a destination that dominates the position of a destination in the internationaltourism era. This dissertation examined the relations between the periceved quality,percieved price, percieved value and satisfaction dimensions and the destination image.The data set consisting of 396 usable surveys was collected at an international airport inzmir and was analyzed using structural equation modelling in LISREL 8.51. The resultsindicated that the the percieved price, percieved quality, percieved value and satisfactionwas crucial in understanding the destinastion image from a marketing perspective.Keywords: 1) Destination management 2) Destination marketing 3) Destination branding4) Destination image