Measuring brand equivalance of cities as a touristic product: An implementation in the city of Ankara

Getting informed about perception of cities by tourists and what are expected from cities as a consequence of analysis of brand equivalence components by adapting them to cities constitute a very significant topic from the perspective of continuity of the tourism sector and promotion of the country and the cities. It is possible to determine the components of brand equivalence in order to establish a city brand becomes possible by determining how they are perceived by tourists that visit the city. Within this framework, the aim of this study is determination of attitudes about brand equivalence of domestic and foreign tourists visiting the city of Ankara.In this study, the brand equivalence model developed by David Aaker (1991) has been taken as basis and has been adapted for brand equivalence of brands. Within this scope, measurement of brand equivalence of Ankara was made as based on loyalty to the brand of the city, awareness about its brand, quality and city brand connotations perceived in the city. The research was conducted on domestic and foreign tourists visiting Ankara between the months of October ? January. Besides the brand and concepts related with the brand the literature section of the study also included the concepts of brand equivalence and its components and correlated them with tourism. The results of the research were assessed and an attempt was made to reveal the perception of brand equivalence of domestic and foreign tourists by interpreting the results of the research.While loyalty was quite strong among domestic tourists according to the results of the research, it is not possible to state that loyalty was strong among foreign tourists. The majority of the participants have expressed that the personality of Ankara could be tough and its gender could be masculine. They have also notes that Ankara associates with the gray color. The meaning attributed to gray is the fact that it is an orderly and a diplomatic city. It can be concluded that the most important factor that creates awareness is the fact that it is a city of business and economy. While the foreign tourists that participated in the research perceive Ankara as a city of culture and history, domestic tourists have noted that they perceive it as a city of education.