Nomen est omen – Tourist image of the Balkans

The regime change, the South Slavic civil war, global recession and their political, economic and social consequences had a significant impact on the tourism market of South-east Europe and the Balkan region. Many potential visitors to the region were affected by their negative associations with pas...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Hungarian geographical bulletin 2018, Vol.67 (2), p.173-188
Main Authors: Smith, Melanie, Sulyok, Judit, Jancsik, András, Puczkó, László, Kiss, Kornélia, Sziva, Ivett, Papp-Váry, Árpád Ferenc, Michalkó, Gábor
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Balkans
brand
Content analysis
customer-based
Digital media
Impact analysis
Motivation
Tourism
TripAdvisor
Citations: Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The regime change, the South Slavic civil war, global recession and their political, economic and social consequences had a significant impact on the tourism market of South-east Europe and the Balkan region. Many potential visitors to the region were affected by their negative associations with past events, even those that happened many years ago. The image of the Balkan region has become at times almost synonymous with conflict, turmoil and unrest. However, these perceptions may be changing and are therefore worthy of exploration. The article provides a tourism oriented analysis of the area’s image as a tourism destination. In accordance with the literature, the perceptions are measured by using a customer-based approach. Internet-based social media encourages the sharing of recent tourism experiences which can confirm or change associations with destinations. This study provides a content analysis of comments from one of the most popular travel portals (TripAdvisor) including key elements of the Balkan region’s image. The results of the research show theoretical implications like the importance of emotional image elements, the role of locals, or the complexity of tourism experience. From a practical point of view, the conclusions can induce long term thinking about the selected destination’s branding, and motivation for further research, as well.
ISSN:2064-5031
2064-5147
DOI:10.15201/hungeobull.67.2.5