Problematisation: Credible information on social media affects potential tourists when chosing where they will travel. Thus, the competition for the attention of potential tourists makes the credibility aspect important to explore further. Perceived credibility in social media online could be more questioned than offline sources since user generated Websites usually do not go through a review. Additionally, the understanding of online credibility is still limited, when it comes to UGC. There has not been much research emphasising the perceived credibility on user generated content. Furthermore, there seems to be a disagreement about perceived credibility existing in social media, which makes it an interesting topic. Purpose: The aim of this paper is to investigate which dimensions are positively influencing perceived credibility online and if the information on TripAdvisor was seen as credible. The purpose is also to explore if there is a relationship between perceived credibility and the dimensions user generated content, authority, communication, updates and design. The purpose of this dissertation is also to add knowledge about how potential tourists perceive credibility when they view a Website designed for tourists. Methodology: This study used a paper-based questionnaire, answered by students at Kristianstad University. Limitations: This dissertation has two main limitations. Firstly, it only examines one social media, TripAdvisor. Secondly, participants in the sample were only chosen from Kristianstad University and under certain circumstances, which made the sample limited. Conclusion: The result showed that there was a positive relationship between user-generated content, authority, communication, updates and design and perceived credibility. However, the dimension advertisement was rejected. Thus, five of six hypotheses were not rejected and had a statistical significance (P= < 0.01). Only hypothesis four, advertisements, did not have statistical significance and was rejected. The total perceived credibility for TripAdvisor’s Website, in this dissertation, was that it was seen as fairly credible.

Yes / There has been a substantial rise in the number of Chinese tourists, with the Chinese millennials being important influencers. Yet very little is known about their tourism behavior, particularly how their perceived destination brand values influence their destination loyalty. This study brings in the consumers’ perceived brand value concept from the branding literature to investigate Chinese millennial tourists’ destination loyalty. An online survey was adopted to collect data from 287 Chinese millennial tourists. The findings offer insight into the relative effects of five dimensions of tourists’ perceived destination brand values on their destination loyalty. The findings also extend existing tourism literature, showing the moderating effects of destination brand globality, destination status (domestic vs. international) and national brand attitude on the said relationships. Managerial implications to better target Chinese millennials are discussed together with future research directions. / Zhejiang Natural Science Funding [LQ17G020009]

The tourism industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. Destinationcompetitiveness emphasizes the need to link competitiveness to a destination's ability to delivergoods and services better than other destinations on those parts of the tourism experience regardedas being important by tourists. The phenomenon of using events to strategically build andstrengthen a destination's brand identity has received very little attention. This study aims to investigate how the Destination Management Organisations in Helsinki arebuilding a brand identity, and how events may be used strategically in this process. Interviews havebeen undertaken with few organisations of various sizes and characteristics. Two distinct divisionsformed the base of the thesis; the first with a clear focus on how the DMO is working to create abrand identity, while the latter concentrated on the same topic from a focused perspective; how thebrand identity may be created with the use of events. After this, the research phase is entered, whichinvolves gathering the necessary data required for determining the current identity of thedestination. Once the research phase was completed, the process moved into a phase of shaping thebrand identity. Through the interviews the writer was able to get better perceptions of how the cityis merged with views and objectives of where the city wants to be, or where they desire to be in the future.

Background: It has become easy for tourists to visit different countries and cities for vacation due to the globalized world one live in today. Because of the consumers desire to travel and the tough competition among cities, emphasis have been put on city branding with the aim of making a consumer chose a specific city to visit instead of competing ones. In order to create a strong city brand it is important to look at the tourists’ expectations of a city, to get an understanding of what is expected from the consumer and what a city brand should work on in order to get satisfied visitors. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explain what attributes of a city brand that impact the overall expectation of a potential consumer. Methodology: This is a quantitative study analyzing the 313 answers of conducted questionnaire. The authors have used both a simple and a multiple linear regression to test seven different hypotheses. Conclusion: This research shows that there are six attributes that has a positive impact, these six can explain 77,7% of the overall expectations towards a city brand of a consumer. These attributes are; infrastructure, attraction, uniqueness, expected enjoyment, value for money and word-of-mouth. Expected enjoyment and value for money were the most important attributes when people decide on a trip. Key Words: City branding, destination branding, place branding, expectations, tourism.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur svenska researrangörer marknadsför en krisdrabbad destination för att kunna locka tillbaka turister. Vi ville även se hur konsumenterna ser på marknadsföringen och från deras perspektiv, se vad de anser skulle få dem att resa till en destination efter en kris. Studien har avgränsats till Egypten och Turkiet där politisk oro har pågått sedan några år tillbaka och påverkat turismen negativt. I studien har en kvalitativ metod använts genom att tre semistrukturerade intervjuer med researrangörer genomförts, samt två fokusgruppsintervjuer med konsumenter.  Resultatet av studien visade att den marknadsföringsstrategi som både researrangörer använder sig av och som konsumenterna uppfattar som mest effektiv är en prissänkningsstrategi. Resultatet visade även att för att locka tillbaka turister till just dessa två destinationer har de marknadsföringsmässigt satsat på att lyfta fram säkrare alternativ, såsom stora hotell och all inclusive istället för utflykter och äventyr som tidigare, till låga priser. Dock ansåg flera respondenter i fokusgrupperna att för mycket fokus har riktats på ett fåtal målgrupper och att marknadsföringen behöver vidgas för att locka fler målgrupper att resa till Egypten och Turkiet. Detta för att i slutändan bygga upp volymen av turister till den som tidigare varit. / The purpose of this study was to examine how Swedish travel agencies market destinations during and after a crisis in an effort to encourage tourism's return. We also wanted to assess how consumers perceive marketing from their perspectives, as well as identify what methods influence their willingness to travel to a destination after a crisis. In an effort to provide a more concise analysis of the broad spectrum that encapsulates crisis destinations, we have focused on Egypt and Turkey, where political upheaval has been ongoing issue that has plagued their respective tourism industries. We have applied the qualitative method during this study by conducting three separate semi-structured interviews with travel agents, as well as conducting two focus group interviews with prospective consumers The result of the study revealed that the marketing strategy that both travel agencies use and which consumers perceive as the most effective, is a price reduction strategy. The results also indicated that in order to attract tourists back to these two destinations, their efforts had to be focused on highlighting safer alternatives, such as larger resorts and all-inclusive packages at lower rates. The agencies had to move away from marketing excursions and adventures packages; as they posed more of a risk. However, several respondents in the focus groups considered that too much focus has been on a select few target groups, alluding to that the marketing needs to be broadened to attract more target groups to travel to Egypt and Turkey. By implementing this strategy it will ultimately build up the volume of tourists to the aforementioned destinations.

During the last decades, the tourism industry has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world. The growth has in turn led to traditional marketing techniques such as branding being applied to places and destinations. The concept of destination branding is concerned with creating an image which positively can influence consumer’s choice of destinations. Conditions surrounding organizations working with destination branding, so called destination marketing organizations is very complex. This highlights a need for effective management, leading to managerial activities such as stakeholder management, partnership creation and brand architecture being key factors in destination branding success. The purpose of this study is consequently to investigate the antecedents of successful destination marketing focusing on stakeholder management, partnerships and brand architecture. Based on a literature review, three research questions were created. A case study has been carried out in the form of semi-structured interviews with destination marketing organization from three Swedish regions. This study reveals that stakeholders are vital for the destination marketing organizations (DMOs) and their businesses. Therefore they have a clear understanding of which groups and individuals are stakeholders to their brand. The focus lies on the primary stakeholders and the DMOs are taking a motivating and caring role of the stakeholders, treating them with respect and appreciation. Collaborating within partnerships constitutes a large part of the daily work of the regional DMO's activities, and is often based on a need or possibility of creating an activity or product to improve the destination brand. Important factors to consider when creating partnerships have been identified, as well as ingredients for a successful partnership and what DMOs are expecting from their partnerships in terms of outcomes. Finally this study concludes that the regional destination marketing organizations are not fully applying any classic brand architecture strategies. Instead they are adopting a mix of umbrella brand and endorsed brand with selective communication of the brands in the region where they choose which brand should be communicated depending on which customer group is being targeted.

In a tourism context, the image potential customers have of a destination is a very important issue. Images play an essential role in destination choice matters and in this regard, as tourism services are intangible, images are said to become even more important than reality. The concepts of destination image and destination marketing and branding are closely interrelated. The ultimate goal of any destination is to influence possible tourists’ travel-related decision making and choice through marketing activities. Although it is not possible to influence all aspects of image formation, tourism marketers try to strategically establish, reinforce and, if necessary, change the image of their destination by communicating a strong destination brand. Hence, image studies are considered to be a vital part of marketing and branding strategies. However, not everyone has the same image of a destination, as image perception changes according to different influences, such as personal, cultural and psychological ones. The purpose of this thesis was primarily to give an overview of destination image theory and its interrelationships to destination marketing and branding. In this respect, the study aimed at finding out in how far a DMO can achieve to develop a marketing strategy that is consistent and somewhat standardised, and yet adapted to the individual market and culture in which it is operated. Furthermore, the study wanted to investigate whether marketing approaches should be changed for people with different images of a country as a destination, or if alternatively a “one-size-fits-all” approach should be employed. In addition to a literature review, a case study made it possible to show how a real organisation handles those questions. The case of the Austrian National Tourist Office ANTO provides a good example of an internationally operating destination marketing organisation that uses market research, and among others also image studies, to adapt its marketing mix and branding approach to the individual markets’ characteristics and the image held of the destination Austria. By means of applying the qualitative method of personal in-depth interviews and thorough analysis, interesting data concerning the topic of destination image and marketing could be collected and compared to the findings from literature. Results indicate that destination image studies are the foundation of successful marketing strategies and that in times of ever-increasing competitiveness, image is one of the few points of differentiation from other tourist destinations. It is necessary to be aware of the fact that customers’ cultural differences have an influence on how different they perceive images. Therefore, DMOs should have a powerful overall strategy which globally leads into one pre-defined direction, but then locally adapt this common strategy to regionally differing cultural specifics. Even though destination brands should be strong and consistent, it is not advisable to communicate the exact same image to all customers.

The aim of this study is to examine how Belgrade as a tourist destination was affected by previous political disorder during the 1990’s on the query of destination image, destination branding and destination development. The research also discussed how different actors in the public and private sectors work on the issue and how international tourists’ perspectives look like in relation to this topic. A qualitative method was applied through semi-structured and structured interviews with three actors within tourism sector, one from the public sector, and further 15 interviews with international tourists. The study's results show that Belgrade, as a tourist destination, was mainly affected by the civil war in the 1990’s. The war created a negative destination image, undefined destination branding and a non-sustainable destination development. The following led to, reduced number of incoming tourists and economic stagnation, which resulted in a lack of resources to invest in destination development. It created a negative destination image in a global aspect, and in addition to that international tourists usually associated Belgrade with insecurity and political instability. However, tourism started to increase following the new political regime approximately 10 years ago, when major efforts were made by both international and national investors. Accordingly, actors within various private and public sectors are involved in expanding tourism products, increasing marketing efforts and placing the destination on an international tourism market. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur Belgrad som en turistdestination påverkades av tidigare oroligheter under 1990-talet i frågan om destinationsimage, branding samt utveckling. Undersökningen berörde även hur olika aktörer inom den offentliga och privata sektorn arbetar i frågan samt hur internationella turisters perspektiv ser ut i relation till detta. En kvalitativ metod tillämpades genom semistrukturerade och strukturerade intervjuer med tre aktörer inom turismsektorn och en från den offentliga sektorn samt 15 intervjuer med internationella turister. Studiens resultat visar att Belgrad som en turistdestination påverkades i en stor utsträckning till följd av krigshändelserna under 1990-talet. Detta skapade en negativ destinationsimage, odefinierad destination branding samt att destinationsutvecklingen som var icke hållbar. Därmed minskade antal inkommande turister, ekonomin stagnerade samt att det resulterade i brist på resurser för investeringar i att återuppbygga destinationen. Detta skapade en negativ destinationsimage för omvärlden då potentiella turister associerade staden med osäkerhet och politisk instabilitet. Dock konstaterades det att turismen började öka i och med den nya politiska regimen, då ca 10 år sedan började det ske stora insatser från både internationella och nationella investerare. Därmed arbetar olika aktörer inom den privata och offentliga sektorn med att utöka sina turistprodukter och marknadsföringsinsatser samt placera Belgrad på den internationella turistmarknaden.

Today more people choose to travel, both for business and leisure, which have resulted in that tourism gradually are considered to be an important industry for different places. The increased possibility to travel and globalization is the main reason why destinations more often tend to use place branding and place marketing as a strategy to differentiate themselves against their competitors. This paper aims to study the phenomenon place marketing from a producer perspective on the destination High Coast, Sweden. Interviews was conducted with both the destination-organization and various tourism company within the region. The study aims to answer following questions: In which way do the destination developers at the High Coast work with place branding and place marketing? Perceive tourism companies in the High Coast area any benefit of and do they share the image that the destination developers want to convey? This paper shows how a destination actively work with packaging and communicating the core values of the destination. The developers work includes for instance a brand analysis where the involvement of companies and local people is one of the main points. The majority of the tourism business companies within the destination High Coast also feel that they can take advantage of the destination developers branding and that they, as individual companies, can help promote the destination.

Increasingly, gastronomy is playing a role in people’s motivation for travel, and destinations are making food and beverages their main attraction. This study explored the growing field of gastronomic tourism, a type of niche tourism, through the theoretical framework of destination branding theory. Using a qualitative case study research design, this research examined the branding of the emergent region of Prince Edward County, Ontario, Canada as a gastronomic niche tourism destination from the perspective of tourism industry players. Findings indicated that the region turned to gastronomic tourism due to its agricultural history and need for economic development. It was also found that tourism industry players utilized the processes of brand identity, product development, collaboration, support and communication to brand the region. This study contributes scholarly and practical knowledge to the areas of tourism and branding, by providing insight into the development, management and promotion of destination brands.