ŠTĚPÁNOVÁ LUDMILA: Possibilities of application of mobile technology and augmented reality in destination marketing. Masters thesis. University of Economics, Prague. Department of Tourism. Thesis supervisor: Ing. Martin Vaško. Grade of qualification: Masters degree. Prague 2016. 80 pages. Masters thesis focuses on new trends in development of mobile technologies and their application in tourism. The objective of this thesis is to find out possibilities of application of mobile technologies, advergaming, augmented and virtual reality in destinations marketing activities. The thesis is also looking into activities of CzechTourism agency in this field.

The diploma thesis aims at the creation of a new thematic product, namely for the destination of South Bohemia. The thesis is divided into two parts where the theoretical part defines terms related to the topic of the thesis first and deals with the destination marketing and the process of creating tourism destination product. In the practical part, there is, based on performed analyses, designed the product concept, the sense of which is wandering around places which South Bohemian folk songs are about. At the end, the benefits of the designed thematic product are predicted and its potential is evaluated.

This diploma thesis deals with marketing activities of VisitBritain, the British national tourism board. Theoretical part discusses aspects of marketing in travel and tourism with emphasis on destination marketing. The second chapter contains economic indicators of British tourism industry and visitors' perceptions of this destination. The thesis continues with the analysis of Britain Marketing & 2012 Games Strategy 2010-2013 followed by the marketing programme 2011-2015. Since the strategy and programme stem from the great events that recently happened in Britain, this diploma thesis tests the hypothesis whether London Olympic Games 2012 have had a positive impact on British inbound tourism. The last chapter is dedicated to the results of survey which revealed whether young people had been motivated to visit Britain after London 2012 Olympic Games.

Travel vloggers are a relatively new phenomenon that appeared around 2016. These are travelers who share their experiences in a video format, mostly on YouTube. Whereas their motives might be out of self interest - in reality they market the destination they are in, drawing attention to new potential destinations for the viewer. The aim of this study is to examine the relevance of travel vloggers as a tourist research method. More specifically regarding tourists visiting Georgia, if travel vloggers are beeing used before departure, if it influences the tourists' perception of Georgia and what they want to experience when they visit. The study also intends to examine what travel vloggers show in their videos of Georgia. To analyze the results theories regarding guided tourism, cognitive distance and youth tourism will be used. The results indicate that travel vloggers are established as a tourist research method and that it does affect what tourist want to experience when they visit. It also shows that travel vloggers show what is considered not typical tourist attractions, differentiating them from more traditional means of research. The results could be linked with the theories regarding guided- and youth tourism, however not with cognitive distance.

Since the first national park Yellowstone was established, people from across the world have come to visit the natural wonders that our national parks have to offer. While much empirical research has been conducted concerning the marketing and branding strategies of non-profit organizations, government agencies, and tourism destinations; not much has been conducted on national parks. This research seeks to understand how our national parks have marketed and branded themselves over time and determine how marketing and branding will play a role in the development and conservation of the parks. This research was conducted utilizing in- depth methods such as an autoethnographic reflection and content analysis. Throughout the content analysis, themes arose amongst the strategies of the national parks over time such as “Romanticism,” “Exploration,” “Nature Preservation,” and many more discussed throughout this research. Each of these unique themes represents what was culturally important.

The concern for environmental sustainability is constantly growing within tourist destinations. Environmental concern is leading to increased consumer awareness of green sustainable destinations. The growing interest in sustainability-based practices contributes to companies using green marketing communication to attract green conscious consumers. The study contributes to understanding how green marketing communication and green practices can create misleading perceptions and affect the consumer experience of a surf destination, before versus after arriving in Bali, Indonesia. The study was conducted using an abductive and qualitative research approach. The data was collected from ten semi-structured interviews with visitors at a surf camp in Canggu, Bali. Observations of communication material were also conducted to complete the interviews. The results indicated that there was a difference between the perceived destination image compared to what the consumers experienced on site. The company misled their consumers through claims about their green efforts in their marketing communication. These occurrences can be seen as greenwashing, since the surf camp insists to be more ecologically sustainable than they actually are.

The aim of the thesis Collaboration of Stakeholders in a Tourism Destination is to evaluate the level and intensity of cooperation in tourism in the South Bohemian Region from the perspective of key stakeholders in the destination, including the management and development relationship of tourism in the destination. In the first part of the research, the information concerning the destination management and marketing, the stakeholders and their cooperation was obtained with the help of secondary data. For the collection of secondary data, printed literature and websites were mainly used in connection with the selected tourism destination - the South Bohemian Region. Based on the findings from the literature and other secondary sources, the collection of primary data was planned in the form of a questionnaire survey. It has become clear that the destination marketing organizations, which best meet the attributes of power, legitimacy and urgency, are the key stakeholder. According to the research, it was found out that the cooperation between the public and private sectors is significantly inadequate. There are several major obstacles that prevent effective cooperation among the particular stakeholders. To improve the cooperation, it is necessary to streamline the communication between the organizations and other stakeholders and to plan a project within the tourism industry, which will help with the cooperation among as many stakeholders as possible.

Sammanfattning Titel: Kärlek till anime – en tillräcklig reseorsak? En kvalitativ studie om anime-fans motiv till att besöka anime-destinationer Författare: Linda Smedberg Handledare: Jasmina Beharic Examinator: Hans Wessblad Ämne: Turismvetenskap III, examensarbete (kandidat) 15 HP, HT 18 Datum: 14/1–2019   Syfte och forskningsfråga Syftet med denna uppsats är att ge en förståelse till vilka resemotiv anime-fans har för att besöka en anime-destination. Uppsatsen förklarar vilka dessa resemotiv är. Således ställdes forskningsfrågan:   Vad motiverar anime-fans att besöka en destination som använts i en japansk animerad serie?   Metod Uppsatsen utgår utifrån en kvalitativ metod och följer en deduktiv ansats. Vilket betyder att teorier presenteras som sedan mynnar ut i en analys av mitt empiriska material. Vilket är grundat i en kvalitativ, webb-baserad enkätundersökning.   Resultat Studiens resultat visar att anime-fans besöker anime-destinationer av flera olika orsaker. Alla dessa är grundade i en förkärlek till anime-kulturen. Resultaten visar också att anime-landskap samt turisternas identitet kan forma och påverka deras resemotiv. / Abstract The purpose of this thesis is to create an understanding of what motivates anime fans to visit an anime destination. This thesis aims to enlighten the reader to what these motives are by trying to answer the question: What motivates anime fans to visit a destination that has been used in a Japanese animated series?   The method used is a qualitative one and the thesis follows a deductive approach. Which means that theoretical theories were first presented. These were then tested in an analysis of my empirical material. The empirical data was collected from a qualitative web-based survey.     The study’s results show that the primary reasons anime fans visit an anime destination is because they love anime. It also shows that destinations and anime landscapes together with one’s identity can influence tourists travel motivations.

This thesis is a historical case study tracing the establishment and evolution of Regional Tourism Organisations (RTOs) in New Zealand. It describes their role, structure and functions and the political processes that have influenced how they have operated and changed from 1980 to 2005. RTOs are examined in the context of government policies, local and national politics and tourism private and public sector relationships. RTOs were central to many of the key recommendations of the New Zealand Tourism Strategy 2010 (NZTS 2010) released in 2001. The NZTS 2010 attempted to address a range of tourism policy gaps created by a policy vacuum in the 1990s whereby the public and private tourism sectors focused mainly on international marketing. This strategy shaped government policy during this decade. The research findings show that although public and private sector institutional arrangements impacting on RTOs have changed, there remains, as in the past, no uniformity in their role, structure, functions and their future financial and political viability remains insecure. The NZTS 2010 raised destination management and its alignment with destination marketing as a major policy issue that needed to be addressed in the decade leading up to 2010 with RTOs having a pivotal role. A generic regional destination management model is presented. Structures and processes incorporated into this model include: a national destination management tourism policy; support for tourism by local government at the national level; a well defined destination management team; community collaboration; and tourism being integrated into the wider planning processes of local government. The model identified requisite building blocks to support regional destination management such as: the provision of staff and financial resources for regional tourism; the building of a high tourism profile in the community; the availability of statistics and research data at the regional level; local government planners acknowledging the impacts of tourism; and the existence of a legal mandate for tourism at the regional and/or local government level. When applying this model to the New Zealand context, it was found that a number of the structures and processes required for effective regional destination management were lacking, such as regional statistics and research data, staffing and financial resources for both RTOs and local government, the ability of council planners to understand and integrate tourism into the wider planning processes and a legislative mandate for tourism. The thesis concluded that a vacuum remains in the alignment of destination marketing and management. The historical and political processes of RTO change were also examined in the context of chaos and complexity theory. Chaos and complexity theory provided a complementary and different means to view change. This thesis also presented the opportunity to reflect upon the research process which led to the adoption of a multi-paradigmatic and bricoleur research methodology. Further reflexivity and reflection towards the end of the research process articulated ontological and epistemological philosophical investigations that underlay the multi-paradigmatic approach. A model is presented emphasising that a multi-paradigmatic research approach rests on ultimate reality (metaphysics) which informs the ontology. The model then highlights that ontology precedes and directs epistemology and that both inform the multi-paradigmatic research framework.

This bachelor thesis in tourism studies focuses on people's use of social media related to travel. The paper aims to provide a wider knowledge of tourist’s propensity to display destinations through social media and how they perceive others that display travelling. This is put in relation to the term of social status in order to find out if there is a possible link. The intention was to provide an insight into the phenomenon to contribute new awareness that destinations can exploit in their marketing. The theoretical background is presented as a current state of knowledge regarding the topic social media and social status. This section also includes theories regarding the complexity of destination marketing, and also involves concepts such as viral marketing and word-of-mouth. The intention with the theoretical background was to support the empirical material in the analysis. The method used consists of qualitative interviews involving eight individuals. Questions were asked about their use of social media related to travel and identity. The results of the analysis were based on this empirical data, set against the theoretical background. The conclusions that could be drawn is that people's willingness to display destinations depends as much on practical circumstances, as by the desire to present a positive self-image through social media. The demonstration of travelling is also controlled by the individual’s perception on what is most sought after on a social status level. Travelling is a social status-enhancing activity that is associated with positive characteristics, such as knowledge about other cultures. The study has also shown that people are influenced by others displaying travelling. What governs the degree of influence in a positive sense is the perception of shared preferences. When these are coherent, a very effective word-of-mouth marketing can occur. This custom made marketing can help solving problems regarding the complexity of destination marketing. / Denna studie i turismsvetenskap handlar om människors användning av sociala medier kopplat till resande. Uppsatsen syftar till att skapa en bredare kunskap kring turisters benägenhet att visa upp destinationer via sociala medier, samt hur de uppfattar andra som visar upp resande. Detta ställs även mot begreppet social status för att ta reda på om det finns ett eventuellt samband. Intentionen var att ge en inblick i fenomenet för att bidra med nya insikter om huruvida destinationer kan utnyttja detta i sin marknadsföring. Studiens teoretiska bakgrund syftade till att visa upp ett kunskapsnuläge gällande ämnet. Här belyses kunskapsteorier kring sociala medier och social status. Avsnittet innefattar även teorier kring destinationsmarknadsföringens särart, samt involverar begrepp som viral marknadsföring och word-of-mouth. Avsikten med denna teoribildning var att utgöra ett stöd åt det empiriska materialet i analysen. Metoden i denna uppsats utgörs av kvalitativa öppna intervjuer som involverade åtta informanter. Frågorna som ställdes handlade om deras användning av sociala medier kopplat till resande och identitetsskapande. Resultatet i analysen bygger på det empiriska material som framtogs med hjälp av intervjuerna, ställt mot den teoretiska bakgrunden. Enligt slutsatserna i denna uppsats styrs människors benägenhet att visa upp resmål dels av praktiska förutsättningar, dels av viljan att visa upp en positiv image via sociala medier. Uppvisandet styrs även av vad individen personligen anser vara mest eftertraktat på social nivå. Resande är enligt resultatet en statushöjande aktivitet då det förknippas med positiva egenskaper, som exempelvis att känna andra kulturer. Studien har även visat att människor påverkas av andras reseuppvisande. Det som styr graden av påverkan i positiv bemärkelse är uppfattningen av gemensamma preferenser. När dessa är samstämmiga uppstår således en mycket effektiv word-of-mouth marknadsföring. Därmed blir denna typ av marknadsföring skräddarsydd på ett sätt som kan lösa problematiken kring destinationers multisåldhet.