As the uncertainties in the tourism environment are increasing, there are rising interests in 'destination branding' as a mean to secure competitive advantage and become distinguished as a destination.
The purpose of this is to theoretically st...
As the uncertainties in the tourism environment are increasing, there are rising interests in 'destination branding' as a mean to secure competitive advantage and become distinguished as a destination.
The purpose of this is to theoretically study the variables of destination such as 'destination brand equity,' 'destination preference,' and 'destination loyalty' that are core concepts of brand management and which are currently gaining much attention in destination marketing field, and to verify the structural relationship between the identified 'concepts' in order to provide implications of destinations.
For that purpose, a survey was conducted on 582 domestic and 367 foreign tourists from the major segmented markets (korean, english, japanese, and chinese speaking tourists) that visited Jeju island during the 15 day period from September 30th to October 14th 2008, and the results were collected for statistical verification.
The following is the summary of the empirical study results.
First, from reviewing the structural relationship model of brand equity, preference, and loyalty of destination through documentary study, it was found that the routes of the study models and suitability of the models were significant.
Second, 'concepts' of brand equity such as 'destination recognition', 'recognized quality,' and 'image' impacted 'destination preference' while 'destination preference' impacted 'destination loyalty,' the deciding variable. To elaborate on this, out of the 'concepts' of brand equity, 'recognized quality' was most influential in raising destination preference, and this preference acts as the medium between brand equity and destination loyalty.
Third, after reviewing the validity of the study model routes and model suitability by segmented markets (Korean tourists and foreigner tourists), it was found that in case of domestic tourists, all routes are significant, but for foreign tourists, the image of the destination does not affect preference of destination.
Fourth, in terms of segmented markets by language, 'recognized quality' was evaluated to be important and analyzed as an influencing factor on destination preference for both Japanese and Chinese speaking tourists, but recognition of Jeju island as a destination was found not to have meaningful influence on destination preference for Japanese speaking tourists, whereas recognition of Jeju island as a destination had influence on destination preference for Chinese speaking tourists. As for English speaking tourists, there is no meaningful influence by all three 'concepts' of brand equity elements.
Fifth, in terms of the number of revisits, other than the fact that the 'destination image,' which is one of the important brand equity factors for revisit market, does not have meaningful influence on destination preference, all routes of first-visit market and revisit market were found to be significant.
Sixth, in terms of types of tour program, recognized quality of a destination had more influence on destination preference compared to other factors in both package and FIT markets.
Lastly, from studying the routes of models and suitability of models for each segmented age groups of tourists, the image and recognized quality of a destination was found to have significant influence on destination preference with people in their 20s or under, and all three concepts of brand management had statistically significant influence on destination preference for people in their 30s-40s, whereas only the recognized quality of a destination had significant influence on destination preference for people over 50.
In conclusion, in order to enhance the value of brand equity as a destination, there is a need to adopt a strategic approach that reflects the characteristics of each tourist market segment. That is, as the brand equity of Jeju island is insufficient, the core element required for branding strategy will be to enhance the quality recognized by the tourists. Also, as Jeju island lacks effective brand equity for foreign tourist market, it is vital to promote the island's image by internally enhancing overall service quality as well as externally put in efforts to improve the recognition level of the island.
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