Belgrade is the most popular tourist destination in Serbia, whose tourism industry is rapidly recovering from the turbulent events of the 1990s. However, Belgrade's destination managers yet need to use to a greater extent its competitive advantages which would improve the city's ability to compete with more prominent cities in the international market. These managerial efforts should be based on relevant image assessments. The aim of this research is to offer a comprehensive insight into Belgrade's destination image by combining quantitative and qualitative data collection methods in order to identify the crucial components of its cognitive and affective images. Additionally, this study examines the influence of various tourists' socio-demographic characteristics on their perceptions of destination image, providing both theoretical and marketing implications. Cultural attractions, nightlife, gastronomy and history were identified in the qualitative study as the most important elements of Belgrade's cognitive image, while the most common affective associations were related to it being vibrant, authentic and relaxing. In the quantitative study, six factors of Belgrade's cognitive image were identified-Tourist Attractions, Services and Fun, Environment, Accessibility, Local Residents, and River Banks and Green Areas. Regarding the affective component, it was established that Belgrade was primarily perceived as pleasant, but also as exciting, cheerful and relaxing. Hypotheses testing indicated that tourists' affective responses towards Belgrade varied in relation to their gender and geographical origin, while some of their cognitive perceptions differed in relation to their gender, age, education and employment.
HOLSAT instrument measures tourist satisfaction by comparing tourists' expectations and experience regarding various destination attributes. Destination image influences tourists' expectations, while experience in the destination modifies tourists' image perceptions, creating differences between pre-visit and post-visit images. Based on these relationships, which are theoretically explored in its first part, this study argues that HOLSAT may be used for destination image research. The second part of the study represents a demonstration of how HOLSAT may be used for measurement of both tourist satisfaction and destination image, whereby the research was conducted in Belgrade, a developing urban destination. The city's tourism industry and destination image were severely damaged in the 1990s, whereby they have started to slowly recover since 2000. Based on the results of the conducted survey, satisfactory and unsatisfactory destination attributes were identified, as well as positive and negative components of city's pre-visit destination image. The most important positive components are related to the destination's affordability, while the negative components are related to safety, cleanliness and the arrival station. Modifications of destination image caused by the visit were also identified. The biggest image improvement after the visit was registered in attributes related to safety and the friendliness of the local residents, while the negative modifications related to the public transport were identified as the most important ones. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 176017]
Growth of youth tourism share in overall tourist expenditures and arrivals is noted on global level. Despite of that, the available data regarding socio-demographic characteristics of youth tourists, characteristics of their travel and tourist stay, as well as their motivation for coming to Belgrade and their satisfaction with their stay in it, is sparse. Aim of this research is attaining scientific findings on the discussed matter. The results of the survey conducted at Belgrade Main Railway Station showed that students from the EU account for the majority of the sample and that the majority of the indicators corresponds with global trends. The significant difference is noted regarding the type of used accommodation, where an absolute domination of hostels is noted. Several figures indicate the transit character of the visit and the general satisfaction with the stay in Belgrade. In average, this tourist segment accounts for larger number of overnight stays than Belgrade's overall average of overnight stays. Differences are also noted regarding the geographic structure of the respondents, but that may potentially be explained by methodological limitations which should be addressed in future research of the subject. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 146010 i br. 176008]
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