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The paper presents the key aspects of marketing a tourist destination. Special attention is given to planning the development of tourist destinations as a critical stage of the process of marketing management. Starting from the key elements of the market offers a tourist destination, the paper briefly described the basic variables of marketing management of tourist destinations in the function of achieving the strategic goals of a tourist destination. Starting point in the work are visitor tourist destination, their characteristics, needs, preferences, requirements and wishes.
Keywords: tourist destination, marketing management, market offer, visitor tourist destination
INTRODUCTION
A tourist destination is a geographical location which possesses an attractive, communicative and receptive tourist supply that satisifies the tourist needs of its consumers. In order for a geographical location to have the status of a tourist destination, the decisive factor is not its size or geographical boundaries, but the ability to attract tourists and meet their needs.
A tourist destination consists of number of components, such as:
* Attractiveness - ensures the tourist motivation for visiting the given tourist destination
* Specific service - accommodation, food, entertainment, amusement, recreation and other services at the given destination
* Access - development and maintenance of transport infrastructure providing access to the tourist destination as well as visiting particular tourist attractions at the given destination
* Availability - advance-created package arrangements by the travel sales intermediaries and their agents
* Activities - all the available activities at a given tourist destination which will be at consumers' disposal during their stay
* Support services - marketing development activities carried out by destination organizations so as to meet the tourists' needs.
By combining the mentioned components of the tourist destination one or more tourist products is formed.
Specific features of marketing in tourism come from specific characteristics of tourist supply and demand, as well as the process of buying and usage of tourist products and services. Specific presentation of marketing activities on tourist market, as opposed to other markets, is also contributed by:
* The pluralism of decision making centers inside marketing activities;
* The complexity of tourist product;
* Continuous effect of uncontrollable, as well as controllable factors of marketing environment, which effect initiated marketing activities and put upon the...