A Research to Determinate The Destination Brand Image Perceptions of Resident Foreigners: Example of Kuşadası

Abstract

Tourism has an important place in the service sector. Although people's understanding of holiday changes today, it is seen that their holiday needs do not change under any circumstances. People need to go from one place to another in order to see new places and have different experiences. In recent years, tourist behaviors called "resident tourist" or "resident foreigner" have been observed more commonly in the destination instead of short-term overnight stays. Whether for a long or short-term holiday, where people will go or whether they will go again depends on how they perceive that place called a destination. For this reason, studies on the detection of destination image perception are frequently encountered. In the literature; there are studies to measure the destination image perception of segments such as tourists, local people, hotel managers, local governments and tourist guides. However, no study has been found to determine the destination image perceptions of resident foreigners living in a region, which is the aim of the study. For this purpose, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with five resident foreigners from Mexico, Ireland and Ukraine, two from the United States. The answers given were analyzed with the MAXQDA data analysis program and it was aimed to determine the basic elements of the image perception of Kuşadası. According to the results of the research, the elements that make up the image of Kuşadası are the natural resources, especially the climate, beaches and sunset views, security, ease of transportation, health services and social environment, while the issues that can be improved are cleanliness and increasing the number of activities in winter. In addition, it has been determined that there are uncertainties about a common destination brand image.