USE OF BRANDING IN CZECH AND GERMAN DESTINATION: COMPARATIVE STUDY BASED ON CITY BRANDING

To create a competitive advantage in today's tourism marketplace, destinations seek to differentiate themselves and create a positive image. The purpose of this paper is to identify brand dimensions of tourism products presented by tourism destinations that have the most influence on the potential tourists. The main goal of paper is analysis of destination brands and evaluate their impact on tourists. The first part of this paper presents a general framework of brand and destination branding in the field of tourism practice. The empirical study was carried out in selected urban destinations. There were used six practical examples of brand and brand building of these cities: Cheb, Plzen, Ceske Budejovice, Hof, Regensburg and Linz. Three surveyed destinations were Czech speaking towns as well as three German speaking towns. Preference has been given to a quantitative approach and to the use of questionnaire survey. Total number of respondents is 118. Survey was focused on association with logo, evaluation of logo, remembrance and characteristics brand as a tool of good use of promotion. These techniques where employed to acquire new knowledge about image attributes. The paper helps to better understanding of use of brand influence that crosses tourism product and destinations. A better understanding of the factors that influence potential tourists brand perceptions is valuable to marketing or destination managers, particularly for destination offering a mix of product and place experiences.