Creation and evaluation of the tourist image of a country - the example of Poland

The increasing globalization of the contemporary tourism economy is the cause, due to which, for many countries that want to be competitive on the international tourism market, the creation of a positive tourist image of the country and building a strong national brand is a major challenge. The article will examine the organizational side of Polish tourism promotion system, evaluate the existing tourist image of the country and indicate the main problems in the creation of the tourism image of the country and building the national brand. The main research method used in the paper is a case study. A complementary method is the analysis of existing data, including a review of scientific literature and studies of documents published by institutions and organizations dealing with the promotion of Poland. The results of study showed that Poland still does not have a distinctive, coherent and attractive tourist image abroad. In this area, however, many positive changes occur that should be promoted on the international market. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.