Tartu kuvand reisisihtkohana kohalike ja välismaiste turismiekspertide seas
Date
2009
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Tartu Ülikool
Abstract
Description
The aim of the BA thesis was to investigate the image of Tartu as a tourism destination among
the foreign and local tourism experts from Tartu main target markets. The research had a
practical purpose giving the guideline to the DMOs who deal with the marketing of Tartu in their
every day work.
In the theoretical part keywords such as destination image and destination brand were described.
In the empirical part a shot overview of Tartu as a tourism destination was given.
In the empirical analysis nine interviews with tourism experts from Estonia and the main target
markets were made. One of the interviews was made with a tourism experts from UK. Such
exception was made because of that person´s considerable and long experience in working with
the Baltic countries as a tourism destination.
The research questions were following:
1. How do the experts value Tartu as a tourism destination?
2. How should Tartut be positioned in the opinion of the interviewees?
3. What could be improved in the marketing communcation and the arrangement of the
toursim organizations of Tartu ?
4. How does the image of Tartu differ among the two expert groups?
All the experts described the city generally in a positive way. They descriebed positively
different tourism attractions; named the abundance of hotels, cafes etc.; compactness of the city;
peaceful atmosphere; the greenness, the georaphical location of the city etc. So, one can
generalize that the city itself as a tourism destination is seen positively among the experts. The
disadvantage that can be brought forth was that it is not very comofortable to visit Tartu for a
tourist considering f.e. the accessibility of the city and opening hours of the museums and shops
which also form a part of the visiting experience. All in all, Tartu is seen among the interviewees
as a cultral city and a university city.
From a tourism perspective Tartu was seen in both interview groups suitable for cultural trips.
The difference that occured between the foreign and local experts was that while the foreign
experts saw Tartu suitable only for cultural trips, the local experts thought that the city is suitable
also for other types of tourism such as nature tourism and family tourism. There was also a
different interpretation among those two interview groups about what could be the main target
groups of Tartu. When the foreign experts thought that Tartu has a lot more to offer for an older
cultural tourist who travels without children, the local experts found that people in every age,
both old and young, and people who travel because of different motives find Tartu interesting for
visiting. So, it can be said that the way that the local and foreign tourism experts position Tartu is
somewhat different. In the mind of the foreign experts Tartu has its certain niche, while the local
experts see Tartu very multiplex.
It was also said that there are aspects that the local DMOs could improve in the marketing
communication of Tartu. The main weak points were the insufficient information flow from the
DMOs and the absence of the marketing for a specific target market. It also appeared from the
research that the collaboration between the local DMOs and the local tourism enterprises could
be better.
Also the practicl recommendations for the local DMOs for the marketing communication in the
future are added for forming a positive image of Tartu as a tourism destination more effectivly.
Hopefully, the outcomes of the research can also be used when creating the brand of Tartu.
In the future it would be interesting to find out whether the findings of this survey also apply to
the larger amounf of tourism experts from Tartu main target markets.
Keywords
H Social Sciences (General), bakalaureusetööd, linnad, kuvand, mainekujundus, turunduskommunikatsioon, turism, turismimarsruudid, Tartu