Zeszyt naukowy - całość - Wydział ZarzÄ dzania i Ekonomiki Usług

ZESZYTY NAUKOWE UNIWERSYTETU SZCZECIŃSKIEGO
NR 592 EKONOMICZNE PROBLEMY TURYSTYKI NR 14 2010
RIDVAN KOZAK, MEDET YOLAL
Anadolu University
EFFECTIVENESS OF DOMAIN NAMES: AN ANALYSIS
OF THE COUNTRY DESTINATION WEB SITES
Introduction
Destination marketing is increasingly becoming competitive worldwide. Tourism
destination marketing has traditionally been heavily oriented towards the promotion
function, a tendency that will no doubt continue well into the future 1 . Providing
innovative and well coordinated tourism products is therefore exceedingly
important for tourism destination 2 . An integral component of building a global
brand name or a global destination brand includes the use of the Internet to communicate
to audiences all over the world. In the particular case of tourism, the Internet
has helped its expansion by disseminating information 3 . Web based destination
marketing has become a reality for most Destination Marketing Organizations
(DMOs) and simultaneously constitutes a great opportunity for these organizations 4 .
According to the Travel Industry Association of America, 67% of online travelers
in the USA search for information on destinations or check prices or schedules via
1
R.J.B. Ritchie, J.R.B. Ritchie, A framework for an industry supported destination marketing
information system, “Tourism Management” 2002, No. 23, pp. 439–454.
2
D. Buhalis, Marketing the competitive destination of the future, “Tourism Management“
2000, No. 21, pp. 97–116.
3
R.K. Gertner, K.A. Berger, D. Gertner, Country-dot-com: Marketing and branding destinations
online, “Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing” 2006, No. 21 (2/3), pp. 105–116.
4
U. Gretzel, Y. Yuan, D.R. Fesenmaier, Preparing for the new economy: advertising
strategies and change in destination marketing organizations, “Journal of Travel Research” 2000,
No. 39, pp. 146–156.