Zborník - Mesto Nitra

7 THEORETICAL AND PRACTICAL ISSUEAS OF TOURISMDESTINATION MARKETINGspeaker: PhDr. Michala Dubská, PhD., PhDr. Roman Zima, PhD., University of ConstantinePhilosopher, Department of Management of culture and tourismDestination Management represents the management of Tourism in a Destination withthe involvement of the public and private sector entities that are oparating not only directly inthe sphere of Tourism, but also in the associated branches. Exactly, the strong and wellmanagedregional Destinations are dominant on the market in the most advanced countries inTourism. The cross-sectional character of the branch, complexity and complementarity as thebasic characteristics of the competitive product of Tourism, and the mutual interdependenceof Tourism exceedigly predestine the branch of Tourism to the necessary cooperation basedon a partnership between the public and private sector. The issue of DestinationManagement, or Tourism Development through local and regional associations, have beenone of the key topics in Slovakia since 1993. It is the most challenging, but also the mosteffective instrument for the promotion of development activities in the field of Tourism.Destination Marketing and Marketing of TourismDestination is a place/location/region/county, or a group of countries to which a visitortravels and is considered to be the goal of the trip. Each Destination is different, andrepresents unique marketing and management challenges. Some Destinations, thanks to itsunique natural or cultural-historic values „sell themselves“ easily, the others require muchmore effort, creativity and energy. The successful Destinations were able to change into acomplex, identifiable and attractive tourist Brand in several years. „Destination Marketing isan proactive, strategic, visitor-oriented approach to the economic and cultural development ofthe locality that integrates and balance the interests of visitors, service providers and a hostcommunity.“ 4 Marketing of Tourism Destination exceeds the standard understanding, whichwas reduced to the care of the visitor, customer, client or consumer, because it also appeals tothe home residents, enterpreneurs and service providers, self-government bodies, and in likemanner, its purpose should be to ensure not only economic, but also socio-cultural benefits.Marketing activities are extremely important in the Tourism sector, because thedecision of a customer to come is based on the prestige and image of a Destination in thesame way, oreven more than in any other branches. In 2009, Bill Siegel published a study of „WhatHappens When You Stop Using Marketing – The Rise and Fall of Tourism in Colorado 5 . Thestudy monitored the process of the gradual reduction of the successful governmental4 The Definition was proposed by the expert in the field of Business Strategy Karol Albrecht in 2008.5 SIEGEL, B. What Happens When You Stop Marketing? Internet available at address:http://www.colorado.com/ai/TheRiseandFallofColoradoTourism.pdf.70