Recognition and perception of Latvia as a tourism destination in different segments

Abstract

Recognition and perception as well as the image of a destination plays a significant role in choosing a specific destination for a potential journey. The destination image includes different attributes - tangible and verifiable destination attributes, as well as more intangible aspects as perceptions of a more psychological nature and emotions related to particular destination. The aim of the research was to study differences in the recognition and perception of Latvia as a tourism destination in different segments of potential European travellers in Latvia's target markets and how they affect their intentions to visit Latvia. The research involved data of three face-to-face surveys conducted in different places of Germany, Switzerland and Austria in 2015, 2016 and 2017. The questionnaire was conducted to evaluate the recognition and the perception of Latvia as tourism destination as well as to find out the respondents' intentions to visit Latvia within the next three years. As tool for data analyses SPSS software was used by applying descriptive statistics, data correlation and crosstabulations. Main results and findings are intended for organisations that are responsible for tourism image development in Latvia, to optimize marketing communication with different tourist segments in countries mentioned above.