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An Analysis of Finnish Tourists' Perceptions About UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS MASTER THESIS AN ANALYSIS OF FINNISH TOURISTS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE DESTINATION IMAGE OF SLOVENIA Ljubljana, 6th December 2019 Author: Emilia Mikkola Advisor: prof. dr. Ljubica Knežević Cvelbar AUTHORSHIP STATEMENT The undersigned Emilia Mikkola, a student at the University of Ljubljana, School of Economics and Business, (hereafter: SEB LU), author of this written final work of studies with the title AN ANALYSIS OF FINNISH TOURISTS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE DESTINATION IMAGE OF SLOVENIA, prepared under supervision of prof. dr. Ljubica Knežević Cvelbar. DECLARE 1. this written final work of studies to be based on the results of my own research; 2. the printed form of this written final work of studies to be identical to its electronic form; 3. the text of this written final work of studies to be language-edited and technically in adherence with the SEB LU’s Technical Guidelines for Written Works, which means that I cited and / or quoted works and opinions of other authors in this written final work of studies in accordance with the SEB LU’s Technical Guidelines for Written Works; 4. to be aware of the fact that plagiarism (in written or graphical form) is a criminal offence and can be prosecuted in accordance with the Criminal Code of the Republic of Slovenia; 5. to be aware of the consequences a proven plagiarism charge based on the this written final work could have for my status at the SEB LU in accordance with the relevant SEB LU Rules; 6. to have obtained all the necessary permits to use the data and works of other authors which are (in written or graphical form) referred to in this written final work of studies and to have clearly marked them; 7. to have acted in accordance with ethical principles during the preparation of this written final work of studies and to have, where necessary, obtained permission of the Ethics Committee; 8. my consent to use the electronic form of this written final work of studies for the detection of content similarity with other written works, using similarity detection software that is connected with the SEB LU Study Information System; 9. to transfer to the University of Ljubljana free of charge, non-exclusively, geographically and time-wise unlimited the right of saving this written final work of studies in the electronic form, the right of its reproduction, as well as the right of making this written final work of studies available to the public on the World Wide Web via the Repository of the University of Ljubljana; 10. my consent to publication of my personal data that are included in this written final work of studies and in this declaration, when this written final work of studies is published. Ljubljana, ________________________ Author’s signature: ______________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .......................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 2 1. DESTINATION IMAGE LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................. 4 1.1 Destination image concept ............................................................................................. 4 1.1.1 Destination image definition ......................................................................................... 4 1.1.2 Destination image formation ......................................................................................... 6 1.1.3 Destination image components ..................................................................................... 8 1.2 Slovenia’s destination image background .................................................................. 14 1.2.1 Basic facts about Slovenia........................................................................................... 14 1.2.2 Slovenia’s promoted destination image ...................................................................... 15 1.2.3 Earlier research about the perceived destination image of Slovenia ........................... 17 1.2.4 Slovenia as a destination for the Finnish tourists ........................................................ 19 2. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 20 2.1 Research method .......................................................................................................... 20 2.2 Research purpose and goals ........................................................................................ 21 2.3 Data collection and analysis ........................................................................................ 23 2.3 Questionnaire design .................................................................................................... 24 2.4 Hypotheses testing ........................................................................................................ 27 2.5 Limitations of the research .......................................................................................... 28 3. EMPIRICAL FINDINGS .............................................................................................. 29 3.1 Description of respondents’ profile ............................................................................ 29 3.2 Finnish tourists’ knowledge and secondary destination image of Slovenia ............ 29 3.3 Comparison between Finnish tourists’ secondary and primary destination images of Slovenia ........................................................................................................................... 33 3.4 Finnish tourists’ primary destination image and willingness to revisit Slovenia ... 37 4. DISCUSSION ................................................................................................................. 40 4.1 Finnish tourists’ overall destination image of Slovenia ............................................ 41 4.2 Generalisability of the research results ...................................................................... 43 4.3 Suggestions for future implications ............................................................................ 44 CONCLUSIONS................................................................................................................. 44 REFERENCE LIST ........................................................................................................... 45 APPENDIXES ii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: The components of destination image Figure 2: Interactive system of destination image components Figure 3: The early tourism campaign of Slovenia Figure 4: Slovenia’s current tourism slogan and logo Figure 5: Reasons for not visiting Slovenia Figure 6: The mode values of the attributes and overall image of the Finnish tourists, who have not visited Slovenia Figure 7: Mean values for the attributes and overall image of Finnish tourists, who have not visited Slovenia Figure 8: Mean value differences of the common functional and psychological attributes Figure 9: Differences in responses about the perceived overall destination image of Slovenia Figure 10: Responses about the perceived offer of sustainable tourism in Slovenia Figure 11: Willingness to revisit Slovenia Figure 12: Mean values for the destination attributes and overall destination image of Finnish tourists, who have visited Slovenia Figure 13: The modes for the attributes and overall image of the Finnish tourists, who have visited Slovenia LIST OF TABLES Table 1: 21 statements of Slovenia’s destination image attributes Table 2: One-sample t -test Table 3: Independent samples t -test Table 4: One-sample binomial test LIST OF APPENDIXES Appendix 1: Povzetek (summary in Slovene) Appendix 2: Questionnaire sheet Appendix 3: One-sample t -test Appendix 4: Independent samples t -test Appendix 5: One-sample binomial test iii ABSTRACT Destination image is an essential part of tourists’ destination decision making and therefore it is relevant to analyse perceptions about the destination image attributes and overall destination image in the eyes of potential first-time or repeat visitors. This research is an analysis about the destination image of Slovenia perceived by Finnish tourists. A quantitative and deductive research approach and structured research methodology have been applied in order to measure and analyse the perceptions of Finnish tourists’ destination image of Slovenia, which is the research purpose. The research purpose is supported with three hypotheses. A comparison was made between the Finnish tourists, who have visited Slovenia, and the ones, who have not. In addition, both groups’ perceptions have been analysed separately as well. The research is based on an online questionnaire centralising around the perceptions about the common functional and psychological destination image attributes’ list defined by Echtner and Ritchie as well as the primary and secondary overall destination images of the respondents. To test the hypotheses, statistical tests were conducted with the help of SPSS software program version 26. The final amount of the respondents to the questionnaire as 223, with 122 Finnish tourists, who had not been to Slovenia, and 101, who had visited Slovenia. Although it was hypothesized that the Finnish tourists, who have not been to Slovenia, do not have a strong knowledge of Slovenia’s destination image, it was not possible to accept this hypothesis as there was no statistical confidence for
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