Empirical Evidences on Foreign Tourist Demand Perception on Bucharest

Abstract

Tourism is one of the most dynamic economic sectors, largely influenced by consumer’s perception and overall satisfaction. Tourism destinations are very complex being determined by many attributes. They are often perceived before the visit and confirmed or contradicted as attractive places by tourists’ experiences which determine their loyalty toward them. Our study depicts the incoming tourists’ perception upon Bucharest, the elements leading to it and the degree into which they are satisfied and would come back. Literature research, official statistics and a survey addressed to in-bound tourists were the main sources for collecting data, further on quantitatively and qualitatively analyzed using appropriate software solutions in order to detach a before and an after visit opinion on Bucharest. The research results show the fact that a dominantly negative perception on the tourist destination of Bucharest, formed before the visit, suffers an obvious post-consume change. As a consequence of their positive experiences during the visit most incoming tourists declare their intent to include Romania on their list of future holiday destinations. These results may be used by both academics and practitioners as a valid argument for further in-depth marketing studies and better oriented branding and promotional strategies aiming tourism development for Bucharest.