Destination brand personality of Turkey as a place of travel

The aim of this paper is to explore tourists’ perceptions of Turkey as a destination for travel. Also, the relation between culture and brand personality is also investigated. Tourists attribute brand personality characteristics to tourist destinations. Accordingly, applying destination personality traits that reflect current and potential tourists’ perception about destinations is increasing in importance in the context of destination marketing. In this study, destination personality of Turkey was measured using Aaker’s brand personality scale. The questionnaire sample was chosen among international tourists, who visited Turkey in the period December 2015 to September 2016. In total, 346 participants completed the survey. The outcomes of the research confirm the previous literature that tourists’ personality characteristics are associated with tourism destinations. The findings of the research indicate that the perceived destination personality of Turkey is two dimensional: sincerity and competence; as well as sophistication and ruggedness. Whilst destination personality traits do not differ according to gender, they do statistically differ in terms of age group and nationality. Theoretical and practical implications as well as future research perspectives are discussed at the end of the paper.