Brand Equity of a Tourist Destination

In the current climate of severe competition among tourist destinations, the importance of brand equity in tourism marketing is increasing. This study looks at the impact of branding in relation to the largest group of inbound overseas tourists to South Korea, the Chinese. Data for the current study were obtained from a survey of tourists visiting Seoul from the Greater China region, including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and the Chinese living in Southeast Asia. The survey was conducted in popular sightseeing spots, four and five-star hotels in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, and the Incheon International Airport. The respondents were selected randomly, with effort expended to avoid any potential bias in the composition of the sample. Out of a total of 385 distributed questionnaires, 350 (China 191, Hong Kong 71, Taiwan 68, others 20) were selected as valid and finally used in the analysis. The results of this study suggest that price and word of mouth have beneficial effects on perceived quality, publicity, and brand awareness, and advertisement has beneficial effects on brand image. We also found that brand awareness and perceived quality have impacts on brand image, and brand image is related to brand loyalty. This is a pioneering study on the relationships between influencing factors, destination brand equity and its elements, and brand loyalty, with respect to Seoul, South Korea, as a tourism destination for tourists from China.