ABSTRACT
Destination marketing has been an important area of study for the last 20 years. The intensifying competition among tourism destinations all over the World has been the major reason that fueled this interest. UN World Tourism Organization studies clearly show that tourism industry has still a long way to go and will continue to grow during a foreseeable future. The number of tourists and tourism receipts from these tourists is expected to be 2 billion tourists and 2 trillion dollars respectively. In addition to these monetary gains, the other major contribution of tourism industry is its positive effects on employment numbers. The ever-climbing numbers of unemployment all over the world are another major reason that directs the eyes of especially developing countries on tourism industry. Studies show that effective destination marketing helps destinations to better present and promote the destination and its attractions, better position the destination, improve its image and strengthen its brand identity (Kladou & Kehagias, 2014; Niininen, Szivas & Riley, 2004; Della Corte, Piras & Zamparelli, 2010; Mykletun, Crotts & Mykletun, 2001). This chapter has been written solely to critically review destination marketing research in the last 20 years. A comprehensive literature review shows that the interest to study destination marketing related subjects has grown rapidly. The most studied subjects were found to be (1) Internet/Websites, (2) Branding, (3) Destination/Brand identity, (4) Destination competitiveness and (5) Destination marketing organizations.
