BRANDING UKRAINE AS A TOURIST DESTINATION

International Business Bachelor's thesis Supervisor: Phani Tej Adidam Date of approval: 6 May 2011

Aalto University School of Economics Bachelors Degree Program in International Business Mikkeli Campus

Author: Bryukhanov Yegor Title of thesis: Branding Ukraine As a Tourist Destiation Date: 6th May 2011 Degree: Bachelor of Science in Economics and Business Administration Supervisor: Phani Tej Adidam Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore a theoretical foundation under the concept of destination branding and to apply relevant theory to the case of Ukraine by the means of empirical research. This aims to identify the current readiness of Ukraine for destination branding as well as to assess the tourist potential and an overall image of the country among the possible visitors. Summary This study has explicitly addressed issue of destination identity, destination image and explored a practical side of destination branding. All the concepts were applied to the case of Ukraine, while discussing the ramifications between the theoretical and empirical evidence. Conclusions The study has revealed an overall poor readiness of Ukraine for destiantion branding and has detecetd several issues with an image and identity of Ukraine. As a result, several solutions were offered on how to deal with those problems as well as an overall critical assesemnt of Ukraine as a toursit destiantion has identified poor level of preparation for large toursit inflows stemming from EURO-2012. Keywords: Destination branding, Ukraine, tourism, destination image Language: English Grade:

Table of Contents 1.Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Background for the research........................................................................... 1 1.2 Research problem and the significance of the research .............................. 2 1.3 Research Objectives ........................................................................................ 2 1.4 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 3 2. Literature Review ................................................................................................... 3 2.1. What is a brand and branding? ...................................................................... 4 2.1.1 Branding in context of tourism destination ................................................... 4 2.2. Brand Image in context of destination branding .......................................... 5 2.2.1. Projected image of the destination.............................................................. 7 2.2.2 Autonomous image formation agents .......................................................... 8 2.2.3. Demand side ............................................................................................. 10 2.2.4 A model of destination image..................................................................... 11 2.3. Brand identity in context of destination branding...................................... 12 2.3.1. Corporate branding and corporate identity................................................ 13 2.3.2. Destination Identity.................................................................................... 14 2.3.3 Destination Identity Structure ..................................................................... 17 2.4 Theoretical Framework .................................................................................. 18 3. Methodology ......................................................................................................... 19 3.1 The choice of methodology ........................................................................... 19 3.2 Survey Methodology ...................................................................................... 20 3.2.1 Reliability and Validity ................................................................................ 21 3.3 Interview Methodology................................................................................... 22 3.3.1 Reliability and Validity ................................................................................ 23 4. Findings ................................................................................................................ 24 4.1 Interview Findings .......................................................................................... 24 4.1.1. An image of Ukraine.................................................................................. 24 4.1.2 Image formation process............................................................................ 26 4.1.3 Issues with an identity of Ukraine............................................................... 28 4.1.4 Promotional campaign and competition ..................................................... 30 4.1.5 EURO-2012: a possible impact.................................................................. 32 4.2 Survey Results................................................................................................ 33 4.2.1 Demographics ............................................................................................ 33 4.2.2 Awareness ................................................................................................. 34 4.2.3 Associations ............................................................................................... 36 4.2.4 Sources of information ............................................................................... 36 4.2.5 Scale Scores .............................................................................................. 37 4.2.6 Intention to visit .......................................................................................... 38 4.2.7 Limitations to the survey technique............................................................ 39 5. Discussion and analysis...................................................................................... 40 5.1 Image of Ukraine............................................................................................. 41 5.2 Identity of Ukraine .......................................................................................... 46 5.3 Ukraine as a tourist destination .................................................................... 49 5.3.1 Self-analysis............................................................................................... 49 5.3.2 Tourist Analysis.......................................................................................... 52 5.3.3 Competitor Analysis ................................................................................... 53 5.3.4 Positioning Ukraine as a tourist destination ............................................... 54 6 Conclusions........................................................................................................... 57 6.1 Main Findings.................................................................................................. 58 6.2 Implications for international business........................................................ 59
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6.3 Suggestions for further research.................................................................. 60 References ................................................................................................................ 61 Appendix 1. Questionnaire...................................................................................... 64 Appendix 2. ............................................................................................................... 66

1.Introduction 1.1 Background for the research With an increased globalization in frankly every industry, it becomes more and more difficult to remain competitive in the marketplace. I In addition, a booming supply in various products and services increases variety of offering in the marketplace making differentiation a necessary tool for successful branding. Therefore, a brand that can help simplify decisions, reduce purchase risk, create and deliver expectations is invaluable. Tourism destination is in no way an exception to the rule. Nowadays, potential tourists have probably the largest variety of tourism destinations to choose from. There are destinations and facilities that can match any, even the most sophisticated, requirements by the tourists. Therefore, in this increasingly competitive environment it becomes very difficult for the destination to differentiate itself from the extensive offering in the marketplace. As a concept, destination branding has evolved in the literature in the beginning of the 90s (Aaker, 1991, de Chernatony, 1993. Destination branding is viewed as the best tool to differentiate the destination experience from the competition. Success stories of New Zealand, Spain, Croatia, Ireland, Malaysia, etc. prove that this concept is in existence, is successfully applied, and can create tremendous positive impact on the destination. As far as destination branding is concerned, it is very important to understand that the complexity of the process has to be managed carefully and professionally. In addition, high degree of cooperation is required for the success of branding endeavors. In 1991, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine became an independent state. However, even after 20 years have passed, Ukraine is still a dark and unknown place for the people outside of the former Soviet block. Ukraine needs to differentiate itself from the rest of the world by the means of carefully thought-through marketing campaigns and communication strategies. As far as I am concerned, Ukraine has a lot to offer to the visitors. Moreover, it has to be clearly emphasized that Ukraine is not only a country that is located somewhere next to Russia. Ukraine is not only Victor Yuschenko, Yulia Tymoschenko, Andriy Shevchenko, Serhiy Bubka, political scandals, economic instability and Chernobyl Catastrophe. Ukraine is also a beautiful country with fascinating landscapes and invigorating people, who would warmly welcome a visitor into their home. Another valuable assets of Ukraine are its highpotential leisure and ski resorts primarily situated in Crimea and Carpathians.

Unfortunately, most of the people on the Earth either do not know anything about Ukraine, or have heard something, which was not necessarily positive. In my opinion this situation has to be changed. Now, Ukraine, as a host of EURO-2012 has a chance to turn the situation upside down and show to the whole world what it really constitutes. While Ukraine is in desperate need for differentiation, branding is the most powerful tool for the differentiation. At the same time only when visiting a country as a tourist, one can really experience and get know what Ukraine is all about. Therefore, undertaking a topic that would unite tourism, branding and Ukraine was of particular interest for me as a business student and as a Ukrainian. 1.2 Research problem and the significance of the research Strong brand is a priceless asset that helps to differentiate a company or a product from the competition. Destination brand is not an exception to the rule. Strong destination brand will allow Ukraine to competitively position itself on an international arena. Particularly a strong brand in a tourist industry will allow the country to receive additional budget inflows and significant investments into infrastructural development in case a destination will be attractive for the tourists. In addition, an overall strong tourist brand may help to improve an overall image of the country and to affect its identity in the positive manner. In context of Ukraine, it will be able to differentiate itself from Russia and former Soviet Union associations and establish itself as a sovereign and free state not only in legal terms, but also in the minds of international communities. 1.3 Research Objectives The purpose of this study is to explore a theoretical foundation under the concept of destination branding and to apply relevant theory to the case of Ukraine by the means of empirical research. This aims to identify the current readiness of Ukraine for destination branding as well as to assess the tourist potential and an overall image of the country among the possible visitors. This thesis starts with an establishment of solid theoretical foundation on the concept of destination branding as a whole with no country-specific adjustments. First of all I will explore the concepts of destination image, destination identity and their constituents. After that all the ramifications between the concepts will be illustrated by the unified theoretical framework, which would aim at providing a generic view on the whole process. Followed by the empirical evidences both qualitative and quantitative, a theory will prove to be a good proxy for analyzing empirical evidence in case of

Ukraine. Finally, the conclusions will be drawn and suggestions for future research will be presented. 1.4 Research Questions There are four major questions to this study, however, the study explores the concept in a broader way, but is trying to adjust relevant theory for the case of Ukraine How does Ukraine brand itself to the foreign tourist communities? o What is the relationship between destination image and destination identity in case of Ukraine? How can the branding process be organized given the current state of affairs in Ukraine? How is Ukrainian image perceived on the international arena? o Which factors influence image formation process in Ukraine? How can Ukraine be positioned on the tourist market?

2. Literature Review The following chapter will establish a theoretical foundation for the concept of destination branding. The chapter will discuss the concepts of destination image and destination identity, also in the end of the chapter the theoretical framework will be presented in order to combine the discussed aspects into one holistic model that will be particularly useful in understanding, conducting and analyzing primary research in this study. The framework is not country-specific or adjusted to any particular market; rather general view is required in order to understand all the ramifications and interrelations within the concept. Literature review starts with the introduction of the concept of brand and branding in the destination context. Followed by the sections on

destination image and destination identity. Finally, the conclusions are presented and the framework for further analysis is developed. 2.1. What is a brand and branding? As stated by the American Marketing Association a brand is: A name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers. The legal term for brand is trademark. A brand may identify one item, a family of items, or all items of that seller. If used for the firm as a whole, the preferred term is trade name. While, at the same time, a brand can be viewed as a promise of fucntional and emotional benefits to the customer (Kapferer, p.4). Kotler supports the latter definition of a brand and highlights that it is essentially to consitenlty deliver the promised benfits to the end customers, both tangible, such as: performance, price or functionality, and intangible, like safety, presitge or personality. However, brands not only differentiate products and represent value, but, according to Kotler and Gertner (p.42) brands also incite beliefs, evoke emotions and prompt behaviors. The main purpose of a brand is to distinguish the product, service or anything that brand identifies from the competition in the market (Kapferer, p. 40 ). Therefore, the most powerful tool in achieveing this purpose is branding. David Aaker and his colleagues have developed the most widely acknowledged defintion of branding. According to them, the primary role of branding is: to identify the goods or services of either one seller or a group of sellers, and to differentiate those goods or services from those of competitors. It can be derived from the definition that branding incorporates both external, as well as internal parts of the process, not only focusing on the visible messages and image of the brand, but at the same time creating an identity which serves as a foundation for brand's image. Branding is also viewed as a way to disclose hidden values of the product that otherwise would not be visible to the customer (Kapferer, p.34). 2.1.1 Branding in context of tourism destination In tourism destination context branding is a highly complex process which involves multiple stakeholders and entities that have to act in cooperation, when creating a holistic image of the destination (Hankinson 2004, p. 115). It is a concept, which is based on the variety of different products and services with multiple ownership, which when combined together create an experience (Konecnik 2008, 181). A concept of experience as a main deliverable in tourism is supported by Ryan, who suggests that
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experience from visiting a tourist destination should be incorporated and emphasized in the destination branding process. Branding in the context of tourism is viewed as a relationship that enables a match between the destination's image and visitors selfimage, where visitor's needs and brand's functions and symbolic values match together (Hankison 2004, p 120). Destination branding is claimed to include a mix of brand elements that are aimed to differentiate a destination through positive image building. These brand elements may include those that are perceived to be typical for consumer proucts such as: slogans, symbols, trademarks, architecture, et., those that can be created and promoted through classic branding techniques (Tasci and Kozak, p. 310). However, another point of view among the researchers exist. Some of them view a development of destination brand through the development of destination identity. For example, Simon Anholt refers to the destiatnion brand in terms of its competetitve identity, which makes the destination memorable and distinctive (Anholt 2007, p.40). Referring to purpose of branding as a tool for differentiation, Anholt's view is based on internal constituency of a destiatnion brand, its identity, that helps to differentitate the place product from the competition (Anholt 2007, p. 53). So, it can be identified from the literature that the concept of destination branding roots from both brand image and brand identity as well as adopts aspects from numerous areas of branding: product, service and corporate branding. The following sections of this study will descrbe each concept in more detail and in the context of destination branding. 2.2. Brand Image in context of destination branding Among different kinds of destinations, the concept of the country image is the one that is most extensively studied, but its complexity provides a room for discussion of different attributes related to the concept. Most studies have examined country image from a static point of view and focused on relationships between the image and behavior, and an experience, which the visitors encounter of the country (Tasci and Gartner, p. 418). Image in the country tourism context is an indivisible part of the brand and is considered to play a key role in the establishment of the perceptions by potential customers about the destination. (Tasci and Kozak, p. 305). It is common to observe in the literature that brand image can be seen either from the customers side or from the producers side. (Bramwell and Rawding, p. 211). Clearly, destination image is a complex construct that incorporates numerous products and services that, when combined together, make up the total impression of the destination. Therefore,
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destination brand can be perceived as an umbrella construct for products and attributes. (Mossberg and Kleppe, p. 495). Destination image literature is able to identify three sources of image formation agents: 1) supply-side, or a destination itself, constitutes a message, which is conveyed by the destination marketers and is communicated to the external public by means of various marketing communications. For example, promotional campaign entitled New Zealand. 100% Pure was aimed at conveying destination image that would be attractive for tourists seeking unique experience in a country with rich nature and beautiful pure landscapes. (Morgan et al. 335). 2) Independent or autonomous entities, which include all the possible sources that may transmit any message about a destination, either positive or negative, such as: various forms of media, word-ofmouth, et.. A good example of such an influence may be an effect of increased media coverage of the recent dramatic events in Egypt on its leisure industry. As a result of extensive media coverage, numbers of tourists visiting the country have reduced sharply, because of Egypt being portrayed as an unsafe and unstable place. 3) Demand-side of image receivers, which identifies all the possible factors that may influence an image formation process on the perceptual level of the message receivers. To illustrate this, it can be stated that following aspects may influence image receivers perceptions: the psychology of how consumers think and select between different alternatives, the influence of the consumers environment on the decision-making, limitations of the consumer knowledge or information processing abilities. (Abdallat and El-Sayed, p. 5) With the existence of such view on a destination image formation, it is essentially to present division in the image building process introduced by several scholars. Tasci and Gartner (p. 413) focused on two parties that are involved into the image building process and identified them as a supply-side and demand-side. They suggest that in the image building process it is necessary to focus on both supply aspects, like marketing operations, communication channels, et., as well as on demand-side aspects, like tourist decision making. The most emphasis in the literature is put on the pre-experience stage of image formation, where three types of images, as suggested by Gunn (p. 62) can be derived: 1) the organic image, which is a potential tourists impression of a destination, mostly influenced by non-controllable image-formation variables and sometimes even an actual visitation 2) an induced image, that is established through promotional materials, marketing campaigns and promotional endeavors 3) an
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autonomous image that is formed under the influence of various external sources that may somehow affect the destination image formation. However, on the whole, the differences between these three types of image are diminishing and nowadays almost non-existent (Tasci and Gartner, 414). When combined together three levels of image formation result into the complex image of a destination, which, as defined by Mossberg and Kleppe (p. 498) is a generic concept. From the point of view of the supply-side, with all its numerous multi-ownership assets, products and services, it is intended to have and project a certain image on the potential customers. Demand-side receivers may be tourists, potential tourists and other numerous stakeholders or anybody who has the opportunity to receive any information regarding destination (Tasci and Gartner, p.422). However, the means under which the image is formed should be carefully monitored and it is essentially to understand that receiver gets pieces of information from numerous contacts, regardless of the source, which often can be uncontrollable. Destination originated messages are not the only ones that reach the receiver. There are other intermediaries in the process that can modify the primary message. (Moliainen, p. 30). It is also essentially to understand that even if the image transmission process is carefully controlled and monitored and only the appropriate sources of communication are used, the projected image may not be the same as a perceived image, due to the perceivers ability to modify it. (Tasci and Gartner, p. 415) Therefore, potential visitors are most likely to receive the projected image differently and their image formation processes are different and largely depend on the source of information (Tasci and Kozak, p. 311). However, in case of the current visitors, image is usually formed under the personal experiences of customers. Essentially communications give promises, while operations aim to fulfill those promises, in case of tourism; operations can be viewed as relevant infrastructure that supports the promised benefits. (Moliainen, p. 43). 2.2.1. Projected image of the destination Cai (p. 731) defines destination brand image as perceptions about the place as reflected by the associations held in the tourist memory. He claims that building a brand means to identify and strengthen the most relevant association of the brand in the minds of customers. By implementing marketing programs, destination authorities can create an induced image of their destination. Given that destination product is intangible, various promotional materials are remarkably important in building a destination brand image before the customers
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actual visitation of the destination (Sirakaya and Sonmez, p. 343). Visual aspects of promotional materials are aimed at highlighting the intangible nature of the destination and to communicate its hidden dimensions that are impossible to encounter prior to the customers own experience (MacKay and Fesenmeier, 294). Therefore, the design, layout, content are of high importance for the destination marketers, or the supply-side of the destination. Also the ability to include or exclude certain dimensions from the promotional materials is of an advantage to the supply-side marketers, because this is one of the possible ways for them to influence the image formation process and to choose which dimensions will contribute beneficially to the destination image (Tasci and Gartenr, p. 418). In order to develop a destination image strategy, it is necessary to assess the familiarity of the destination among the target market and examine the existing associations that consumers have towards the destination (Baloglu, p. 129). Referring back to Kotlers point of view (2002, p. 253) that brand promise should be rooted into the reality of the destination, the combination of accurate assessment of real associations and the destinations position in the market on a par with self-analysis of destinations internal aspects, enable destination marketers to create an effective marketing program. It is aimed at overcoming the existing negative perceptions and formulating a deliverable brand promise that is rooted into the destinations identity. The concept of destination identity will be explored later in the study. However, not only the supply-sides endeavors are there to form the image, one important part of the image formation process is various autonomous agents that are mostly uncontrollable to the destination branding executives. 2.2.2 Autonomous image formation agents Intermediaries in the image building process can enhance, diminish or modify the projected image by the destination. These factors are what Gartner (1993, p. 199) refers to as autonomous image formation agents, are of low control for the destination marketers primarily due to their nature. Customers perception may be affected by sources such as: news, articles, educational materials, celebrities, movies and popular culture. Autonomous agents are very influential in image formation process, because they have high credibility and are usually able to reach customers outside the initial target market. (Gartner, p. 200) Such agents as news, media and newspapers are especially influential and tend to have greater impact on a destinations tourist inflows when covering a dramatic event thats happening in the country. An example of such event may be: a war, a terrorist
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attack, natural disasters or a political upheaval, all the negative events that may harm the overall image of the destination (Sonmez and Sirakaya, p. 346). Referring to Hall (p. 229), the main challenges for branding countries in the Eastern European region are the negative associations that have been developed towards them by negative publicity and a turmoil in the region that was extensively covered by the media. The collapse of the Soviet Union, the Chernobyl catastrophe and other numerous negative events, which has occurred in this region, were able to produce extremely negative associations with those countries among the potential visitors. Extensive media coverage was one of the triggers towards negative perceptions of Eastern European countries around the world. Autonomous agents can change image quickly if the information received is considered credible, is coming from the reliable source and is very different from the previously held image of the destination. Another option is when the information is less resonance and overwhelming but is being received repetitively over a long period of time. (Tasci and Gartner, p. 430). However, some researchers argue that negative information coverage does not necessarily harm the destinations image, but sometimes may even contribute positively to it. For example, Alhemoud and Armstrong argue that Kuwait is considered to have tourist potential, because during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the country received enormous amount of free promotion, which considerably increased awareness of the country worldwide, even though the publicity was not necessarily positive. Therefore, they suggest that increased awareness of the country lead to higher tourist potential, although the country has never promoted itself as a tourist destination (Alhemoud and Armstrong, p. 221). However, at the same time, Sonmez and Tarlow (p. 122) report declining numbers of tourists coming to the surrounding Kuwait countries, indicating negative effect of the war and its extensive coverage in the media for the leisure industry. Gartner and Shen (p. 331) propose a view that suggests that for countries with low awareness, a credible source describing them may create a dramatic change in image, especially when the negative event occurring is described as the one that threatens peoples basic needs, such as safety and security. Referring to the Maslows hierarchy of needs, which defines basic and higher level human needs with deferring importance in various contexts, Gartner and Shen suggest that people are capable of receiving and consciously analyzing large portions of information, when they are related to their basic needs (p. 334).
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On the whole, despite different viewpoints and opinions concerning the concept, coverage of dramatic and resonance events most likely will have sudden impact on the destinations image. Depending on the character of the event the image is changed proportionally to the events importance (Tasci and Gartner, p. 428). Therefore, countries are trying to improve and establish their images through hosting hallmark events and leveraging their positive image and awareness. Olympic Games, FIFA World Cup or UEFA European Championships can be regarded as such events (Ritchie and Smith, p. 145). However, there is an opinion exists that in the long term the image might revert back to the pre-event condition (Gartner and Shen, p.333). It is suggested that there are several ways to overcome the effects of negative publicity. Creating positive word-of-mouth transmission and reassuring tourists of their safety and security are tools proposed by Murphy (p. 432) to overcome the effects of negative media coverage, especially after human caused disasters. 2.2.3. Demand side Induced, autonomous and organic images are not the only determinants of the destination image. As stated by Bramwell and Rawding (p. 211) a projected image is a combination of images and impressions about the destination, while a received image is a construct that is influenced by the comprehension, understanding and interpretation of the message by the customer. Differences in perceptions may arise due to various reasons. Sociodemographics as a perception influencer have been researched by number of scholars. For example Dann (pp. 52-53) says: no two people perceive the destination in exactly same way. The perceived image may be different for consumers from different ethnic groups, gender and social classes (Holbrook, p. 532). In addition to that a point of view exists that the physical distance of the destination plays a role in customers perception of it. According to Walmsley and Young (p. 66) local images are based on information assimilation from continuous experience with everyday sources, while international image is mostly formed under the influence of induced and autonomous information agents. Therefore, it is suggested to account for cultural differences of the international target consumers, while developing marketing programs. Similarly, Reisinger and Turner (p. 213) turn attention to the importance of correlation between the culture of the destination and a consumer. They claim that culture can be a defining factor in the perception of the projected image On the whole, destination image is not only based on interpretation of visual and verbal information. The receivers of the message may be influenced by histories,
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presumptions, factual stories and prejudices, which are very difficult to track and identify (Tasci and Gartner, p. 418). 2.2.4 A model of destination image Having examined the main the image formation process and the aspects that influence it, several conclusions can be drawn. In my view, Tasci and Kozak (p. 313) have summarized the abovementioned concepts in the model that illustrates the interrelationships and ramifications between the destination brand and destination image, very coherently and understandable. Due to the intangible nature of the destination product image is perceived to be a vital part of the destination brand construct. The following model describes functional relationships between the projected and received images of the destinations and summarizes factors that may influence both (Tasci and Kozak, pp 312-314)

Figure 1 (Tasci and Kozak, 2006: p. 313)

Figure 1. (Tasci and Kozak: p 313) It can be derived from the model that to enable the fit between the projected and received image, a number of factors have to be taken into consideration. First of all, projected image has to be based on the identity of the destination and therefore be rooted into the reality (Hanskinson, 2004 p. 311) in order to enable the fulfillment of the communicated brand promise. Secondly, a means under the image is formed; as well as numerous factors influencing the received image of the destination have to be considered by the destination marketers. The anticipation of the information flow from autonomous agents is necessary in order to ensure the clarity of an essential message being sent to the customers. (Tasci and Kozak, p. 312-314). Finally, Tasci
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and Kozak point out that it can be seen in the Figure 1, that the success of the marketing campaign is recognized by the size of the fit between the projected and received image of the destination. The brand and the way in which it is communicated influences customer behavior, which may result into the increased awareness and intention to choose the brand as a destination for the tourism. However, the projected image heavily depends on the realities of the destination or on its identity (Tasci and Kozak, p 315). The following sections will establish theoretical foundation under the concept of brand identity in the context of destination branding. 2.3. Brand identity in context of destination branding Aaker defines brand identity as: a unique set of brand associations that the company aspires to create or maintain. Brand identity specifies what are the brand attributes and what the brand stands for; also it creates and represents the vision of how the brand should be perceived by the customers. Finally, it has to establish a relationship by generating value for the customers upon its projection (Konecnik, p 179). The concept has been used in both product (Keller, 1993 p. 89) and corporate contexts (de Cherantony, p. 411). According to Urde (p. 1022) the identities are continuously developed by the means of interaction between the identities of the organizations and its customers. Also, understanding brand identity requires clear understanding of what to communicate and development of effective means of communications that will appeal to every level of an organization (Hankinson, p. 101). Several models exist that are aiming at describing the concept of brand identity and adjust it to different contexts. For example, Kapferer (p. 27) has developed the brand identity prism, which became a foundation for further studies on the topic of brand identity. He suggests that identity can be described by using six main characteristics of every brand, which include: physique, relationship, personality, self-image, culture and reflection. Moreover, the model not only concentrates on the internal aspects of identity, but also takes into account consumers and the way in which they perceive certain brand. De Chernatony (p. 176) has adapted the model by Kapferer and further developed the concept of brand identity by looking at it through the prism of culture and vision of the organization that drive the positioning and the personality of the company. His model mostly argues about brand identity from the managerial point of view. He stresses the importance of internal branding to further emphasize the value of coherent identity perception (p. 172). This point of view can be compared to the one
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of Hankinson (2009, p. 99) who turns our attention to the importance of brand centric HR practices in case of corporate branding. It is considered an important factor due to the specifics of corporate branding. Development of the concept of internal branding has lead to the redirection of the brand communications from purely external sources into the mix of external and internal (Hankinson 2009, p101). However, what unites points of view by Aaker, Kapferer and de Chernatony is the fact that they all suggest that the brand identity is a core of the brand upon which other brand elements are built. The recent shift in the literature from product branding to corporate branding (Hankinson, 2007: p. 243) makes it necessary to look deeper into the concept of brand identity in context of corporate branding. Many researchers (Rainisto, p. 54, Answorth and Kavratzis, p. 187) agree that destination branding can be compared to corporate branding, due to major similarities in the structure and complexity of the entity being branded. Therefore, I assume that it is necessary to discuss the concept of corporate identity in order to provide theoretical transition to the concept of destination identity. 2.3.1. Corporate branding and corporate identity As stated by Kay (2006 p. 316) corporate branding can be viewed as a way in which organization communicates its identity. Corporate brand and corporate identity are inseparable. According to Balmer (2007, p. 116) corporate identity is at the core of the company and therefore it may be related to its competitive advantage. To further illustrate the concept of corporate identity, Balmer (2008: p 263) proposes a new identity mix that consists of four main parts, with an organizational culture being in a core of the model.

Figure 2. Balmers new corporate identity mix (Balmer 2008, p 263)

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He identifies strategy, structure and communication as three very important aspects of corporate identity that derive from the culture of the organization. Also, he stresses the importance of separating the abovementioned aspects from other constituencies of identity management mix, such as: environment, the influence of stakeholders and reputation. It is thought that understanding corporate identity provides a platform for understanding corporate branding, corporate image, corporate reputation and corporate communications (Balmer and Gray, p. 980). Hankinson (2009, p. 99) identifies five categories of managerial practice with relation to destination branding, these are: 1) brand culture, 2) brand leadership, 3) departmental coordination, 4) brand communications and 5) stakeholder partnerships. Similar to Balmer and de Chernatony, Hankinson stresses the importance of a brand culture as far as the concept of brand identity is concerned (p. 99). He states that the job of management is to bring corporate culture in accordance with corporate vision in order for the culture to become a part of customers experience with the brand. He views staff as brand ambassadors and an integral part in brand identity communication (p. 103). Also de Chernatony (p. 166) emphasized that the main relationship creator in corporate branding is a staff that has to communicate brand values not only to the customers, but to each other as well. In corporate identity studies the focus have expanded in order to include stakeholders and the environment into the discussion. This has created a view that multiple and dynamic identities can exist within the organization (Balmer and He, p. 774). Therefore, it has been stated that multiple identities can exist within the organization, which themselves will represent the inconsistent, though, more realistic communication of the brand (p. 785). However, organization has to be perceived in a particular way by its numerous stakeholders. Their perception evolves from the continuous interaction between the brand and the stakeholders (Urde, p. 1025) 2.3.2. Destination Identity On the whole, there are several approaches towards identifying and describing destination. However, in this study I am going to concentrate on the customer-centric approach by supply side, and a destination identity as reflection of brand personality and perceptual entity. Olins (p. 242) states that even though countries change their names and political regimes, they have always been involved into identity development. Simon Anholt has proposed the most recent view on the topic (2007, p. 46). His hexagon of competitive identity illustrates six channels of communicating destination identity.
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Figure 3. Hexagon of Competitive Identity (Anholt: p. 26) In his model, tourism, which is a topic of this study, is only one of the facets and the model does not explicitly address the content of place identity. He calls for the importance of provenance in destination branding, which he identifies as a history and heritage not only of the country itself, but also of the brands that are produced and associated with the country of origin (Anholt 2002, p. 25). He views identity as a reality of destination on a par with Pritchard and Morgan (2001: p) who discuss the political and cultural identity of destination. In addition, Anholt suggests that identity has to be carefully managed and its core values should be emphasized (2007, p 27). He stresses the point that the identity of the country already exists and it should not be build up from scratch (2002, p 24). Both of the researches view destination identity from the supply-side perspective. Similarly, Konecnik and Go (p. 181) propose a strategic brand analysis framework from the point of view of the supply side. The model comprises three parts: a tourist analysis, competitor analysis and self-analysis. When combined together, destination marketers may define the brand positioning of the destination and will be able to get insights into wishes and interests of various stakeholders involved into the destination branding process. They also view a destination culture as a core of the brand and, therefore, suggest that a process of developing identity should be based on the core of the destination (p: 182). This approach is somewhat similar to the destinationcentric approach by Kavartzis and Ashworth (2006, p. 322) who define brand identity in terms of how the owners of the brand would like the brand to be seen by the potential customers. Referring to Aaker and Joachimsthaler, who suggest that a destination brand has to include from six to twelve different dimension in order to thoroughly describe the brand, Konecnik and Go summarize various country-specific dimensions into four characteristics of a brand. These characteristics are: a brand as a product, a brand as a symbol, a brand as an organization and finally a brand as a
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personality (p. 181). The latter characteristic can be viewed as the one that defines a destination from the demand-side. Researches exist, which claim that destination identity is a reflection of destinations personality. Ekinci and Hossany tested Brand Perception Model by Aaker (p. 354) in the context of destination. In essence Aaker states that there are five dimensions of brand personality that can be valid among various brands and cultures (p. 355). These dimensions are: sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication and ruggedness. Due to the symbolic nature of tourism destinations it was possible to test the model in context of destination (Ekinci and Hossany, p.130). First of all, Ekinci and Hossany revealed that destination personality could be described in three dimensions: sincerity, excitement and conviviality, with certain specific characteristic attached to each of the dimensions. In the context of tourism, sincerity and excitement seem to be the most valid ones, because they characterize very important values for the tourism destination such as: trustworthy, originality and cultural richness, while conviviality refers to friendliness and family orientation, typical traits promoted by destination marketers. It was concluded that certain dimensions were revealed in the study due to experiential character of unique tourism offerings, which at the same time were able to evoke positive emotional associations attached to the leisure experience. The intention to recommend, which can be considered a form of brand loyalty, was also measured by the study. It has been identified that both perceived affective image and conviviality affect tourists intention to recommend. The study by Ekinci and Hossany can be regarded as a view on the destination identity from the demand-sides perception of the place and most importantly the reflection of the experience with tourist destination. Therefore, the destination identity from the demand side may be explained as a perception of the experience with tourist destination and its constituents or the country on the whole. In addition to this, Williams and Reily (p. 55) et al. suggest that destination identity is determined by the values of the visitors and their compatibility with the encountered experience. These approaches view destination identity not as something that embedded into the destination, but rather something that emerges in a process of social interaction and experiential relationships. Similarly, Moilanen (2008, p. 18) states that destination identity is a perceptual entity in the minds of customers. Therefore, according to these approaches, it may be concluded that the essence of destination identity can be determined only at the after-experience stage by the demand-side.

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Having presented different approaches towards identifying destination identity, it is necessary to describe destination identity structure and its components. 2.3.3 Destination Identity Structure In the study of Finland in tourist markets, Saraniemi (p. 35) proposes a holistic approach towards destination identity.

Figure 4. The components of destination identity (Saraniemi, p. 36). Destination culture, as proposed by Saraniemi (p. 35), formulates the core of the destination identity. This view can be compared to the one of Balmer (p. 257), who suggests the same approach in the corporate branding context. In case of destination the political and economic environment as well as the infrastructure of the destination are related to its culture. Simultaneously, culture defines the structure of the destination, or its organizational structure that can be described as an interaction and hierarchy of national tourist organizations and various destination management entities (Saraniemi, p.35). Destination design encompasses visual identity that consists of slogans, websites or the destination layout. While destination communication means the ways of communicating with various stakeholders (Saraniemi, p. 36). She views components of destination identity as dynamic and influenced by numerous factors that can be controllable, as well as uncontrollable (p. 36). Balmer (2008: p. 599) suggests that the reputation of the company, its stakeholders and environment can be a tool for identity management. The main components of destination identity in a dynamic fashion can be illustrated by the following figure:

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Figure 5. Dynamic Components of destination identity (Saraniemi: p. 37). This figure aims to show the dynamism and continuous change in destination identity. Being influenced by numerous factors, destination identity still has its culture as a core. This section is followed by the summary of the whole theory highlighted in this study. The next section establishes the theoretical framework of this study. 2.4 Theoretical Framework This framework is aimed to show the interactions and relationships between the concepts of destination identity and destination image. As have been stated before, image is crucial in communicating values to potential visitors, while image has to be rooted into reality in order to deliver promised benefits. The following figure clearly illustrates the relationships between destination identity, destination image building and various components of destination image.

Figure 6. Framework of destination branding

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It can be identified from the figure that any destination-branding endeavor should start with analyzing and understanding destination identity. This step in the process is crucial, because without clear idea of what the country stands for and what are its main strengths and possible points of differentiation, it is impossible to project an effective image of the destination. The next step is to decide which communication channels will be the most suitable for a particular destination. Identification of every possible image formation agent is necessary in order to ensure coherent transmission of the desired image to the market. Therefore, it is necessary to anticipate all possible autonomous image formation agents that may affect the originality of the message and disguise it for the market. Finally, after having communicated the message to the customers, it is necessary to ensure positive experience after the tourist decides to visit the country. Enjoyable experience and positive associations with the destination brand may affect the behavior of the customers, for example, their intention to recommend or their loyalty to a specific resort or the culture of the country. If this happens, the destination will be positively affected by the tourists behavior and its image will be perceived positively around the world. On the whole, the similarities between the structure of the process of destination branding and corporate branding are visible. Although, the reflection of inconsistent brand identity by the corporation is against the canons of corporate branding (Saraniemi, p. 33), it is more importantly to communicate the brand rooted into the reality. Therefore, when applied in destination branding context, it is necessary to successfully display different identities and values to various stakeholders.

3. Methodology 3.1 The choice of methodology This chapter aims to explain and identify the methodology chosen for the research and data collection. It deals with issues of validity and reliability for every given piece of the research. Among all, it clarifies how the data has been analyzed and generalized. This study was a quantitative research based on the distribution of the questionnaires and the analysis of the data received through them, combined with qualitative research based on the interviews. The mix of the methodologies allows testing the relevant research methodology and existing scales in order to explore the concept of destination image in case of Ukraine as well as to receive expert view that will enable to explore the matter from the practical angle.
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In addition, destination branding is a highly practical concept and its management requires high degree of cooperation between the representatives of different entities. Therefore, receiving an expert view for the research is essential in order to explore complicated ramifications between the entities involved. Also, the interview enables the researcher to explore the state of affairs of branding Ukraine from the primary sources. People interviewed were practitioners from the field who have insights into the current situation in Ukraine. Therefore, the interviews were essential for that matter. Next sections deal with different data collection and analysis methods used in this research. Firstly, we will explore the quantitative methodology used in this thesis as well as discuss its relevance for the given research. 3.2 Survey Methodology A survey methodology was appropriate for this research, because the concept being studied is a country image. The country image perceptions, country awareness and country associations can be identified only by the means of large samples. Surveys allow reaching a large number of respondents; in addition, the majority of country image studies were conducted with sample sizes large enough to generalize the results. Roth and Diamantopoulos (2008, p.9) have identified 30 studies that were relevant to the concept and the median sample size among those researches was 291, a typical sample size in cross-sectional research (p.10). In addition, the choice of the sample size was also dictated by the study of Martin et al. (1993), whose scale was adopted for the research. His study was primarily conducted with the sample size of N=200, with almost even distribution of the respondents among the studied countries and was validated with a larger sample size of N=240 (Li et al., 1997). Therefore, the sample size of approximately 180 responses from Finland, Germany and Russia was applicable for this study. An overall response rate in the given study is very difficult to identify, because the researcher has limited knowledge of how many questionnaires were distributed by his contacts in Russia and Germany. However, response rate among Finnish respondents was close to 50%. Convenience sampling technique was adopted, because of the constraints on the distribution of the questionnaire. The questionnaire was created using Qualtrics Survey Software and was distributed online through e-mails and social networks to students in three abovementioned countries. Relative ease of distribution in Finland resulted into the majority of responses generated by Finnish students. Also, the required number of responses
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was achieved through the researchers contacts in Germany and Russia. The choice of the countries being surveyed was primarily dictated by reasons of convenience. Also, Russia was undertaken, because the researcher had an aim to investigate whether the fact that respondents have visited the country affected their perceptions, associations and awareness of Ukraine. Therefore, due to geographical closeness as well as close cultural interactions between the countries, the probability that at least few Russian respondents have visited Ukraine was higher than respondents from any other countries. A self-administered questionnaire was developed in order to measure respondents awareness, familiarity and perceptions of Ukraine, particularly its image. Therefore, the scale by Martin et al (1993) was adapted for the questionnaire. The set of 14 bipolar items was offered to the respondents. This particular scale was chosen for two primary reasons: 1) this scale measures the construct of a country image as distinct from the product image and 2) it has been widely referred to by other scholars (Li, 1997, Diamantopoulos, 2000). Finally, as a measurement tool, it is a clear and consistent way to identify country image by using valid and reliable way to approach the concept. Other questions were designed to measure peoples familiarity with notable Ukrainian personalities in the fields of: sports, politics, business and culture. The personalities to be included into the survey were chosen as the most famous in their fields, according to their frequent public appearance and common knowledge. The constraint was that people, who are famous in Ukraine, might not be famous outside the borders of the country. Respondents awareness of the events that have occurred or going to occur in Ukraine were also identified. The latter was essential in order to assess theoretical evidence concerning possible influence of extensive media coverage of certain events happening in a country on an image formation process.(Tasci and Gartner, p 428). 3.2.1 Reliability and Validity The core of this section, would be examining reliability and validity of the construct being used in the study. As being noted above, the scale by Martin et al (1993) is in the core of the questionnaire. Therefore, the majority of this subsection will explain different reliability and validity constructs of this scale. Original scale (Appendix 1, Question 1) consisted of fourteen bipolar items with seven choice options placed between them. However, in the course of this study it was proposed to use nine options instead of seven. This allowed for more flexibility in
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interpreting the results of the questionnaire. For example, 9 options between the items allowed creating three groups of the respondents with respect to their scores. This would be hardly possible if seven options were remained. As primary measure of reliability, Cronbachs alpha was calculated at 0,798, which is considered to be a highly satisfactory. According to Cohen et al. (2000), values of Cronbachs alpha that are larger than 0,8 can be regarded as very good . In addition to that, split-halves reliability was calculated. It was done in order to assess the construct without conducting test-retest validation. As a result, Guttman Split-Half coefficient was at 0,78, which is also a satisfactory result given the number of items on the scale (Cohen et al, 2000). 3.3 Interview Methodology Another way to research the subject was to adopt qualitative research technique that would enable the researcher to receive information through the semi-structured interviews from the practitioners within the studied field. Such research is considered suitable when there is a how or why question about the subject over which the examiner has little or no control. The subject being studied is destination branding, which is highly practical and involves a lot of cooperation between different governmental and business structures. Therefore, an examiner has no control over destination branding in Ukraine. However, the information obtained from the interviews can be subjective as well as its interpretation can be biased The research design chosen for this thesis was an interview design. The goal of the interview was to compare and contrast the opinions of two senior managers working in the field of destination branding and PR in Ukraine. Focus on their answers allowed to look into each of the interviews and still to compare the information obtained from the primary sources with the theoretical data and framework being revealed in the literature review. The data collection method was semi-structured interview with a partner of Strategic Communications Agency Mikhailov & Partners (Interviewee 1), who has more than 7 years experience in communication consulting and branding in Ukraine. The interviewee has an extensive knowledge about the state of affairs on the PR market in Ukraine and has experience of branding tourist destinations. Even though, an interviewee currently is not involved directly in the process of branding Ukraine, her expert knowledge and experience in branding other destinations was extremely relevant for this study.. The second representative was a Director of PR Agency PR Service (Interviewee 2) and an advisor to a leading Ukrainian businessman who is
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responsible for preparing one of the Ukrainian cities for the EURO-2012. Her insights as an advisor and as a practitioner, who is really in the industry for destination branding of the particular town is a great opportunity to receive relevant information about the subject of the study. Finally, the third interviewee was a renowned authority on destination branding in Ukraine and runs his destination branding agency. All interviews were conducted via Skype videoconference and audio has been recorded. For greater convenience and in order to avoid miscommunication all the interviews were conducted in Russian and the answers were translated into English. The questions for the interviews were written prior to the actual interviews being conducted. The interviewees were familiar with the questions, because the questions were sent in advance and both experts were able to prepare and think their answers through. However, the existing questions were clarified and some answers were probed, that ensured an in-depth character of the interview. Such unstructured interview design allowed the researcher to get greater insights into the matter and clarify certain answers, as there might not have been enough information received if the interviews were conducted in any other way than face-to-face or Skype videoconference call. Numerous research papers, journal articles and existing studies on country image, such as Country Brand Index (CBI) (2010) conducted by Futurebrand, destination identity and country of origin effect, became a solid foundation for crafting theoretical framework for this thesis. Materials and data were mostly collected online through accessing databases such as Science Direct, EBSCO Business Source Complete and other various resources. 3.3.1 Reliability and Validity Another method used in this study was a qualitative research based on interviews. Therefore, there were possible bias from both the researcher and the interviewees. As soon as a qualitative research process contains a high degree of researchers involvement, it is very important to discount any possible bias, inconsistencies or subjectivities that may derive from the researchers interpretation of the interview content. Although Stenbacka (2001, p.558) notes that reliability is an irrelevant concept for qualitative research as is mostly used in examining measurement in quantitative studies, reliability in qualitative research is used to evaluate the quality and trustworthiness of the study design. In the given study, the positions that the interviewees hold prove that their evidence is reliable for the topic of the research. Both interviewees are experts in the field of PR
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and branding. Although, their expertise is not explicitly in the field being studied, the fact that they both live and work in Ukraine provides evidence that they have the knowledge of the market and internal state of affairs in the structures involved into the destination branding. As it has been mentioned before, destination branding requires strong cooperation between various governmental and business structures due to its complexity. Therefore, the nature of the cooperation and its effectiveness are crucial for the success of branding endeavors. Expert view provided by the interviewees was essential to evaluate the abovementioned aspects of the subject. However, the interpretations of findings by the researcher could have been biased, due to possibility of poorly structured interview questions. This leaves a room for interpretation of the results by the researcher. There were no studies that explicitly addressed the concept of destination branding in case of Ukraine, so there is no possibility to compare the similarities of findings and evaluate their reliability. In addition, translation inconsistencies could impact the interpretation of the data gathered as a result of interviews, because the interviews were conducted in Russian and then were translated into English by the researcher. Finally, the purpose of the interview technique was to get insights into the practical side of the concept by leveraging expert opinions provided. Survey among three countries provides a realistic view on the situation with the perceived image of Ukraine and helps evaluating the levels of awareness among the respondents. When combined together, they are providing a generic picture of the real state of affairs from multiple perspectives. Such knowledge is of paramount importance when designing communication strategies, which should account for multiple factors such as: existing perceptions and associations as well as the reality of destination.

4. Findings This chapter contains information gathered through empirical research methods and will analyze as well as will interpret the main findings revealed as a result of empirical assessment. 4.1 Interview Findings 4.1.1. An image of Ukraine Futurebrand, a leading brand consultancy, that conducts annual surveys entitled Country brand index, which measures the overall strength of country brands. The company uses methodology that aims to measure the strength of the brand according to seven different dimensions. These dimensions include: 1) Awareness, which
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indicates whether the audiences know about the country 2) Familiarity shows if people know what the country offers 3) Associations, that track which perceptions people have of the country in each of the following dimensions: Tourism, Heritage and culture, Good for business, Quality of life and Value systems 4) Preferences, which is how highly people esteem the country 5) Consideration, is this one of the countries being thought about for a visit? 6) Decision/visitation which is to what extent people think of visiting the country 7) Advocacy, which measures peoples intention to recommend certain country for a visit. Futurebrand conducts its research among 3400 leisure and business travelers in 13 countries, powered by in-depth expert focus groups in 14 major metropolitan areas around the world. Largely because, the experts or leisure travelers may not have direct experience with certain countries, the study can be viewed also as a measure of country image. In the 2010 edition of Country Brand Index Ukraine was ranked 99th out of 110 countries represented in the survey. Although, the complete methodology is not disclosed, there can be several conclusions made about the matter. Interviewee 1 comments on such low ranking of Ukraine and gives her opinion about the performance in certain categories mentioned above: Here are too many problems in Ukraine, which cannot be hidden or corrected through image making alone: unattractive investment climate, one of the most difficult and confusing taxation systems in the world, deteriorating and not timely renewed infrastructure (roads, etc.), low regard for the rule of law and protection of investors' property rights, ineffective and non-systematic government regulation - with no longterm viable strategy, problems with transparency and accountability of several government authorities (customs, tax, etc.). Until these problems are corrected, Ukraine will, unfortunately, be ranked low in ratings like this one. Similarly, interviewee 2 provides a more generic view on the situation and highlights major reasons for Ukraine being ranked 99th. In addition, she emphasizes the role of the government in reputation management of the country. Objectively, Ukraine has significant problems such as: the level of economic development, political instabiity and low quality of life. Obviously, all these stem from the inability of the government to deal with these problems, as well as from the absence of systemtaic approach to reputation management and image-making on the highest level. Having said that, I view that the major reasons for low ranking in the

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Brand Index derive from poor governmetal efforts to regualte and deal with the problems within the country. Although interviewee 1 is hesitant to name certain categories in which Futureband ranked Ukraine low, she provides her expert opinion about the state of affairs in some of them with relation to Ukraine and discusses them more in-depth: Again, if you take, for instance, 'heritage and culture', given the historic diversity of Ukraine's population, customs, and traditions, what is highly revered in the West is hardly understood in the East. If you take Associations in general, one of Ukraine's problems is that it has no stable associations with it in the world - the existing associations are sporadic and very different from stakeholder to stakeholder. In terms of familiarity, same problems exist. Hardly many foreign citizens know what Ukraine offers - the answers may vary, from sex tourism and 'easy girls' to some great locations to visit, to famous athletes (Klitchko, Shevchenko, etc.), to Orange Revolution. If you take Consideration, Decision/Visitation - Ukraine is hardly the first place to come to a foreigner's mind as attractive for tourism. In Lonely Planet guide, for instance, Ukraine is described as a bit of a hostile place. As we can see both experts have concluded that Ukraine has significant problems with its image and is perceived somewhat negatively in the international community. Generally, they both agree that the negative perceptions about the country derive from the lack of knowledge about Ukraine and the absence of clear message that the country would like to communicate. As a result, an absence of associations, low awareness and non-systematic governmental policies in both internal and external politics form an overall negative image. 4.1.2 Image formation process Concerning image formation processes, both interviewees stressed the importance of the role which autonomous agents play in case of Ukraine. However, interviewee 1 puts primary focus on the role that destination marketers and businesses play in an image formation: Most tenders for country image PR were non-transparent, most country branding products' were (and are) low in quality. Given that Ukraine has no set image, no established reputation, and no unified strong associations with it, the country's image is formed sporadically, non-systematically, and in a scattered way. If you look at the media and what they write about, it is mostly politics, scandals - predominantly negative information. Which is not helping the country's image, unfortunately.
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Partially, but not fully by far, it is a problem of the business, which does not always understand the role of proper PR and media relations - many Ukrainian companies lack transparency, media relations, and even more or less defined publicity strategy. While, interviewee 3 explicitly emphasizes the role of media, however, notes that government should play an extensive role in the control of the character of information outflow to the media. In my opinion, uncontrollable agents have always played a significant role in case of any country and during any historical period. Ukraine is in no way an excption to the rule. I see that there are two possilbe ways of directing the nature of the information. First of all, it is a centralized inforamtion policy on the governmental level that will enable to direct the generic vision of country's branding efforts. In addition, the people themselves should be brand ambassadors and promote the country, for example in conversations with their international friends or whenever they are going abroad. Similarly, interviewee 2 addresses the issue of internal branding, emphasizing the importance of having brand ambassadors and brand advocates. There is a clear need to address the issues of patriotism, national pride and coherency among citizens' opinions. An average Ukrainian theoretically loves his/her country, but is negligent towards if his/her opinion is being shared by the other citizens and foreign communities. The desired situation is when an average Ukrainian loves the country so much and so much proud of it that he would try to bring the people who do not have the same opinion around to his/her point of view. The similarities in the answeres of both interviewee 2 and interviewee 3 indicate that an issue of rasisng patriotism and the feeling of national pride are relevant for successful for the concept of destiantion branding. Additionally, they both emphasize the absence of such practices in case of Ukraine. At the same time, Interviewee 2 notes that the case with autonomous agents is not an issue of control, She emphasizes that the main fundamental problem constitutes the lack of coherent vision and common opinion of what Ukraine should represent. It is not an issue of control, but rather an issue of a unified vision and strategy (where we are going, why there, how can we get there, how do we know we are there), which is currently absent in this country. You will hardly find many people in Ukraine agreeing on what is Ukraine's competitive advantage today. Who is the modern

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Ukrainian, in terms of values, 'national character', so to speak? What is the modern Ukrainian businessperson like? No common answer. That is the problem. To sum up, all three experts agreed about a very significant role of both government and business in destination branding. Moreover, all three interviewees emphasized the role of autonomous agents in image formation, but pointed out that the problem is deeper, and stems from the identity of the destination as well as from the problems that exist in the country. These problems, when being highlighted, constitute the negative impact that autonomous agents, especially media coverage, have on the Ukrainian image formation. Additionally, two interviews revealed a need for internal branding and encouraging local people to be proud of their nation and to become brand ambassadors by promoting the country in various ways and on every occasion. 4.1.3 Issues with an identity of Ukraine Having examined the current status of the Ukrainian image and image formation processes in detail, we can see the commonalities between the opinions, especially in case of an importance of destination identity and its role for the strength of a country brand. Identity lies in the core of every brand and destination brand is not an exception. Probably, for a destination, especially in context of tourism, an identity is of utmost importance, because the product being branded is an experience that tourists get from visiting the country or the resort, specifically. Interviewee 2 states that it is impossible to communicate an identity before the one is formed and coherent. Moreover, she stressed an importance of brand promise that has to be rooted into the destination identity. To illustrate this she uses a real example of British football fan, named John, who came to see the game of his team and was shocked by what he experienced. Currently, it is too early to talk about communicating an identity, because Ukraine has serious problems in forming an identity. Therefore, until recently the problem of inconsistency between the promised experience and the actual visitors' experience was not relevant for Ukriane, primiarily because foreigners knew that there were problems of all kind in the country. That is why, they went there already with prejudice. Actually, the governemnt and destiantion management organizations haven't promised anything to potential visitors and their prejudices were formed under the influence of independent sources. Problems have emerged, when the officials started promising something to the visitors. There is an actual interest towards Ukraine, as a host of EURO-2012. Some
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people are trying to satisfy their curiosity by actually visiting the country. For example Blogger John, who saw an advertising booklet, came to Ukriane, was terrified and disappointed. When he came back wrote a lot of negative comments about Ukraine online. Simultaneously interviewee 1 observes an issue from another angle, but arrives at the same conclusion about an absence of coherent identity of Ukraine. Also, the interviewee notes that Ukraine historically had multiple identities and all of them have to be taken into account, when forming a unified and coherent one. Also she notes that without a clear identity a real and favorable brand promise cannot be communicated. Essentially Ukraine does not have a universal identity. Historically, Ukraine has been ripped apart and different regions of the country belonged to different countries. For example, the Western parts of Ukraine: Lviv, Zakarpattya, etc, belonged to the Austria-Hungarian Empire, while Eastern Part was largely an autonomy in the Russian Empire. Therefore, Ukraine has multiple identities that have to be dealt with. In order to form a coherent identity, continuous and systematic work has to be constantly done. For example, numerous surveys have to be conducted in order to analyze opinions of people from different parts of the country, different cultures and even different language groups. Only when this is done, a unified identity can be coined. Before that any artificial identity that is promoted will not be working on the countrys favor. On the contrary, people will be resenting it after they see the reality, which is not so glitzy. There will be a disastrous failure of delivering the promised experience unless significant steps to change infrastructural and systematic aspects of identity will be undertaken. Additionally, the same interviewee stresses an importance of the countrys location in case of Ukraine. The country used to be a part of the Soviet Union and is located close to Russia; therefore, it is very often identified as and associated with Soviet Union and Russia. Ukraine is not a brand yet. The closest association to a brand Ukraine has is 'a big country in Europe somewhere close to Russia, ex-Soviet republic'. Interestingly, the third interviewee states that an issue of multiple identities will be solved through increased patriotism and statehood being a unifying factor for the people to develop a sense of personal attachment to the country itself.

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There is a way to adopt those multiple identities for the common denominator only when it is done on the top of the governmental hierarchy. That is possible only in case, when the value of Ukrainian statehood for citizens who bare different identities will be higher than the differences in perceptions, mindsets, ideals and differences in treating history. On the whole, both interviewees concluded that currently there is no coherent ideintity of Ukraine being formed. Both interviewees also agreed that the problem has historical roots and has to be solved cautiously and continiously. In addition, one of the interviewees emphasized an importance of the statehood in the process of coherent identity formation. 4.1.4 Promotional campaign and competition The experts have discussed a brand-new campaign that has been recently designed in order promote Ukraine in the international communities. It has to be mentioned that the content of the campaign, especially its visual part, has raised a significant controversy among local citizens and branding experts. It is thought that the campaign content does not reflect the true identity of Ukraine and Ukrainians do not associate themselves with values and identities that are promoted by the campaign. A managing partner of Mikhailov & Partners agency (Interviewee 1), which is a part of worldwide network of agencies Burson-Marsteller, the network that was involved into destination branding of several countries, discusses the transparency of the governmental tender for that campaign. Even though our company is one of the leading PR agencies in the country and a member of Burson-Marsteller network, we have not received any notification and information about the procedure of choosing the agency that would design the campaign. Moreover, I, as a vice-chairman of the board of Ukrainian PR Association, the biggest industry association, which members are the largest companies and agencies countrywide, can state that neither anyone on the board, nor any of the members were notified of the process. The same experts have commented on visual part of the campaign, placing the most emphasis on the inconsistency between the identity of Ukraine and the design of the mascots. The design of the mascots (Appendix 2) was the main issue that raised controversy among the citizens. In my opinion, not a single modern Ukrainian person associates him/herself with sharovary (wide trousers worn in Eastern Europe) and vintage national clothes.
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Concerning national clothes, in Ukraine a traditional pattern, which is shown on the shirt of a mascot, varies according to the region. Therefore, a boy wearing a shirt with a pattern cannot constitute unified identity and be representative for the whole country. A mascot should employ stable and universal perceptions citizens of the country hold of themselves. The third interviewee turns our attention to the role of heritage played in this campaign as well as the fast-changing identity that has to be taken into account. Visual tools designed to reflect the identity of Ukraine and to be representative of new image-formation program do not coincide with the reality. Heritage and history is a very good way to reflect and strengthen certain associations. However, in case of Ukraine, the dynamic identity was not taken into account. The country has experienced drastic changes for the last several years and is viewed differently by foreign communities today, rather than it used to be before. However, if Spryutko and Garnyunyua (the names of the mascots) will be identifying Ukraine, then visitors may experience total cognitive dissonance with what has been promoted and the reality. Visual aids, being a component of destination identity structure have to reflect the core of destination identity and to support existing associations with the country. Therefore, information obtained from the interviewees indicates that currently mascots symbolizing Ukraine do not coincide with an identity of Ukraine. However, if the coherent identity is not formed yet, it is very difficult to comprise mascots that would successfully reflect it. In the end both interviewees agreed that the existing mascots do not reflect an identity, in addition, they refer back to the problem of stable associations and the ability of mascots to emphasize them. Finally, because this study investigates the possibility of Ukraine being branded as a tourist destination, there was a clear need to highlight the issue of country positioning and competition on the market. For example interviewee 2 clearly addresses the matter by identifying the main resorts in the country and their potential competitors As far as competition in the tourism industry is concernced, Turkey and Bulgaria would be the primary competitors in the area of leisure tourism. In case of Ski resorts, then probably any countries that are offering ski resorts. From the point of view of informational tourism, our competitors will be all countries of former Soviet Union. All the abovementioned countries are highly competitive. However, I do not see a competition a vital question currently, because Ukraine needs to find its own competitive advantages and points of differentiation.
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4.1.5 EURO-2012: a possible impact. Additionally, when asked about the opportunities that EURO-2012 may bring for Ukraine in terms of tourism interviewee 1 emphasized the lack of preparation for the tournament, particularly in the infrastructural sector that requires heavy investments. Currently, the level of preparedness to EURO-2012 is low. The receiving cities are jammed with cars every business day - imagine what happens when millions more of people (and cars) appear in the streets. There is a serious lack of hotels, especially 3star, business class. I doubt they will be built in less than 2 years. And the list can go on. So, to make the most of EURO-2012, Ukraine has to actually work on the preparations instead of talking about it. Consequently this interviewee views that any achievements resulting from hosting EURO-2012 should be effectively communicated to international communities afterwards. If Ukrainian government takes the event seriously, it should invest in solving the above-stated problems and in effectively communicating its achievements. Another interviewee viewed EURO-2012 as both a risk and a chance to boost the image on an international scale, while describing the possible outcome of bad preparation and low quality of the tournament organization on the whole. EURO-2012 is a chance as well as a risk for Ukraine. If a dissonance between a promise and the reality will be very large, then image losses will be much more than any other gains from organzing the tournament. This is a risk. On the other hand it is a chance to emphasize positive changes and to improve its image for Ukraine. To summarize, both interviewees do not view EURO-2012 only in a positive view, but rather they have critically assessed possible outcomes and analyzed the potential impact on an image construct of Ukraine. In the end, both interviewees agreed that currently, an overal level of preparation is low, which may result in a negative outcomes for the country. All three interviewees provided great practical insights into the concept of destination branding in case of Ukraine. On the basis of the interview results it will be possible to draw parallels between the theory of destination branding and the real state of affairs in Ukraine. Additionally, several concepts not explicitly addressed by the literature have emerged. Further ramifications between the theory and the interview findings will be explored in a more detail in a section on discussion and analysis.
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 4.2 Survey Results 4.2.1 Demographics A total of 183 self-administered questionnaires have been returned back to the researcher. However, only 180 of them were valid for further analysis. In order to track the demographics of the respondents, they were offered to indicate their country of origin, country of residence and gender. Males accounted for 85 (46%) respondents, while females were 95 (52%). Additionally, 3 respondents declined to indicate their gender. When discussing the country of origin, it can be identified that the majority of the respondents came primarily from three countries: Finland, Germany and Russia. The table below illustrates the distribution of the respondents across their current countries of residence: Country of Number of the Percentage of total residence Finland Germany respondents 72 40 39,4% 21,9%

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Russia Other

58 10

31,7% 3,4%

Other countries have included such countries as: Algeria (1), Italy (2), Spain (2), United Arab Emirates (1), United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (2) and Vietnam (2). In addition three questionnaires did not contain any information about the respondents country of residence, which corresponded to 1, 6% of the total questionnaires being received. Finally, the respondents were asked to mention their country of origin, or the country where they were born. For certain countries there has been a significant difference between the numbers of the respondents currently residing in a country and the country where they were born. Table 2 shows that the majority of the respondents were born in Russia, but are currently residing abroad. Also, given a highly international body of Aalto University Mikkeli Campus, the number of people from various countries is relatively high, compared to the total number of respondents. Country of Number of the Percentage of total origin Finland Germany Russia Other Respondents 55 31 69 25 30,1% 16,9% 37,7% 13,7%

Other countries have included: Afghanistan (1), China (2), Iran (3), Israel (1), Italy (1), Kenya (2), Kyrgyzstan (1), Moldova (2), Singapore (1), Sweden (1), Ukraine (4), United Arab Emirates (1), USA (1) and Vietnam (3). 4.2.2 Awareness One of the purposes of the questionnaire was to measure an overall awareness that respondents had of Ukraine. In order to do that, three questions were included into the survey. The first question asked the respondents to mark the notable people from Ukraine who they were familiar with. The second question was designed in order to measure the level of respondents familiarity with the number of chosen events that have either happened or will happen in Ukraine. For that purpose four answer options were offered.. Both questions also had an option of adding other personality and an event. Finally, the third question was designed to indicate whether or not the

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respondents were aware of the fact that Ukraine and Poland host EURO-2012 by providing them with four possible options to answer (Appendix 1). On the whole, if the respondents awareness of Ukraine would be high, the maximum score one can get would be 17, meaning the person was familiar with all the people, events and Ukraine being a host of EURO-2012. Respectively, if the person was totally unfamiliar, the score would be zero. The average score between 0 and 17 was 8,5, which became a borderline that distinguished unaware respondents and aware ones. For the new variable the label of 1 was assigned to all the scores that exceeding and edge of 8,5 and a score of 0 was assigned to every score that was below 8,5, respectively. Firstly, the levels of awareness were measured across respondents countries of residence. The majority of the respondents from Russia showed an overall high awareness of Ukraine, with 72% of them scoring above 8,5 on the overall awareness scale. In addition, almost 90% of Russian respondents have scored between 8 and 14. Consequently, Russian respondents accounted for 59% of the total aware sample, with the remaining 41% accounting for respondents from Finland, Germany and the other countries. For example, in Finland only 27% of the respondents showed an overall high awareness, while in Germany 12,5% were aware of Ukraine, according to the scale used in this research. The distribution of the scores for Finland and Germany lied primarily in the 2-8 range accounting for 77% of the total number of respondents from those countries. The same type of analysis conducted for the respondents country of origin did not reflect any significant differences between the results, with the respondents born in Russia still obtaining the first place with 72% of people showing high awareness above 8,5 on the scale. On the basis of the data, an assumption was made that the overall levels of awareness may depend on the respondents country of origin or their country of residence. To prove this independent sample T-test was conducted. It has indicated that there is a significant difference between the means, because sig (2-tailed) is less than 0.05, meaning that the country of origin and the country of residence influence the score on the awareness scale. Additionally, the awareness scores indicated high correlation with the respondents having visited Ukraine, being significant at 0,05 level. Therefore, respondents who have visited Ukraine, have higher awareness contrary to those who have never been there. Although, the majority of the respondents who visited Ukraine were either born in Russian or are currently residing there, it can be identified that the overall awareness highly depends on the visitation.
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When talking specifically about the results on the questions included into the awareness scale formation, it can be stated that political figures, such as Victor Yuschenko, the former president of the country, and Yulia Tymoschenko, the former prime-minister of Ukraine, who gained their notoriety during the Orange Revolution of 2004, were the most familiar with 70% and 62% of the respondents choosing them respectively. The majority of the respondents who identified Orange Revolution of 2004 as familiar events for them have also chosen Tymoschenko and Yuschenko as familiar personalities showing a close linkage of a personality to the event. Among the events, Chernobyl Catastrophe and Russia-Ukraine gas dispute of 2008, were the most familiar for the respondents gaining 88% and 76% respectively. Surprisingly, the least number of respondents were familiar with Ukraine being a host of EURO-2012. Considering the fact that the event takes place next year, this was interesting to note. 4.2.3 Associations Another purpose of the questionnaire was to analyze the existing associations that people hold of Ukraine. As a result, main items that respondents associated with Ukraine were Chernobyl and Soviet Union, accounting for 75% and 64% respectively. It was interesting to note that the respondents not coming from Russia primarily chose the abovementioned items. At the same time, respondents from Russia prevailed in choosing Salo (national Ukrainian dish) and Cossacks (members of military communities in Ukraine, who inhabited areas of lower Dnieper and Don basins) as the items they associate with Ukraine. This fact derives from larger awareness of Russian respondents about Ukraine, while given the lower awareness of the respondents from other countries; their choices were dictated by the common existing stereotypes about Ukraine. Overall, the distribution of answers on each of the items did not follow any significant pattern, indicating absence of constantly strong associations, except for those which received top scores. Additionally, it worth mentioning that the nature of the associations held among Russian respondents primarily constituted their awareness of Ukrainian culture and its heritage. This may happen due to the overall larger awareness of Russian respondents about Ukraine and close cultural ties between the two countries. 4.2.4 Sources of information Another objective of the questionnaire was to identify the primary sources the respondents were receiving information about Ukraine from. As a result, several patterns have emerged.
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First of all, television and the Internet revealed to be the top sources for the respondents to receive information about Ukraine from, accounting for 74% and 70% respectively. Interestingly, word-of mouth obtained the third place among the sources corresponding for 45% of the respondents choices. The latter option was chosen by over a half of respondents from Germany and Russia. When discussing sources of information it was necessary to explore whether there were any correlations between the respondents scores on the awareness scale and the total score on the number of sources they receive information about Ukraine from. For that purpose correlation matrix was computed. As a result, no significant statistical relationship was captured.. Therefore, if assumed that the large amount of informational sources leads to a larger quantities of information being received, it can be stated that there was no relationship between the quantity of information and the overall respondents awareness of Ukraine in the given sample. 4.2.5 Scale Scores Concerning the scale, which consisted of 14 bipolar items with a possibility to choose each one of 9 boxes, the total score of each respondent was calculated. Given that the total score could be 14 x 9=126, meaning that the respondent had an overall utterly negative perception of the image of Ukraine. On the other hand a total minimum score could be 14, indicating that respondent have assigned a score of 1 to every item on the scale. A score of one on the proposed scale would mean that a respondent assesses an item in very positive manner. The scores of the respondents were broken into three groups indicating the nature of their overall perception of the image of Ukraine. The mode score assigned by the respondents was 82, accounting for 6% of the respondents. In the third group, the distribution of overall scores lied between 85 and 101. However, it should be noted that the lower the score on the scale, the better a perception is, while the higher the score is, the lower the respondents opinion of the destination image is. The groups and the results are represented below. Group label High Medium Low Score group 14-42 43-84 85-126 2 139 38 1,1 77,7 21,2% assigned to the No of Respondents % of Respondents

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It can be derived from the results that an overall image perception of Ukraine was medium, with a majority of answers laying closely to a lower edge of medium perception group. Additionally a correlation matrix was computed to track the relationship between the total scores of the respondents and the number of sources they receive information from. As a result, no significant statistical correlation was detected again, indicating that the quantity of information received does not influence the perception of the image of Ukraine. 4.2.6 Intention to visit A goal of measuring an intention to visit Ukraine was the final objective of the survey study. Also, the respondents were asked to indicate the reason for which they would like to visit Ukraine, if they were interested in it. As a result, 64% of the respondents have indicated an interest in visiting Ukraine, as opposed to 36% who answered negatively to this question. The prevailing majority of the respondents specified that the primary purpose of visiting Ukraine for them would be tourism, accounting for 89% of the respondents who were interested in visiting Ukraine. Some of the respondents specified particular cities and attractions they would like to visit. For example, several respondents said they would like to go to sightseeing in Kiev or go for a sea resort somewhere in Crimea or close to the Black Sea. However, the majority of the respondents have indicated their interest in the area of informative tourism, indicating cultural attractions and sightseeing as the primary places to visit in Ukraine. Additionally, several respondents indicated their willingness to visit Ukraine for UEFA EURO-2012 football championships. Such character of answers may indicate a potential of Ukraine as a tourist destination. However, none of the respondents answers contained information about ski resorts, or even the region of Carpathian Mountains, region with second largest tourism infrastructure in Ukraine after Crimean peninsula. This fact may be an indication of overall respondents interest about Ukraine, but very low awareness of the tourism opportunities that Ukraine may offer. In addition, the primary periods of visitation was specified as later than in three years, accounting for 43% and within three years, which constituted 42% of the respondents answers. However, because the sample primarily consisted of students, it is impossible to draw a conclusion that students are looking at Ukraine as a primary place to visit in terms of leisure tourism. At the same time, it can be stated that the
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main interest among the students lied in the field of informative tourism. This was proved by the type of attractions they have mentioned when specifying which types of leisure they were interested in. However, it has to be noted that overall awareness on this particular subject was also low. This may partially explain the fact that the majority of interested respondents have mentioned that they would like to visit Ukraine some time in the future, particularly either within three years or after the three year period. Additionally, given an absence of strict associations with Ukraine among the respondents, an ambiguity about the country and its tourism proposition may discourage visitation intent from the respondents. This may happen because associations constitute what the country represents to potential visitors. An absence of strongly held set of associations combined with low levels of awareness may cause additional confusion among potential tourists, which may lead to lower intention to visit the country. To summarize, current section provided important quantitative results on the basis of the questionnaire responses. Several statistical interdependencies were captured as well as certain patterns in the answers concerning particular concepts have emerged. On the basis of the given sample it was possible to draw objective conclusions, however, certain limitations still took place in the given research methodology, which is discussed in the following section of this study.

4.2.7 Limitations to the survey technique This subsection will briefly address existing limitations to this study with respect to quantitative techniques and data collection methods used. It is essential to address the limitations in order to ensure objectivity and the reliability of the conclusions. First of all, the primary limitation is the nature of the sample obtained for this study. The sample mainly constitutes students. Therefore, there may be constraints when generalizing the data obtained from the responses, especially with regard to respondents intention to visit Ukraine and their awareness of tourism opportunities in the country. This issue arises because students are not the main consumers of tourist products, therefore, their awareness levels of tourism offerings may be low on the whole and not only in case of Ukraine. Students may not currently be looking for a specific resorts or countries to visit as leisure travelers. In addition, the study was
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limited geographically, primarily to three countries, therefore making it difficult to generalize the results on larger scale. More representative and diverse sample would be of greater relevance for this study, because it would provide more holistic and comprehensive view on the image of Ukraine as a tourist destination. With respect to further limitations concerning the sample, it can be noted that larger samples may be used to further investigate the construct of an image of Ukraine. Additionally, the samples collected from the countries, which constitute the primary target market for tourist offerings in Ukraine, would be more representative for the study like this. Although, tourists from Russia currently represent the majority of the potential visitors interested in Ukraine as a tourist destination, further investigation of target markets should be conducted as well as data from them will have to be collected. Another limitation to this study was a choice of answer options for particular questions included into the questionnaire. For example the questions that concerned awareness of the events, notable people and a questions on association (Appendix 1, questions 3, 4 and 5) had several options to choose from. However, the options were chosen by the researcher himself, which may constitute possible biases. The primary problem may be that the researchers choice was guided by his knowledge and expertise, which may have been insufficient. In addition, the answer options provided in the question on associations may not reflect the existing associations that Ukrainians hold of themselves around the country. Ideally, answer options for such questions should be chosen through focus groups with representatives of different ethnic, historical and cultural backgrounds. This is particularly important because Ukraine is a country with a very diverse population. If similar issues are to be explored in largescale researches, there is a need of addressing issue of associations. Having addressed the limitations to the survey technique used in this study, the thesis can proceed with further in-depth discussion and analysis of the findings obtained from empirical data collection methods.

5. Discussion and analysis This chapter will critically assess the empirical findings of this research and will draw parallel conclusions about the relevance of findings for the existing theory of destination branding and in the context of Ukraine. This section will open with the discussion of the concept of destination image and will continue by analyzing the concepts of destination identity. Finally, this section will conclude with comprehensive
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analysis of Ukraine as a tourist destination. Moreover, potential positioning of the country on the tourist market will be offered and discussed. 5.1 Image of Ukraine This study has addressed the concept of destination image from the supply-side perspective. As far as an organic image of the destination is concerned, it can be noted that in case of Ukraine this image was primarily formed under the influence of uncontrollable variables - mostly by autonomous image formation agents, such as media coverage, word-of-mouth, etc. The recent media coverage was mostly negative and was concerned with such dramatic events as, Ukraine-Russia gas dispute in 2008 and an overall political turmoil of 2004-2009 years, describing Ukraine as unstable and somewhat dangerous place. Therefore, theoretical evidence, that even negative, but extensive media coverage could enhance the destinations tourism potential, cannot be applicable for Ukraine. This was proved by the questionnaire analysis, which showed that the amount of information and number of resources covering it did not influence an awareness and overall perception of Ukraine. Having said that, it may be assumed that it is not the quantity, but rather a character of information that is transmitted to the external audiences, which influences an overall impression of the destination. The research of the latter was not an objective of this study. However, if it is the character of information that influences an organic image of Ukraine, then an issue of control of information outflow arises. By analyzing empirical and theoretical evidence I may say that there are several tools to overcome an existing problem of uncontrollable image formation agents. First, as being stated in the literature review, people tend to believe the message even more, when it comes from a credible source, therefore, media, news channels and etc., will always be more credible than any of Ukrainian destination management organizations and authorities. Therefore, special emphasis should be put on resolving existing issues and problems within the country that are extensively covered by the media. As being noted above, the most favorite topics covered by the media are closely linked to Ukrainian politics; therefore, a special emphasis should be put on dealing with political instability within the country. Empirical evidence suggests that before the problems are being resolved, it is impossible to convey a unified strategy and vision that can be communicated in order to establish an induced image of the country that has to be rooted into the realities of the destination.

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Second, as word-of-mouth proved to be an important source of information transmission, according to the questionnaire analysis, an importance of positive wordof-mouth information outflow is crucial for a destination branding success. A role played by word-of-mouth information transmission can be considered very important in case of Ukraine. According to the theory, an influence of credible source of information on autonomous image formation is very high. At the same time, word-ofmouth can be regarded as a highly credible source in interpersonal interaction, especially If the message comes from a person that is close to the information receiver, for example a friend or a relative. In this case a person will trust friends or relatives more than a media and definitely more than to the promotional campaign organized by the destination authorities. If this is the case, it is very important to ensure positive experience and information outflow that would generate an intention to recommend the destination. In addition, analysis of empirical evidence indicated that there is a need for raising patriotism and encouraging citizens to become brand ambassadors of the destination, which constitutes a need for internal branding. This evidence clearly illustrates an important role played by word-of-mouth in destination image formation process. However, in order for this endeavor to be successful a unified statehood and political stability should be present, which makes this issue impossible to resolve, unless political and economic problems are dealt with in Ukraine. However, word-of-mouth is not only transmitted by the citizens of Ukraine, it also may be expressed by the visitors. For example, one of the interviewees gave an example of British football fan that wrote an Internet blog where he negatively described his experience of visiting Ukraine. Particularly he emphasized that his expectations did not coincide with his experience. In this thesis I do not evaluate possible issues that may have influenced perceptions of the information by the demand side, but this evidence clearly illustrates an importance of consistency between brand promises and actual experience. If cognitive dissonance is an outcome of the experience of the visitor, then the contribution to an overall image of the destination is only negative. As a result of such dissonance, a match between the projected and the received image would be very low, consequently leading to more unpredictable consumer behavior. From the theoretical point of view, an issue of internal branding was only discussed in corporate branding literature and was not explicitly addressed in literature on destination branding, even though research which parallels corporate and destination branding exists. Empirical evidence in this thesis suggests that brand-centric HR
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practices are relevant in destination context, where a brand is a destination and human resources are the citizens. This fact only strengthens scholars claims that destination branding and corporate branding are very close concepts. I may conclude that theoretical evidence from the concept of corporate branding may be of major use for destination branding practitioners. Moreover, corporate branding is far more researched topic than destination branding, where comprehensive theoretical assessment is still in its infancy. This transition transfers us to issues concerning induced image of Ukraine. When discussing induced image, it has to be noted that there were no significant destination branding endeavors undertaken to date. The first promotional campaign was started during the current thesis process. According to the theory, any marketing endeavors should reflect destination identity and also, either strengthen positive associations or confront negative ones. In Ukraine, there are two obvious problems with the abovementioned statements. First of all, an issue of multiple identities is of utmost relevance for Ukraine, because of the complex identity structure within the country. Nowadays, Ukraine consists of several regions, where each one of them has its own unique culture, beliefs, dialects and identities. Ideally, promotional campaign should incorporate each one of those identities and communicate associations that are common for all existing identities and ethnic groups. Secondly, empirical evidence has revealed that currently there are no stable positive associations with Ukraine; rather overall character of the associations is negative. Successful identity management may produce a solution to both of the problems, but this issue will be discussed in a further section on destination identity. Stable associations may derive from an overall awareness of the country, when the respondent with knowledge about the country can clearly associate it with something that is linked to the country. Therefore, there is a need to discuss an issue of awareness about Ukraine. An assessment of existing literature on the topic has revealed that an increased awareness leads to an improvement in the tourism potential of the destination. However, an awareness that is produced by the media and an awareness, which is generated by destination branding endeavors, are two different concepts, which influence two different types of destination image, and a distinction between them should be addressed. Awareness that is generated by the media is mostly uncontrollable and derives from the realities, while awareness produced by the marketing authorities can be controlled. Also, in case of the latter, destination
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branding authorities can decide which information is to be included into the promotional materials, but it should not disguise the reality. Moreover, when establishing an induced image, destination marketers have a power to structure a campaign in a way that would negate existing adverse images about the destination. If the campaign is structured exceptionally well, adverse images will be transferred into the positive ones, making it easier to establish an overall positive image perception among the potential visitors. Successful problem resolution leads to a more positive information outflow to the autonomous agents, while generic strategy and unified message about destination ensures an establishment of an induced image. When discussing an overall awareness about Ukraine, it should be stated that it was measured at very low levels among the respondents. This was proved by the questionnaire analysis that has reflected low levels of awareness in almost all categories included into the questionnaire. Very important distinction in levels of awareness derives from respondents country of residence. Respondents from Russia, as from a country of former Soviet block, showed significantly higher levels of awareness, than those from more culturally and geographically remote countries. Also, visitation affects levels of awareness about the country. This theoretical evidence was proved by empirical data that indicated statistical interdependence between visitation and awareness. From practical point of view, this aspect may be useful for destination practitioners, which should take into account that high level of awareness does not necessarily constitute a positive perception about the country. However, undoubtedly, awareness is increased upon a visitation, therefore, EURO2012 is a great opportunity for the country to become more open and increase awareness about itself among the communities worldwide. However, if the existing problems are not resolved, such high awareness may lead to negative consequences and worsening of an overall image. In order to assess an overall impression of Ukraines image, a country image scale was included into the questionnaire. It was decided to calculate overall scores on the scale items and bring down the respondents into three groups according to their scores. As a result, the analysis has indicated that the respondents perceived the image of Ukraine relatively low. Less than two percent of the respondents indicated their positive perception towards the countrys image. When taking into account low levels of awareness about the country, it may be assumed that an overall image was primarily formed under the influence of uncontrollable variables. In addition, given the
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recently negative media coverage of Ukraine, respondents familiarity with the events of negative character and low awareness it can be concluded that the respondents have an overall one-sided perception of Ukraines image. In my opinion, situation might have been different if the associations with Ukraine were more stable. However, with an absence of stable positive associations, it can be stated that the image formation process is seriously affected by absence of consistent marketing campaign that could negate adverse images from the consumers minds and induce positive associations. In addition, promotional campaign would provide more control over the information outflow. However, the current political and economic problems within the country still have to be resolved in order to minimize negative media coverage and word-of-mouth information transmission. Moreover, the character of the image obtained from the results on the sample was affected by the limitations to this research. The sample primarily constituted students. Therefore, their perceptions could be somewhat alike. Even though, the respondents came from various countries, more representative sample would provide additional information to analyze and further causalities between the variables could have been captured. Additionally, if the sample was more diverse there would be a chance to conduct factor analysis. This analysis would allow to track unobserved variables behind the set of observed items. In other words, factors that may emerge would underline the hidden patterns in which the respondents think about the destination. Factors would formulate the dimensions around which image formation process happens in the minds of respondents. In other words, it will enable destination marketers to identify in which groups of items respondents are thinking about the destination. Having said that, the relevance of such type of analysis in case of Ukraine is very high due to the fact that, additional information may be obtained that will help structuring promotional campaigns, which would influence induced image of the destination. The scale used in this study can be a good proxy to assess the image construct of Ukraine in further research. To summarize, an overall situation with an image of Ukraine is in a very ambiguous position. Generically an image of the country is perceived to be low. However, there are several more important issues that matter except for an overall impression. For example, Ukraine has no stable associations with itself, which is a major problem that

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derives from unresolved issues of multiple identities. This fact makes it necessary to assess the concept of identity of Ukraine with linkage to the theoretical evidence. 5.2 Identity of Ukraine Theoretically, an identity is a somewhat ambiguous concept and is almost nonquantifiable. However, identity is a base for everything that concerns destination branding and promotional campaigns of destination, because an identity is the reality and a core of destination brand. In case of branding Ukraine, an identity is even more important, because of its multidimensional structure. Theoretical evidence suggests that an identity has its own structure. In this thesis, some of the concepts of destination identity with relation to Ukraine have emerged, while some of the less important components remained untouched. The main problem that was discovered during an empirical research was an issue of multiple identities of Ukraine. This issue was briefly addressed in the previous section, but now I will discuss it in more detail. Mainly, this issue derives from historical aspects and can be described as the one that leads to difficulties in conveying unified identity within the country. An absence of the unified identity makes it impossible to structure destination branding campaign. As suggested by the theory, in the core of the destination identity is its culture, while according to the empirical findings, in Ukraine such culture is very regional and differs largely from east to west. In my opinion, there are several ways to address this issue. First of all, an assessment of the representative majority of regional cultures and identities has to be conducted. For example, for this research I chose associations, notable people and famous events according to my own knowledge and expertise about Ukraine. Essentially in case of Ukraine, items for such categories have to be chosen with accordance to interests and opinions of representatives of various identities, because they all associate themselves with different things. In addition they are likely to have different opinions about notable people and famous events. As a result, an exhaustive list of items would emerge. Taking into account various opinions of various interest groups will enable marketers to convey a unified identity that will be suitable for communication. Second, an internal branding technique may be useful for the purpose of dealing with multiple identities. In case of Ukraine this concept is particularly relevant, because of political instability. For example, recent presidential elections have shown that the country is still split apart not only culturally, but politically as well. I may claim that
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when government will be able to develop a generic strategy on all the levels, such as: political, economic, social, etc., then cultural differences may become less evident, because of the unifying force of the statehood above all the citizens within the country. This fact leads us to one of the models by Hankinson (p. 101) employed in corporate branding, which is somewhat similar to the one that may be applied in destination context. The model stresses importance of brand leadership, departmental coordination and brand culture in corporate branding. With respect to the destination context brand leadership can be viewed as various steps undertaken by the government in order to communicate unified vision to the citizens. In addition, departmental coordination in the destination context is cooperation between business entities, government and destination branding authorities. Such cooperation is essential in order to implement the vision communicated by the government. Finally, brand culture can be seen as a countrys culture in context of destination. As being mentioned before, culture is in the core of every brand and can be a unifying tool for multiple stakeholders involved into destination branding. In addition, culture is an indivisible attribute of the tourists experience, therefore constitutes a core of an identity with respect to the destination. It can be derived from the theoretical evidence that all previously mentioned variables are essential for successful destination branding. However, this model states that corporate culture should be brought in accordance with corporate vision, while in case of a destination it is a very difficult task, because the culture was formed long time before a sovereign state of Ukraine was established. This is certainly a limitation for this model in context of destination. However, when applied in destination context a vision should be brought with accordance to the culture, because the vision is something that would be communicated to the customers, while a culture, as an essence of destination identity would constitute their experience. Another major problem with an identity of Ukraine is an inconsistency between an identity and the projected image of the destination. However, empirical evidence has suggested that this problem stemmed not from the fact that authorities wanted the things to look better than they actually are, but from the fact that it is very difficult to communicate something about Ukraine, when nobody knows what exactly to communicate. Therefore, an absence of universal identity that can be communicated is a biggest drawback in successful destination branding. Empirical findings suggest
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that until a coherent identity is formed, not a single artificial identity will work in Ukraines favor, because it will only ensure a larger inconsistency between the promise and the reality of the destination. With respect to destination communication, it can be noted that it should reflect destination identity in a way that is coherent and understandable for potential visitors and is designed with accordance to their potential perceptions. In addition, various aspects that may influence a perception of the promotional campaign should be assessed and taken into account. In case of Ukraine, destination communications do not coincide with the reality and do not draw a coherent picture of Ukraine. In this research empirical evidence concerning current promotional campaign was obtained by the means of the interviews with experts in the field. First of all it is claimed that certain aspects of current promotional campaign do not fully reflect an identity of the country in a full manner. For example, the design of the mascots does not take into account differences in national outfit among various regions of the country. In addition, as soon as the tender for promotional campaign was non-transparent it is very difficult to assess to which extent the company that dealt with it was experienced enough to undertake such an activity. Because destination branding is a very complex process and it requires certain expertise and cooperation among various entities, PR firms that have sufficient experience should be appointed as executors for such complex promotional activities. From the theoretical point of view, empirical findings in this study provided even more linkage between the concepts of destination identity and corporate identity. Given that both concept are highly complex and very often constitute multiple identities, a range of models that may be applied in the context of corporate branding may also be suited to the destination, because of the close conceptual evidence between the two. However, the goal of this research was not to provide close relationship between corporate and destination branding, but an evidence presented in this study may be useful to deal with certain problems on the destination level and adds practicality to this research. When discussing the dynamic nature of destination identity, which is affected by every, even a minor change in identities incorporated into the destination identity, it can be concluded that no empirical evidence was uncovered in this research that would either prove or disregard the concept in context of Ukraine. However, I can assume that in context of Ukraine, such dynamism is not taken into account, because
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that is not the case yet. It will undoubtedly have to be applied as soon as the coherent identity is formed and developed. The whole notion of the dynamic identity stems from the evidence that certain traits of an identity become obsolete or change. This fact, indeed, leads to changes in such constructs as destination structure, communication and strategy. However, in Ukraine a unified strategy has not been formed yet, because of the absence of the universal identity. Consequently, this is the case with communication and structure, which cannot be adjusted unless an identity is formed. On the whole, the main problem with Ukrainian identity is an absence of universal identity that would constitute the core of the destination. Universal identity should be a corner stone in every destination branding endeavor, because it is the reality on which brand promise and destination image should be based on. In case of Ukraine, which is a host of EURO-2012, which will take place next year, communicated artificial identity would be even more harmful, because of large amounts of tourist inflow into the country. In case their experience does not match with the promise, post-experience tourist behavior may result neither into an intention to recommend the destination nor into the desire to visit the country again. Therefore, in case of Ukraine issues with an identity require urgent resolution. 5.3 Ukraine as a tourist destination This final section of the chapter will evaluate Ukraine as a possible tourist destination on the basis of empirical and theoretical findings of this research. Konecnik and Go proposed a comprehensive brand analysis framework that may be applied to tourist destinations and consists of three major parts: self-analysis, tourist analysis and competitive analysis. As a result of an application of the model a clear positioning strategy and competitive advantage can be developed. This chapter will try to explore each on of the concepts in more detail. 5.3.1 Self-analysis Ukraine is a large country in Europe with a population close to 48 million people and an overall area of 603,628 km. Ukraine is located in the geographical center of Europe, which makes its location very favorable for economic transactions and export/import operations. Ukraine is one of the 16 former republics of the Soviet Union. The country became an independent state after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. The climate is moderate and mostly continental with dry but relatively cold winters and usually hot summers. Crimean peninsula is the only region in the country

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that has subtropical climate, therefore, flora and fauna of the peninsula is unique for its location. When talking about the tourist potential of the country, Ukraine has two main regions where it has always attracted numbers of tourists. First of all, Crimean with its unique climate is currently a leader among tourist attractions in the country, followed by Kyiv and Lviv. Crimea is situated on the shore of Black Sea, which makes it attractive for tourists looking for beach leisure. Secondly, there are several cities in Crimea that are undoubtedly the leaders in the tourist industry in Ukraine. For example, Yalta has a great infrastructure and favorable location attracting large amounts of international tourists. However, one major problem exists. This problem is that the majority of the newest hotels and block of flats built for renting out were aimed at higher class customers, therefore, most of the brand-new hotels are five or four star hotels and are usually unaffordable for larger audiences. The rationale behind this is that during the years of independence tourist infrastructure has been gradually changing ownership from governmental to private. Therefore numerous outdated sanatoriums and resorts that were built during the Soviet Union time became a property of private investors. Those resorts were largely renovated into luxurious hotels after the tourism boom in mid 2000s or were used for purposes other than to host tourists. After the world economic crisis have struck a lot of customers both from Ukraine and from abroad decided to cut their spending on leisure traveling, therefore, Crimean hotel industry painfully suffered from low attendance rates. Apart from 5 and 4 star hotels and private beaches, the remaining infrastructure of the Crimean peninsula is mostly obsolete and a large part of it was still built and utilized during the Soviet Union period. Majority of leisure complexes is in unacceptable condition and needs restoration and improvement. I may conclude that there is a serious lack of medium class hotels that would attract customers from broader range of social classes. Practically, the same situation can be seen in Carpathian Mountains, where the only Ukrainian ski resorts are situated. The majority of the resorts that have been recently built are designed for high-end customers, while the rest of the infrastructure, which constitutes the prevailing majority, is either in a shabby condition or is poorly managed. Skiing equipment in the region is mainly old and in a very bad condition. Moreover, there are very few shops and businesses that provide ski rent to the
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customers. In a newly built brand-new ski complexes such service exists. However, when we look at the remaining hotels, ski rent is in its infancy, because it is generally presumed that the main audience takes their equipment with them. In addition, ski lift equipment and cabins require drastic improvement due to their shabby condition. Empirical evidence in this research have reflected that respondents were familiar with Crimea as a leisure attraction, but strangely none of the respondents have even mentioned Carpathian ski resorts as a possible destination for them. This fact only reflects low awareness of the tourist offerings apart from those in Crimea and Central part of Ukraine. Finally, when discussing cultural, I may conclude that due to the rich history of the Ukrainian lands, Ukraine may be a great place for tourists from all over the world, who are interested in sightseeing. Such places like Kiev, Lviv, and Zaporizhia can be regarded as potential destinations for tourists seeking for cultural and historic heritage. Apart from that, Lviv city medieval downtown is included into UNESCO Record of Historic and Architectural World Treasuries. Relicts of Ancient Greek and Ottoman Empire architecture are still present in Crimea. Moreover, Western region of Ukraine that constituted a part of Austro-Hungarian Empire still has beautiful historic monuments and examples of purely European architecture. However, the problem with this type of tourism in Ukraine is that the majority of travelers, who would go to Ukraine, simply do not usually know what it is offering in terms of cultural tourism. I may conclude that the problem of low awareness is common for almost all Ukrainian resorts. In my opinion additional emphasis should be placed on the transportation infrastructure in Ukraine. Current infrastructure can be considered obsolete and in a very poor condition, which was proved by empirical evidence obtained from the interviews. To begin with, the country has two major airports situated in Kiev and Kharkov that are currently being renovated. On the whole there are 17 airports that have a status of international, however in reality only four major ones serve regular international traffic. Concerning other cities, there is a significant lack of the airports, which are in an acceptable condition. Moreover, among cheap and discount airlines only Wizz Air operates in Ukraine, while such major player like Ryan Air and Jet Blue do not provide regular air traffic to Ukraine. As a result, flights to Ukraine are generally expensive, because only the major airlines such as: Lufthansa, Air France, Air Finland and British Airways regularly fly to Ukraine. Moreover, those airlines primarily fly only to major hubs like Kiev, Dontesk and Kharkov making it very difficult
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for international travelers to reach more remote towns. In addition, flights within Ukraine are very expensive due to the monopolistic nature of the market. 5.3.2 Tourist Analysis Empirical evidence suggests that on the whole, respondents had an intention to visit the country and were reflecting interest in the countrys resorts themselves. However, the prevailing majority of the respondents indicated that they would visit the country either within the next three years or within the period exceeding three years from now. Even though, people would like to visit the country, that are not hurrying to do so, primarily due to the low awareness of the offering variety in terms of different resorts. The majority of the respondents who chose to visit the country within less number of years were primarily from Russia, whose overall awareness was significantly higher than that of other respondents. If the theory suggests that awareness increases potential of the tourist destination, then when applying the concept for Ukraine, it can be clearly seen that an intention to visit the country is lower when awareness is lower, therefore theoretical evidence is proved by empirical findings. Also, the fact that respondents were mostly unfamiliar with an existence of ski resorts in the country, the low awareness of the respondents with the leisure offerings does not contribute positively to an intention to visit the country. In addition, poor image of the country on the international arena does not allow attracting tourists from the most developed European countries, which themselves have certain tourist offerings that are on average higher quality than those of Ukraine. Actual visitors of the country are primary coming from Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany and from the countries of the former Soviet Block. Members of Ukrainian Diasporas abroad can be considered a separate group of visitors. Majority of visitors either go to Crimea, for example middle or low income Germans very often go there, or to the Carpathians. In addition, cultural tourism has become increasingly popular recently, attracting tourists from various countries around the globe. Majority of tourists either prefer individual trips or cruise tours. An approaching EURO-2012 will probably expand the tourist base coming to Ukraine from various countries. Therefore, tourists will have different expectations in terms of quality of tourist, hotel and infrastructural offerings. Eventually, Ukraine will have to satisfy all of the tourists demands; therefore, an overall quality of an infrastructure will have to be increased.

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5.3.3 Competitor Analysis Empirical evidence suggests that competitors should be explored with accordance to three main types of resort in Ukraine. Main competitors to Crimea will be the countries that are geographically the closest ones and are offering beach resorts for their customers. For example Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece can be viewed as the main competitors. All three countries have major infrastructure and much larger variety in tourist offerings than Ukraine has. In addition, economies of the above-mentioned countries have a very large portion of their GDP coming from the tourist sector; therefore, the attention paid by the governments in those countries is much higher than in Ukraine. Moreover, Bulgaria, Turkey and Greece have established reputation of reliable resorts, because several destinations in those countries have wide tourist infrastructure in existence for many years. In addition awareness of those countries as tourist destinations is higher than as of Ukraine. Therefore, they are able to attract large number of tourists every year. Popular world-class hotel chains like Hilton, Marriott and Movienpick have established significant presence in Turkey and Greece. In addition, large amount of private owners and organizations own significant portion of leisure infrastructure in various service classes. One more criterion where Ukraine scores lower than its competitors is the length of the season in Crimea. Contrary to Turkey, Bulgaria and Greece, where the hotels offering beach resorts are open from 6 to 9 month a year, season in Crimea usually starts in the end of May and is over in the beginning of September. Currently, there are plans to extend the leisure season in Crimea, but these projects require heavy capital investments. Generally, Ukrainian citizens prefer the abovementioned countries to Crimea, because of more flexible pricing and wider offering. At the same time, main competitors to Carpathians may be viewed as Poland, Slovakia and even Austria as those countries are offering extensive variety of ski resorts aimed at different customers around the globe. The situation in this sector is almost identical to the one with Crimea, because all the competitors have larger and more developed infrastructure, high quality resorts and more flexible options than Carpathians. In addition, prevailing majority of Ukrainian rather go to Poland or Austria than to ski resorts in Ukraine, because of larger variety of tourist offerings and higher awareness of the visitors about those offerings. In addition, it is very difficult for Ukraine to compete with the abovementioned destinations the quality of service and infrastructural development.
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In terms of cultural and informative tourism, Ukraine has even wider range of competitors. For example, in terms of an interest towards Ukraine as a country of the former Soviet block, then almost any country from the former Soviet Union can compete with Ukraine. Moreover, in terms of heritage and history, every country is unique, but the main problem with this sector of tourism is that it is largely underdeveloped and potential tourists are simply unaware of what the country may offer. In addition, absence of educated tour guides with knowledge of English constitutes the problem of low development in this sector. However, as it was previously mentioned the culture of every country is unique, therefore cultural tourism may be a point of differentiation for Ukraine as a tourist destination. In my opinion, cultural tourism may be in the core of the future positioning of Ukraine. The rationale behind this assumption will be discussed in the next section. Finally, I may conclude that an overall situation with the tourism in Ukraine is relatively poor. However, EURO-2012 may attract large numbers of various visitors to the country. This is undoubtedly a chance for a country to expand it target market and try to ensure repeated visitation from the tourists, even though the main interest to Ukraine as a host of EURO-2012 will be related to football. Therefore, having comprehensively analyzed Ukraine as a tourist destination it is possible to offer potential positioning on the basis of the empirical and theoretical evidence. The following section introduces potential positioning and explains the reasons for it. 5.3.4 Positioning Ukraine as a tourist destination Nowadays, global tourist market constitutes a very competitive environment. Major players account for almost 70% of the market share, while the vast majority of the remaining countries represent around 30%. Industry leaders have very loyal customers, well-rounded high quality infrastructure and variety of offering in terms of tourist products. Very often such countries have large promotional budgets and are continuously adjusting their branding endeavors with respect to the changes in consumption patters, economic environment and destination identity development (Piggott, p.30). Therefore, there is a huge competition going on for the remaining 30% of the market. The most favorable positioning under such market conditions is a niche positioning, when the destination explicitly emphasizes certain traits about itself that will drastically differentiate it from the competition. When positioning a brand in a specific niche is it very important to clearly underline the points of differentiation to the target market. Niche positioning is also applicable for destinations that have limited financial and knowledge resources. This happens
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because the promotion becomes very targeted and specific promotional channels are chosen, eliminating majority of costs associated with developing of expensive widely targeted promotional campaigns. In my view such type of positioning may be applicable in case of Ukraine. Having analyzed the real state of affairs in Ukraine, potential tourists and competition, I can offer potential positioning of the country in the niche of cultural tourism. Several factors have dictated such choice of the potential positioning. First of all, Ukraine currently loses to its competitors in terms of infrastructural development. Almost all of the abovementioned competitors have widely spread, high quality and properly managed leisure infrastructural objects. Competition offers various types of leisure for tourists from various social classes and with different sophistication. This fact concerns both beach-type and ski resorts. In order to be competitive in this particular aspect, there is a need for continuous and systematic development and capital investment. EURO-2012 may become a trigger for such capital inflows and may evoke interest in potential investors, however, it should be noted that none of the Crimean and Carpathian cities, except for Lviv were chosen as host cities for the tournament. Therefore, there is a high probability that the majority of the remaining cities will remain untouched, because their development lies beyond the scope of the program for EURO-2012 preparation. This is especially relevant given the current economic uncertainty in the country, budget deficit, inflation rates and tight deadlines imposed by the government on infrastructural development in host cities. Second, when positioning a country in a cultural tourism niche there is no need to explicitly differentiate itself from the competition, because the main product in this case is the country itself and to a lesser extent its infrastructure, hotels and variety of offering. However, under such positioning strategy the main issue is to emphasize what the country really constitutes. Brand personality for a destination will play a major role, while an absence of such may be huge drawback in identifying brand values that constitute the core of the positioning. Additionally, an issue with absence of coherent and unified identity may be a problem during the development of the marketing message in the case of Ukraine. However, the potential of Ukraine as a destination for cultural tourism under current conditions seems more favorable than any other type of positioning. In this type of positioning, there is almost no need to establish points of parity with competitors,
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because the culture is unique to every country and points of parity with other countries may only cause confusion among the potential visitors. As far as the brand values are concerned this study proposes that the primary emphasis is put on the uniqueness of the experience and the variety of cultures that can be found in Ukraine. When researching brand values, an issue of multiple identities and strong associations with former Soviet Union can be turned into Ukraines favor. With respect to multiple identities that stem from different historic and heritage aspects, they may represent offering for tourists who are interested in completely different type of experience. For example, if the tourists were interested in AustroHungarian and gothic architecture, then Lviv would be perfect choice. In case a tourist is looking for pure Ukrainian culture, traditional clothing, cuisine and traditional farm practices, then Carpathian National Park would be the target destination. Kyiv offers variety of monuments, churches, monasteries and architectural relicts that were built during different historic periods and by representatives of various cultures and ethnic groups. In addition, as a country of the former Soviet Union, Ukraine can be interesting for even wider range of audiences. This list of cultural attractions presented in this study is by far not exhaustive, but in my opinion it gives an understanding of why certain brand values are chosen. Results obtained from the questionnaire analysis suggest that primary associations are those that relate to the culture of Ukraine. Apart from the negative factors with respect to Ukraines image, it can be concluded that the foreigners perceive Ukraine very differently opposite to the citizens themselves. Additionally, intention to visit was captured, which means that certain interest in visiting Ukraine exists, but it is largely affected by the low awareness about the country. Generally, there is intent to visit and this conclusion can be made even with respect to the existing limitations. Having said that, and having described the existing aspects that prove the validity of the positioning assumption, it is necessary to specify the nature of the positioning itself. Ukraine is a brand. Its brand essence is its rich and various cultures, architectural monuments that unite various ages and warm atmosphere. Finally its positioning can be regarded as a mysterious country of the former Soviet Union with rich culture that is not familiar to the majority of the outer world, therefore, it has to be explored. Additionally, the type of tourists that will be attracted by such positioning will have to be indentified. It can be stated that if the country projected as a cultural
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destination - it can be interesting for people who are young in body or heart, hungry for knowledge, not afraid to experience inexperienced and enjoy the challenges of new destinations. Such consumers are highly influential opinion formers that can make Ukraine a fashionable and popular destination if their expectations are met. Primarily the customers from more developed countries than Ukraine will have to be targeted. For example, citizens of the majority of Western European countries who share the same values, as Ukraine will be trying to promote may become a good target market. Customers from these countries tend to travel more, have more money at their disposal, open-minded and are willing to experience something new. Under such conditions we can refer to the student sample used in this research. According to them, Internet was one of the most famous channels of information for them. Additionally taking into account budget constraints and growth level of webbased communications, it can be stated that social media and Internet should be used in order to target the type of the consumers that may be interested in visiting Ukraine. It will be viable to generate a sense of experience with the destination through the Internet by providing web cameras, virtual tours and collections of interviews with prior visitors. Also, services that would enable to plan individual tours will have to be introduced. Finally, for the positioning of Ukraine to be successful, it is essential to educate travel guides, and improve transportation infrastructure both within the country and into the country. In addition, in niche marketing, it is very important that the message and the needs of the target market are closely related. Therefore, additional emphasis should be put on careful design on marketing communications that are rooted into the reality. Even though, the multiple identities of Ukraine can be a favorable aspect for the positioning, existing political and economic problems still require urgent resolution, because in case of cultural tourism, it is the countrys identity that is a product, unlike in case of leisure-type of tourism, where the primary identity which may be experienced is the identity and image of the hotel chain and services that it provides.

6 Conclusions This section will briefly address the main points that can be drawn from the research results as well as will provide implications for international business and suggestions for further research. The sections will primary focused on Ukraine, as well as will highlight existing theoretical gaps that can be addressed by future researchers on the matter.
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6.1 Main Findings This study aimed to answer the following questions: How does Ukraine brand itself to the foreign tourist communities? o What is the relationship between destination image and destination identity in case of Ukraine? How can the branding process be organized given the current state of affairs in Ukraine? How is Ukrainian image perceived on the international arena? o Which factors influence image formation process in Ukraine? How can Ukraine be positioned on the tourist market?

Concerning the first question, Ukraine is not currently branding itself explicitly to the foreign communities, because of major problems within the country itself. Because Ukraine is a host of a major football event, such as EURO-2012 it does not have to explicitly market the event, rather additional effort should made in order to ensure repeated visitation and customer referrals. In addition, absence of stable associations and obvious lack of knowledge about Ukraine makes it impossible to critically assess an image, making it more vulnerable to the influence of autonomous image formation agents, which highlight every problem within the country. With respect to the second question, it has to be stated that the only positioning that seemed viable and could be competitive given the current market trends was Ukraine as a destination for cultural tourism. Currently Ukraine is not able to compete with the countries that have more developed tourism and transportation infrastructure. In addition, Ukrainian tourism offerings have a very low awareness among potential target markets. As far as the countrys image is concerned, an overall impression of the respondents obtained from the questionnaire analysis was relatively negative. Having analyzed all the aforementioned factors, it can be concluded that the only positioning that seemed viable in this situation was a niche positioning in the market for cultural tourism. However, the majority of image and identity problems still require urgent resolution in order to attract the tourists. In case of cultural tourism, the country, its heritage and history are the products. Therefore, the customer experiences the countrys essence, its culture. In this thesis it was identified that identity affects image very much, therefore, in order to project and communicate certain image messages, current economic, political and social problems will have to be resolved. It was also proposed to target customers from Western Europe by means of social media, Internet and carefully designed specific marketing campaigns.
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Under these positioning conditions, Ukraine may be attractive for travelers who are young and have no fear of experiencing new destinations. Finally, when discussing an image of Ukraine, several statistical methods to quantify the construct were used in this study. As a result, an overall impression of the image construct was detected at very low levels. Referring back to issues with identity, organic image formation process is the one that prevails among all others, due to the absence of the message to be transmitted in order to establish induced image of the country. Therefore, image formation process constitutes high influence of autonomous image formation agents and word-of-mouth which both are of very low control to destination marketers. In addition, theoretical transition and interrelationships between the concepts of corporate and destination identity were captured. Empirical evidence suggests that both concepts have generic closeness and some of the models used in corporate branding for identity management can be applied in context of destination. To summarize, this study has explicitly addressed issue of destination identity, destination image and explored a practical side of destination branding. All the concepts were applied to the case of Ukraine, while discussing the ramifications between the theoretical and empirical evidence. 6.2 Implications for international business Nowadays, destination branding is a global concept that influences almost every single industry around the world. Because a destination brand is a complex of multiple entities, governmental and business, it influences customers perception around the world. Successful tourism brand would ensure inflows of capital into the countrys economy and develop one more industry that is lucrative for governmental budget. In addition, tourism contributes to an overall prosperity of the country and attracts new businesses and investments into the recreational sector from within the country as well as from abroad. Strong tourist brand is undoubtedly beneficial for the economy on the whole. In addition, issues of destination identity and destination image are gaining their popularity with increased globalization of the world. Nowadays, customers perceptions are strongly influenced by the reputation of the brand, for example by the corporate social responsibility in the corporate branding context. In case of a destination brand, such reputation is of utmost importance, because the product delivered is an experience and relies highly on the reality of the destination. Well 59

developed infrastructure leads to increased attractiveness of the destination among potential tourists. To conclude, strong destination brand is an asset and a very powerful differentiation tool in the global marketplace, which creates a lot of positive outcomes for the destination economy, hence, its competitiveness on the global scale. 6.3 Suggestions for further research In this section I will give my suggestion for further research. These suggestions primarily concern Ukraine, however, research on the similarities between corporate and destination branding is still in its infancy and therefore has to be addressed as well. First of all, an additional and large-scale research is required in order to address a concept of image of Ukraine. Particularly an image formation process and the role of autonomous agents in case of Ukraine should be stressed in the future research. Moreover, a multi-dimensional construct of image should be quantified by using existing scale and quantitative methods that would be separate from the scales that assess country-of-origin in terms of products or services. Rather a universal method has to be adapted to in order to receive generic, quantifiable and reliable data about the construct by destination marketers and authorities. Scales, such as the one used in this study may be used on larger and more diverse samples in order to capture statistical relationships that may influence image formation processes. Larger samples will also add reliability to the results that may then lead to further generalization of findings among various target tourist markets. In addition, extensive research should be conducted in order to explore possible factors that influence perceptions of the destination marketing communications by the target markets. As far as destination identity is concerned, there is a clear gap in the research on how to address an issue of interrelationship between different entities within destination identity. Specifically, in case of Ukraine, it should be assessed which industries and which particular entities will have to cooperate with the government in order to convey positive overall image of the destination. In addition, an issue of the linkage between the theories of corporate and destination branding may be addressed in the further research, particularly with relation to identity management and universal identity formation. Currently, an explicit research on the matter is in its infancy and it would be very beneficial for the given study if a holistic model on addressing issues of multiple identities existed.

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Appendix 1. Questionnaire My name is Yegor Bryukhanov and I am a second-year student at Aalto University School of Economics. This survey is a part of the research for my bachelor's thesis. The survey is anonymous and your responses will be used only for research purposes. The whole survey will take no more than 5 minutes to answer. Thank you for your cooperation! 1) The following question is designed in order to measure what you think about Ukraine. I would like you to rate Ukraine according to a series of descriptors below, by placing your choice on the scale of 1-9 that best reflects your judgment about the country. economically developed economically underedeveloped democratic system dictatorial system mass produced products handcrafted products civilian government military government predominantly industrialized predominantly non-industrialized high labor costs low labor costs high litercay rates low literacy rates free market system centrally planed market system existence of welfare system lack of welfare system stable economic environment unstable economic environment exporter of agricultural products importer of agricultural products production of high quality products production of low quality products high standards of living low standards of living low level of technological high level of technological research research 2) From which sources of information presented below do you typically get information about Ukraine? Check all that apply 1. Printed media 2. Television 3. Interntet (news articles, websites, etc.) 4. Social Media (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc) Word-of mouth 5. 6. Other, please specify 3) Which of these notable Ukrainians are you familiar with? Please choose all that apply. ____ Andriy Schevchenko ____ Victor Yuschenko ____ Victor Yanukovich ____ Yulia Tymoschenko ____ Klitschko Brothers ____ Serhiy Bubka ____ Verka Serduchka ____ Renat Akhmetov ____ Stepan Bandera ____ Other, please specify

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4) Which of these events that have happened or going to happen in Ukraine are you familiar with? Please, check all that apply. ____ Chernobyl Catastrophe in 1986 ____ Orange Revolution in 2004 ____ Russia-Ukraine Gas dispute of 2008 ____ UEFA Euro-2012 ____ Other, please specify 5) Which of the words below can you associate Ukraine with? Please, check all that apply. ____ Horilka (Ukrainian Vodka) ____ Kossacks ____ Beautiful Ladies ____ Chernobyl ____ Salo ____ Soviet Union ____ Dnipro River ____ Other, please specify 6) Can you think of any Ukrainian brand? Please, write the name in the space provided below. ______________________ 7) Are you aware of the fact that Ukraine and Poland will host UEFA Euro-2012 football championships? ____ Yes ____ Yes I am aware that Ukraine hosts it ____ Yes I am aware that Poland hosts it ____ No 8) Have you ever been to Ukraine? ____ Yes ____ No 9) Are you interested in visiting Ukraine? ____ Yes ____ No 10) If yes, then what will be the purpose of the visit? ____ Business ____ Pleasure, please specify 11) When do you anticipate visiting Ukraine? ____ Within the next 3 month ____ Within a year ____ Within 3 years ____ Later than in 3 years 12) Please, choose your country of residence
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13) Where were you born?

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14) Please indicate your gender. ____ Male ____ Female Thank you for answering, you cooperation is highly valued!

Appendix 2. Sprytko (on the right) and Garnyunya (on the left) are the mascots designed for the currently ongoing promotional campaign.

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