THE IMAGE OF A PLACE AND COMPETITIVENESS IN TOURISTS ATTRACTING

Abstract

The problem discussed concerns using image ofa place (city, region) to attract tourists. The broader idea isthat it can be used as well for attracting migrants or even, indepressive regions, for keeping potential emigrants at home.Investigated on the example of Irkutsk city, Russia, and itsregion. The main ideas put forward are: - discreteness oftypical tourists thinking connected with separate objectsimages;- necessity of promotion, as many potential imagesare based on culture and sometimes not broadly known; -maximalism in selecting images for promotion, that is usingonly images of high competitiveness; - “locomotiveâ€principle: highly competitive images can “pull†lesscompetitive (second or even third level) ones after them; -the final aim is to create, on the basis of a set of images, theimage that can be treated as the Image-Place, that is placethat is well-positioned and interesting by itself.