Abstract

Despite the interests on destination branding in general, there has been scarce investigations on destination personality which is described as the set of human characteristics associated with a destination. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived destination personality of Bodrum (a famous destination in Turkey) and the relationship among destination personality, self-congruity and loyalty. In 8 to 14 August, 2011 time period, 252 respondents who were domestic tourists that visited Bodrum destination and stayed at the hotels in the destination were surveyed with the questionnaire form privately developed for the destination. 226 usable questionnaires were analyzed. 38 personality traits were tested and destination personality of Bodrum was measured. The findings of the study indicate that tourists ascribe personality characteristics to destinations and the perceived destination personality dimensions of Bodrum are dynamism, sincerity, competence and sophistication. The results also show that the most distinct dimension which has a positive impact on loyalty to destination is sincerity. In addition, ideal self-congruity has resulted as the most effective self-congruity measure on loyalty. 

Key words: Destination personality, self-congruity, loyalty, Bodrum, Turkey.