BRANDING STRATEGY OF THE COUNTRIES IN THE BALKAN REGION – FOCUSING ON HEALTH TOURISM

Abstract

Countries of the Balkan region possess great endowed resources in health tourism, mainly in the area of natural resources, and Mediterranean diet in some countries. The question is whether these countries have already realized their uniqueness in this area? Conscious brand building starting at the so called brand positioning is crucial in the fierce competition of tourism, particularly on online platforms assuring the possibility of easy comparison. The main objective of the paper is to analyze by structured content analysis the issue how consciously Balkan countries build their brands in health tourism through their online communication.

Keywords

• Health tourism
• well-being
• branding
• destination branding
• Balkan