Julia Atanassova

In a world of increasing competition among holiday locations branding is successful tool for positioning a destination in visitor`s mind and gaining competitive advantage over its competitors. Bulgaria is destination that has to deal with the growing battle for tourists` attention and golf tourism is a way for the country to boost its attractiveness to visitors. Thus the purpose of the dissertation was to examine the development of this new kind of tourism for Bulgaria and consequently the following research goal was formulated:

“To find out how Bulgaria can position itself as international golf destination, by analyzing the golf tourism in Bulgaria and the golf tourist profile in order to be able to give recommendations.”

The research methodology employed both quantitative and qualitative methods and whereas the quantitative research could not contribute with enough data, qualitative methods comprised semi- structured in-depth interviews, hermeneutics and participant observation and resulted in enough qualitative data, which was analyzed by creating themes.

The topics discussed with the interview participants included destination attractiveness. The destination attracts them with its novelty, quality golf courses, affordable prices, beautiful nature and possibilities for combination of golf and beach holiday. Furthermore the destination strengths include the long golfing season and not overcrowded courses, good dining and wines and hospitality of the locals. Destination`s weaknesses together with the main competitor`s (Turkey) advantages and disadvantages are also discussed in order to be able to find the strongest positioning for the destination.

The marketing campaigns undertaken by the golf resorts are analyzed. Travel markets and fairs, work with tour operators, printed ads, both in golf and non-golf specialized editions, radio and TV, social media, indirect ads in form of participation in reality shows and tournaments awards , familiarization trips for golf journalists, word of mouth and golf pros are the manifold ways the golf business employs to popularize Bulgaria as golf destination.

In the future golf in Bulgaria is expected to increase, boosted by the “Undiscovered golf destination of 2012” IAGTO award. To facilitate this growth the right positioning message was analyzed by using the positioning model of Bil Baker, which identifies the strongest destination positioning as dependent on customer needs, destination strengths and competitors strengths. Thus Bulgaria can be positioned as nearby destination, with excellent, uncongested golf courses, which offer value for the money 10 months a year and great possibility for sunny beach holiday and great game of golf.

In order to achieve successful positioning it is highly recommended to work closely with the government and provide framework for the development of golf in Bulgaria, but also better accessibility and improvement of the existing infrastructure. Furthermore investments in education and continuous training of the human resources are needed, as well as better collaboration among the stakeholders, in particular the golf resorts. Stronger cooperation will facilitate the creation of powerful brand, which will present Bulgaria as one destination, rather than gathering of golf courses and will contribute to its holistic image of golf hot spot.

The dissertation findings make valuable contribution to the scientific field by providing input in a sparsely investigated topic and presenting further research recommendations such as quantitative research on the golf tourists in Bulgaria and local population attitude towards golf tourism development; and to the managerial field by providing helpful contribution by analyzing information and providing recommendations.