POSITIONING ROMANIA AS A TOURISM DESTINATION BASED ON THE INFORMATION FROM ONLINE TRAVEL GUIDES

Concerned with asserting itself as a unique tourism destination, Romania has spent time and money and has put a lot of hope in choosing its brand elements and secondary associations, forgetting that brands are not built only through advertising. The points of contact through which customers get to know a brand are various: observation and personal use, oral advocacy, interactions with Romania’s citizens, online and mobile experiences, etc. This paper aims to highlight the importance of Romania’s positioning statement, as a tourism destination, based on the information from major online international travel guides, and to argue the harmonization of this approach in differentiating the brand through its main elements (logo, slogan, etc.). Together with the differentiation and brand elements, the positioning ensures Romania’s honesty, originality and authenticity as a tourism destination.