Branding as an essential element in the creation process of the image of the brand in national tourism destinations

Purpose: Presentation of branding as an important element in the creation process of the brand image of national tourism destinations on the example of the operation of 39 National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) in Europe. Design/Methodology/Approach: For the selection of NTOs the following criteria were taken into account. 1. The functional criterion: the main functions attributed to NTOs were accepted as the grounds for the verification, firstly, it was considered whether the promotion of a given country on foreign markets is included among these tasks. 2. The economic criterion: possession of an autonomous financial budget by a given organization (regardless of the percentage share of funds from the budget of the state or from the private sector, or from any other sources) was accepted as the grounds for verification. 3. The organizational criterion: a separation of a given organization in the structure of a superior body was accepted as the grounds for verification. The research methods used include a method of diagnostic survey including a questionnaire technique, a direct interview and a statistical analysis. Findings: The analysis demonstrated among others that the vast majority of the NTOs examined (92.3%) implement the objectives of branding in practice. At the same time, a significant part of these organizations (86.1%) recognized the activities taken within branding to be very effective. Moreover, the vast majority of the NTOs analysed (91.7%) undertake the initiatives realized as part of branding on the global tourist market. Practical Implications: The conclusions following the study can be used by various entities which are responsible for an effective realization of the management process of the brand of tourism destinations on the different levels of administration. Originality/Value: The study constitutes an entirely new insight into the functioning of NTOs while presenting a substantially broader spectrum of the areas of interest for this type organizations as compared to those presented in the source literature till now.peer-reviewe

The formation of CDM haloes II: collapse time and tides

We use two cosmological simulations of structure formation in the LambdaCDM scenario to study the evolutionary histories of dark-matter haloes and to characterize the Lagrangian regions from which they form. We focus on haloes identified at redshift z_id=0 and show that the classic ellipsoidal collapse model systematically overestimates their collapse times. If one imposes that halo collapse takes place at z_id, this model requires starting from a significantly lower linear density contrast than what is measured in the simulations at the locations of halo formation. We attempt to explain this discrepancy by testing two key assumptions of the model. First, we show that the tides felt by collapsing haloes due to the surrounding large-scale structure evolve non-linearly. Although this effect becomes increasingly important for low-mass haloes, accounting for it in the ellipsoidal collapse model only marginally improves the agreement with N-body simulations. Second, we track the time evolution of the physical volume occupied by forming haloes and show that, after turnaround, it generally stabilizes at a well-defined redshift, z_c>z_id, contrary to the basic assumption of extended Press-Schechter theory based on excursion sets. We discuss the implications of this result for understanding the origin of the mass-dependence and scatter in the linear threshold for halo formation. Finally, we show that, when tuned for collapse at z_c, a modified version of the ellipsoidal collapse model that also accounts for the triaxial nature of protohaloes predicts their linear density contrast in an unbiased way.Comment: 15 pages, 11 figures, MNRAS in pres

DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES AS THE SPHERE OF THE COMPETENCES OF DESTINATION MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATIONS

The present article includes deliberations concerning the significance of widely understood issues connected with the development of human resources in the activities of destination management organizations (DMOs). The first part covers strictly theoretical issues connected with the concept of the DMO and its objectives with a particular emphasis on the development of human resources. The second part includes a presentation and an analysis of the results of the author’s own research on a group of 83 DMOs from 23 European states

Predicting Port Tugboat Operations for Arriving and Departing Vessels Using Machine Learning

Today, predicting the number of tugs required to assist in a towing operation many days in advance is difficult. Towing operations, being a complicated process, are prone to human errors and conflicts, which can have severe financial consequences for all parties involved. In this thesis, a method for extracting port tugboat operations for incoming and outgoing vessels is proposed. Using the obtained tugboat operations dataset, a machine learning model is built in order to predict the number of tugs required to assist in a towing operation. The data used is a year of historical Baltic Sea AIS data and weather data from nearby weather stations near the two analysis ports. The recommended ideas and their implementation were a success from a performance standpoint. The proposed method for extracting towing operations detected the vast majority of towing operations within the analysis area. The obtained tugboat operations dataset was then used during the model construction phase. The obtained models are port-specific. One of the models achieved an overall accuracy of 87.0\%, while the other achieved an accuracy of 91.5\%. The results demonstrated that it is possible to develop a viable predictive tool for tugboat operations. When deployed, the proposed method will enable port and tugboat operators to make faster and more efficient decisions, resulting in increased operational efficiency in the port area

The large-scale structure of the Universe; environmental effects and relativistic corrections

Over the cosmic age gravity has formed the structures in the universe where galaxies are part of. We study here the effect of the environmet on the formation of dark-matter haloes and find that the growth can be quenched. Moreover we study relativistic corrections on the observed large-scale structure of galaxies, as upcomming surveys will be able to observe correlation on larger scale

Destination management organizations and health tourism visual identification in Central and Eastern Europe

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify and diagnose the activities of national destination management organizations (DMOs) from Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) in the scope of a visual identification of health tourism destinations. Design/Methodology/Approach: The investigations were conducted on three stages: (1) a verification was performed of the existence of national DMOs in CEEC; (2) when making targeted selection, a questionnaire interviews were performed with 16 DMO representatives; (3) desk research was conducted, i.e. an analysis of the contents of the official websites/ portals and social media of DMOs. Findings: The role of health tourism is to grow in the coming years in the opinion expressed by the DMOs examined. The organizations under examination try to address this trend by indicating that health tourism, even at its current stage, constitutes a fairly important tourism product. The current status of the visual identification of HTD created by DMOs in the states under examination is rather poor. A small part of organizations identify themselves directly with the health tourism product. A significant part of the organizations do not undertake any activities in this area. In turn, those that do undertake such activities rely primarily on fairly common elements such as: an internet website, possibly a logo and an advertising slogan. Practical Implications: The results may serve as a point of departure for taking adequate activities aimed promotion at the health tourism product not only by other national DMOs but also by similar organizations on the regional or local level. Originality/Value: The variety of health tourism products available at CEEC puts new tasks for DMOs. The article highlights the important role of the entity that is responsible for the management of the HTD brand.peer-reviewe

PIELGRZYMOWANIE BŁOGOSŁAWIONEJ DOROTY Z MĄTÓW DO EINSIEDELN W KONTEKŚCIE WPŁYWÓW ÓWCZESNYCH IDEAŁÓW DUCHOWOŚCI RELIGIJNEJ NADRENII (CZ. 1: BŁOGOSŁAWIONA DOROTA Z MĄTÓW WIELKICH, JEJ ŻYCIE RELIGIJNE I DUCHOWE)

Ksiądz Borzyszkowski założył Instytut Kultury Chrześcijańskiej im. Jana Pawła II w Olsztynie (IKCh), którego działalność obejmowała prowadzenie Studium Teologii dla Świeckich2. Na mocy dekretu z 15 sierpnia 1999 r. Stolica Apostolska powołała do istnienia Kościelny Wydział Teologii w Olsztynie, do którego zostało wcielone Studium Teologii dla Świeckich przy IKCh3. Ks. Borzyszkowski był dyrektorem Instytutu i wykładowcą historii filozofii w Instytucie oraz wykładowcą w Wyższym Seminarium Duchownym Hosianum i Wyższym Warmińskim Instytucie Katechetycznym w Gietrzwałdzie. W ramach zajęć w cyklu teologicznych studiów licencjackich, prowadzonych w Warmińskim Instytucie Teologicznym w Olsztynie, ks. prof. Borzyszkowski podjął tematykę dotyczącą wpływu mistyki nadreńskiej na duchowość bł. Doroty z Mątów. Poniższy tekst prezentuje pierwszą część wykładu monograficznego, który został opublikowany w Olsztynie, w roku 1996, w formie broszury przeznaczonej do użytku wewnętrznego, pt. Pielgrzymowanie błogosławionej Doroty z Mątów do Einsiedeln w kontekście wpływów ówczesnych ideałów duchowości religijnej Nadrenii. Wykład w Studium Licencjackim Warmińskiego Instytutu Teologicznego w Olsztynie w roku akademickim 1995/1996. Prezentuje on postać bł. Doroty (1347–1394) oraz jej duchowy i religijny etos. Zmiany w odniesieniu do wersji oryginalnej dotyczą drobnych kwestii redakcyjnych i językowych. Tekst ma wartość historyczną i źródłową. Oddając go w ręce Czytelników, mamy nadzieję, że przyczyni się do poszerzenia stanu badań nad osobą i życiem średniowiecznej mistyczki, żyjącej w Prusach Książęcych, w epoce potęgi zakonu krzyżackiego. Może stać się też inspiracją do badań hagiologicznych, które koncentrują się na źródłach oraz na wykazaniu aspektu aktualności treści zawartych w źródłach historycznych. Natomiast kolejne badania w zakresie źródeł dorotańskich z pewnością przyczynią się do wzbogacenia kultury duchowej i religijnej zwłaszcza mieszkańców Warmii, Powiśla, Pomorza, a także innych miejsc związanych z kultem bł. Doroty z Mątów

Spatial diversity of tourist function development: the municipalities of Poland’s West Pomerania province

This article examines the spatial diversity of tourist function development using the example of one of Poland’s sixteen main administrative regions: the West Pomerania Province (Polish: Województwo zachodniopomorskie). The analysis was carried out based on the values of the Defert tourist function index, which is one of the basic indexes used in tourism geography. The analysis demonstrated significant differences between the individual municipalities in the region examined. This confirms the assumption that seaside municipalities have the highest tourist function development

Information technologies in the activities of destination management organizations

The purpose – The purpose of the article was an attempt to assess the significance of two spheres connected with the functioning of DMOs, i.e. internet marketing and the development of modern technologies and information systems. Design – The study covers theoretical issues connected with the essence of destination management organizations as the basic organizational structures in the tourism sector, and with the significance of the Internet and modern information technologies in the activities of these organizations. The second part of the study covers the empirical issues of the problem analyzed. Approach and methodology – Apart from theoretical deliberations, it provides the review of previous research. Moreover, the results of the author’s research were used with the aid of the diagnostic survey technique. The results from 53 DMOs that represent 19 European states were obtained. Findings – The quantity of expenditures on information technologies was defined in the structure of the total expenditures on the part of DMOs. The average value for all the organizations under analysis was 10.9%. Owing to the application of the point grading method (Likert scale), it was demonstrated that internet marketing and the development of modern technologies and information systems are becoming increasingly more important areas of the activities. Originality of the research – The originality is evident in the insights it provides about use of modern information technologies and the Internet in the activities of DMO. The empirical deliberations presented in this article should become an important point of reference for many DMOs and should emphasize the growing significance of information technologies