Exploring the Brand of Vrdnik Spa: Tourists’ Perspective

With the primary goal of exploring the brand of Vrdnik Spa from tourists’ perspective, research with the target group of tourists was conducted in the form of a semi-structured face-to-face interview. The interviews were conducted during April and May 2019. A total of 30 domestic and foreign tourists were interviewed during their stay at destination. Apart from tourists’ opinion about Vrdnik brand, the interview intended to reveal the main motivation, sources of information about destination, as well as tourists’ opinion about pros and cons of destination. The results indicated three main motives of visit: rest and relaxation, enjoying the nature and thermal water. The main advantage of Vrdnik as a spa destination, as the study revealed, is unspoiled nature, tranquility and hospitable local people. The main disadvantages can be summed up as the lack of tourist infrastructure, signalization and target marketing. Finally, the study revealed that the potential future brand of Vrdnik Spa should be based on: thermal water, unspoiled natural surroundings, local food and drink (honey, cheese, rakija) as well as cultural heritage. The paper provides discussion and some basic steps of building the future brand of Vrdnik Spa based on the given results.