An Assessment of Brand Identities of The 10 Cities with The Highest Number of Tourist Demand in Turkey

In recent years, there is a fierce competition among destinations to get more share from the tourism market. Destinations; they need to create a distinctive, accurate, and permanent brand identity that can express themselves and provide them with competitive advantage. Because brand identity plays an important role in tourists' choices and decisions. In this study, brand identity of the cities of ？stanbul, Antalya, Mu？la, ？zmir, Ankara, Nev？ehir, Ayd？n, Denizli, Gaziantep and Hatay that attracts most tourists in Turkey were examined. It has been tried to determine which colors they use in their brand identities, which tourist values and local symbols they try to outline, which slogans they use and how they position themselves in logos. The research data was obtained by reviewing the documents, web sites, promotional films and catalogs of the 10 cities, as well as communicating with the related institutions of the cities via electronic mail and telephone. Content analysis of the obtained data was done. The first of the important findings of the research; all of these cities are trying to bring their historical and cultural values to the forefront, Gaziantep and Hatay are also emphasizing their gastronomic values. The second important finding is; it has been determined that the cities, municipalities and governor's logos of these cities are different from each other and that there is no common logos of the cities. Another finding that draws attention in the research is; Ankara, Nevsehir and Denizli have not already had a tourist slogan. As a result, it can be said that Istanbul, Antalya and Gaziantep can create their unique urban brand identity in a significant sense in tourism and other cities are trying to establish brand identity. It is understood that the city needs a strong brand identity in Turkey. It is suggested that cities should take this issue into consideration in their touristic planning and marketing activities