PENGARUH DESTINATION BRANDING TERHADAP TOURIST RETENTION PADA WISATAWAN INDONESIA YANG BERKUNJUNG KE THAILAND (Survei pada wisatawan Indonesia yang berkunjung ulang ke Thailand Melalui Tour and Travel di Bandung)

Abstract

Thailand is one of the tourist destinations in Southest Asia that is growing continuously. The number of tourist arrivalscontinues to increase in every year. The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is a major force that was formed specifically bythe Royal Thai government in promoting the tourism of Thailand throughout to the world. Indonesia is one of the countries thatcontribute to the tourists coming to Thailand, the number of Indonesian tourists visiting Thailand has increased each year, withan increasing number of Indonesians indicating they would like to return. Destination branding program is a part of themarketing strategy of a country that can be used to maintain and increase tourist retention to visit either an area or country. Thedestination branding program consists of seven elements that are image, recognition, differentiation, brand messages,consistency, emotional response and creating expectation whereas tourist retention consists of financial bonds, social bondsand customize bonds. The research method used is a descriptive survey and explanatory survey with a sample size of 100respondents through the tour and travel in Bandung with data collection techniques including interviews, observation andquestionnaires. The analysis technique used is a path analysis 20.0 for windows program. The results showed that the variableof destination branding has significant impact in maintaining tourist retention to come and to keep coming to Thailand