Moldovan perception of Greece as a tourism destination

Cazacu, Stela Article Moldovan perception of Greece as a tourism destination International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR) Provided in Cooperation with: International Hellenic University (IHU), Kavala Suggested Citation: Cazacu, Stela (2017) : Moldovan perception of Greece as a tourism destination, International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research (IJBESAR), ISSN 2408-0101, Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology, Kavala, Vol. 10, Iss. 2, pp. 48-59, https://doi.org/10.25103/ijbesar.102.05 This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/185666 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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If the documents have been made available under an Open Content Licence (especially Creative Commons Licences), you may exercise further usage rights as specified in the indicated licence. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ 47 48 International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research IJBESAR ijbesar.teiemt.gr Moldovan Perception of Greece as a Tourism Destination Stela Cazacu 1 Department of Economy, Marketing and Tourism, Moldova State University ARTICLE INFO ABSTRACT Article History Received 27th December 2016; Accepted 14th May 2017 Purpose: This research study analyzes Moldovans’ intentions to visit Greece, and their perceptions of Greece’s image as a tourism destination, according to the following dimensions: (1) environmental beauty and convenience, (2) country’s citizens, (3) place and architectural structure, (4) shopping and tourist accommodation and (5) similarity of the local culture and cuisine with the Moldovan one. The goal is split into four objectives. Design/methodology/approach: For attaining the goal, a self-administered questionnaire was delivered. The empirical study was conducted in the capital of Moldova. The findings are based upon a sample of 139 respondents. Findings: The findings reveal that, overall, Greece’s image as a tourist destination among Moldovan consumers is partially positive. The perceptions of the tourism dimensions were evaluated in the descending order as follows: place and architectural structure, shopping and tourist accommodation, environmental beauty and convenience, country’s citizens and similarity of the local culture and cuisine with the Moldovan one. Research limitations/implications: – As it was undertaken only in the capital of Republic of Moldova and because most respondents are young people and females, the findings of this investigation do not absolutely reflect the perceptions of all Moldovans. Also, because the number of respondents is small, it is not representative of the whole Moldovan population. Hence, the results might not be very realistic and accurate. Originality/value – This study provides insightful theoretical implications and practical recommendations in creating marketing strategies that would help in managing and improving Greece’s image as a destination among Moldovan tourists. Also, no study, at least to the researcher’s knowledge, has evaluated Greece’s image as a destination among Moldovan consumers. Finally, due to the increasing number of Moldovan tourists in Greece, it is important that Greece grasps this opportunity and positively influences the intentions of the visiting Moldovans via a positive destination image. JEL Classifications M31, Z33. Keywords: consumer perception, destination, Greece, image, tourism. ©Eastern Macedonia and Thrace Institute of Technology 1. Introduction According to the statistics compiled by the World Tourism Organization, the number of tourists travelling abroad has grown significantly from 25 million, in 1950, to 674 million in 2000, and 1186 million in 2015. This astonishing increase is, first of all, due to the improvements in the means of transportation. Secondly, increasing incomes of the consumers have encouraged the demand for tourism services. Finally, the ever-increasing number of destinations that can be visited has positively impacted the rise in demand for tourism services. Hence, tourism has become one of the largest economic sectors in the world. Moreover, tourism has increased more rapidly than world trade over the past years. Additionally, the WTO forecasts continued increase in international tourist arrivals at a growth rate of 3.8% a year for the period 2010 to 2020 (WTO, 2016). Therefore, the significance of tourism is widely acknowledged, due to its contribution to regional and national economic development (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008; WTO, 2016). Taking into consideration the fact that international tourism has a competitive and dynamic structure, the need to understand consumer needs and their attitudes, becomes critical. Thus, the study of tourism destination image, which is a somewhat recent †Corresponding Author: Stela Cazacu Email: [email protected] DOI: 10.25103/ijbesar.102.05 International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research, Vol. 10, No.2, 48-59 49 addition to the area of tourism research, has become significant for practitioners involved in tourism activities, particularly in positioning destination images, and also for academics striving to comprehend the destination image construct. Moreover, the competitive character of the tourism industry obliges tourism destinations to build an effective marketing plan and strategy. “Destinations mainly compete based on their perceived images relative to competitors in the marketplace” (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008, p.14). Hence, tourism image is essential to the success of a destination. A similar finding is reported by Cho (2008), who states that location attractiveness is a major factor motivating travellers into choosing a specific destination. Based on WTO (2016), Europe is the most visited region in the world, with a 5% growth in international tourist arrivals. Greece, situated in Europe, is one of the Mediterranean countries, which represents a favorite tourism destination for international travelers (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008), with an increasing level of international tourist arrivals (see Table 1). Due to its location in the Mediterranean region, scenic landscapes and nature, rich architecture and preserved ancient history (WTTC, 2016; Nations Online, 2016), Greece has a large touristic potential. Additionally, the tourism industry exerts a strong influence on Greece’s national economic development, as travel and tourism constitutes 18.5% of GDP in 2015 (WTTC, 2016). A visual representation of the direct contribution of Travel and Tourism to Greek GDP over the last 10 years is shown in Figure 1. Table 1: International Tourist Arrivals in Greece 2013 2014 2015 Number of persons (in thousands) 17,920 22,033 23,599 Change based on the previous year 15.5% 23% 7.1% Source: Compiled by the researcher based on WTO (2016) Since it is widely acknowledged that destination image has a strong influence on tourist behavioural intentions, it appears that the Greek image as a tourism destination is the major factor in the success of this destination. Hence, the creation and maintenance of a positive destination image is an essential task for the Greek tourism services suppliers. Figure 1: Direct contribution of Travel and Tourism to Greek GDP Source: WTTC (2016, p.3) In this context, the Republic of Moldova is becoming an important economic partner for Greece, particularly after the visa liberalization from the 28th of April 2014, when Moldovan citizens were finally allowed to travel to the European Union, including Greece, without a visa for 3 months. As a result, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of the Republic of Moldova (2016), the number of Moldovan tourists visiting Greece increased from 4066 tourists in 2011 to 21158 tourists in 2015. Obviously, Moldovans are becoming an important increasing customer base for the Greek tourism industry. Thus, the Greeks must grasp this opportunity and also the advantageous geographic closeness between Moldova and Greece to ensure that the Greek image among Moldovan consumers is positive, due to the fact that, most probably, the Greek image as a tourist destination has a vital importance in influencing Moldovan consumer behavioural intentions. Hence, the main goal of this study is to evaluate the Greece’s image as a tourist destination among Moldovan consumers. It intends to analyse the consumers’ distinguishing perceptions about Greece’s image as a tourism destination according to the following dimensions, using Bozbay & Ozen (2008) model: (1) environmental beauty and convenience, (2) country’s citizens, (3) place and architectural structure, (4) shopping and tourist accommodation and (5) similarity of the local culture and cuisine with the Moldovan one. Further, the study aims to measure Moldovans’ intention to visit Greece. Afterwards, the research intends to correlate each of the five tourism destination dimensions and the demographic factors with the intention to visit Greece, in order to identify significant relationships between the independent and the dependent variables. Finally, this research study intends to test if there is any significant difference in perceptions between the Moldovans who have already visited Greece and the Moldovans who have never visited Greece. This study offers valuable information for academics and practitioners. First of all, no study, at least to the researcher’s knowledge, has evaluated Greece’s destination image among Moldovan consumers. Only a slight research attempt was made by Magenta Consulting (2015) through its employee’s one-week vacation in Greece. Twenty-eight members of the team collected statistics through observations. The conclusion of that small investigation was that “Greeks exploit tourism to its true value and promote culture” by widely selling traditional Greek products, by promoting experiential tourism and by being open to the customers’ desires (Magenta Consulting, 2015). Second, the Greek tourism marketers should be interested in determining exactly the image of Greece as a tourism destination, so that, in case of negative perceptions, to adopt the right strategies that would help to overcome the unfavorable country image, or, in case of positive perceptions, to use the country image as a competitive advantage. This is particularly important for the Greek economy, since tourism contributes substantially to the country’s GDP. Finally, due to the increasing number of Moldovan tourists in International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research, Vol. 10, No.2, 48-59 50 Greece, it is important that Greece grasps this opportunity and positively influences the intentions of the visiting Moldovans using a positive destination image. 2. Theoretical Background Since the 1960’s, various studies have been conducted on the “country image” concept (Han, 1989). The wideranging literature in international marketing offers a diversity of definitions of country image. A clear coherent definition is given by Martin & Eroglu (1993, p. 193), who define country image as “the total of all descriptive, inferential and informational beliefs one has about a particular country”. An even simpler definition that is widely adopted is that image “is a set of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that people have of a place or destination” (Bozbay & Ozen 2008, p.15). Moreover, image is comprised of both cognitive and affective components. According to Kleppe & Mossberg (2005), country image is developed using political, economic and technological factors. Image has been proven to be an essential determinant of the consumers’ decision process (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008). More specifically, the country of origin image influences the consumer perceptions towards products originating in certain countries (Bowe, Lockshin, Lee & Rungie, 2013). Hence, the country of origin image has an impact on product image formation. Moreover, the numerous studies found that consumers have different country images and perceptions of products coming from different countries (Han, 1989; Kleppe & Mossberg, 2005). Thus, consumers use the image of a country to infer the quality of the products and services from the respective country, particularly when consumers are not familiar with the specific brand. That is why the international marketers are advised to use the country image as a competitive advantage, in case of a positive image, and should take the necessary steps in overcoming an unfavorable country image (Parameswaran & Pisharodi, 1994). For instance, a study among German consumers found out that the recent image of Greece as a crisis-ridden country is neutral, which has a positive or a negative impact on the image of Greek wines, depending on the consumer (Cazacu & Papadopoulos, 2015). What is more, for the post-communist countries, which had to change from the command economy to the market economy, country image is critical to economic growth and development (Pătraşcu, 2014). Therefore, governments create a favourable country image by engaging in nation branding campaigns. Tourism industry researchers have considered that country image has a strong impact on the people’s desire to visit a country, either for business, tourism or migration purposes (Bowe, Lockshin, Lee & Rungie, 2013; Jun & Hong-Liang, 2014; Ghada Abdalla, 2007; Lee, 2009). Image is significant in attracting potential visitors. Perceptions, rather than reality, are the motivations behind people’s decision to visit a destination (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008). For example, business travellers’ perception of India is formed “by its culture and heritage, natural resources, general infrastructures, night life, social environment, and lodging services” (Yen, da Gama & Rajamohan, 2008, p.129) Thus, an essential concept discussed in this study is “destination image”, which is usually defined as tourists’ general perceptions of a certain destination (Lee, 2009; Ghada Abdalla, 2007). As the destination marketers are engaged in a tough competition to attract tourists (Upadhyaya, 2012; Ruzzier, Antoncic & Ruzzier, 2014), they must strive to establish a positive image of their destination (Jun & Hong-Liang, 2014; Bozbay & Ozen, 2008; Martin & Eroglu, 1993), first of all, by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of their destination and, secondly, by providing essential approaches in managing and developing the tourist destinations (Lee, 2009). For instance, Australia’s image was successfully marketed as an iconic tourism image, even though Australia is “a country of hi-tech development, technological advancement, hard work and great production capacity” (Bowe, Lockshin, Lee & Rungie, 2013, p. 469). Thus, it is important to have a positive destination image, as it directly influences the satisfaction level (Lee. 2009; Ghada Abdalla, 2007). The marketer’s duty is to match the promoted destination image with the perceived destination image in the consumer’s mind, in order to avoid a false and inaccurate destination image (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008). This is done through an effective marketing strategy, which starts initially with the evaluation of the destination image among the consumers. Moreover, destination image was found to play a role as important as service in tourists’ decision-making process (Moon, Ko, Connaughton & Lee, 2013), which is one more reason to work on the enhancement of the destination image. Furthermore, the results of a study show that event image has an important influence on the destination image (Kaplanidou & Vogt, 2007). Thus, it is essential to organize successful events in the places where the tourism marketers intend to enhance the number of tourists. Additionally, a study determined that, out of six information sources, the cognitive wisdom of the tourists plays the most influential role in shaping the image of the Indian destinations. Thus, destination marketers must use long-term strategies, as the short-term strategies cannot work in manipulating cognitive wisdom. Hence, word-of mouth, tourism department publications, PR effort, electronic media and professional sources appear to have only a small influence on the destination image (Sarma. 2007). It is important to note that several studies have proven that destination image has a strong influence on tourist behavioral intentions (Bozbay & Ozen. 2008; Ghada Abdalla, 2007; Lee, 2009; Jeeyoon, Joon Ho & YuKyoum, 2014). For instance, Bozbay & Ozen (2008) show that people having very high intention levels to visit Greece, rate high all the destination image dimensions, while people who have low intentions to visit Greece, on the contrary, rate very low the destination image dimensions. Finally, destination image is a complex notion, as it is made up of several elements: cognitive, affective (Jun & Hong-Liang, 2014) and behavioral elements (Lee, 2009). Yahya (2000) distinguishes between (1) primary elements of a tourist destination, such as climate, ecology, culture and traditional architecture, and (2) secondary elements of a tourist destination, i.e. attractions, facilities, infrastructure, transportation, and hospitality. Additionally, Yahya (2000) proposes three dimensions as the main determinants of the attractiveness of tourist International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research, Vol. 10, No.2, 48-59 51 destinations: hotel factors, restaurant factors and transportation factors. Further, Upadhyaya (2012) study reveals that destination image contains (1) functional features, i.e. accessibility, physical atmosphere etc. and (2) psychological features, i.e. friendliness, relaxation etc. Bozbay & Ozen (2008) consider that the destination image has five dimensions: (1) environmental beauty and convenience, (2) country’s citizens, (3) place and architectural structure, (4) shopping and tourist accommodation and (5) similarity of the local culture and cuisine. As shown above, the classification of destination image elements and the measurement of destination image have been of significant interest to many tourism researchers and marketers. Some researchers used structured methods; others used unstructured methods, though preference was given to the structured measurement techniques (Bozbay & Ozen, 2008). Similarly, this study will use a structured model, more specifically, the one proposed by Bozbay & Ozen (2008), due to its wide successful usage, ease of use and simplicity of measurement. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the Greek image as a tourist destination among Moldovan consumers. The goal is split into four objectives: 1. Evaluate the Greek image dimensions as a tourist destination; 2. Measure Moldovans’ intention to visit Greece; 3. Identify significant relationships between: a. the destination image dimensions and intention to visit Greece; b. demographic factors and intention to visit Greece. 4. Identify significant differences in perceptions between the Moldovans who have already visited Greece and the Moldovans who have never visited Greece. The study uses Bozbay & Ozen (2008) model (see Figure 2). Thus, the following dimensions are evaluated: (1) environmental beauty and convenience, (2) country’s citizens, (3) place and architectural structure, (4) shopping and tourist accommodation and (5) similarity of the local culture and cuisine with the Moldovan one. Figure 2: The Conceptual Model Used Source: Adapted based on Bozbay & Ozen (2008) 3. Methodology For attaining the goal, a self-administered questionnaire was delivered both online and printed. The empirical study was conducted in the capital of Moldova in February-May 2016. The population of this research study is Moldovan citizens who have an interest in travel and tourism activities. The respondents were asked to express their opinion as regards the image of Greece as a tourism destination. Thus, using 27 Likert statements, the respondents assessed their level of agreement or disagreement with the statement. The level of agreement was measured on a seven point Likert scale, where (7) represents absolute agreement and (1) – absolute disagreement. Similarly, their intention to visit Greece was measured using three seven-point Likert statements. Additionally, the questionnaire included a section that asked for the respondents’ demographic profile, i.e. age, gender, monthly income and occupation. The findings are based upon a sample of 139 respondents. 4. Results and Discussion The collected data were statistically analysed using SPSS 17. First, the demographic profile of the respondents was analysed. As shown in Table 2, young people, aged 18-25 is the largest group of respondents, representing 60.4% of the total respondents. Then, one third of the respondents belong to the second age group of 26-35 years. Hence, together, these two young age groups have a cumulative percent of 95%, which shows that basically young people are interested in travel and tourism activities. Table 2: Descriptive data for the study sample MONTHLY INCOME Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent Below 1001 MDL* 38 27.3 27.3 1001-3000 MDL 29 20.9 48.2 3001-6000 MDL 37 26.6 74.8 6001-9000 MDL 14 10.1 84.9 Above 9000 MDL 21 15.1 100.0 Total 139 100.0 AGE GROUP Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent 18-25 84 60.4 60.4 26-35 48 34.5 95.0 36-45 4 2.9 97.8 46-55 3 2.2 100.0 Total 139 100.0 GENDER Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent Male 40 28.8 28.8 Female 99 71.2 100.0 Total 139 100.0 OCCUPATION Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent Student 65 46.8 46.8 Employed 53 38.1 84.9 Self-employed 13 9.4 94.2 Unemployed 1 .7 95.0 Housewife 1 .7 95.7 Another 6 4.3 100.0 Total 139 100.0 Note: MDL is the currency of Moldova (leu). Moldovan( Consumers'( Intention(to( visit(Greece Environmental( beauty(and( convenience Country’s(citizens Place(and( architectural( structure Shopping(and( tourist( accommodation( Similarity(of(the( local(culture(and( cuisine( International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research, Vol. 10, No.2, 48-59 52 Furthermore, as regards gender, the majority of the respondents are females, representing 71%. It appears that women have higher interest in travelling and tourism activities in Greece. Monthly income of the respondents was almost evenly distributed, although the largest group of respondents belongs in the lowest income group, while the two smallest groups of respondents belong in the higher income groups. Finally, as regards occupation, the first rank is occupied by the students, with approximately 47%; afterwards follow by those that are employed - with 38% - and the self-employed at 9%. Before undertaking the actual analysis, several validity and reliability tests were performed; as regards validity, each set of questions was tested using factor analysis. Taking into consideration the fact that all the questions loaded a factor above 0.650 (see Table 3), while the minimum required is 0.500, it can be concluded that the data matched the theoretical grouping of items into separate variables. The five dimension variables and the intention variable demonstrated an excellent fit, thus confirming the core dimensions of Greece’s destination image. Table 3: Factor Analysis Results of all the Variables Attributes Factor Loading Communality Factor 1 – Place & Architectural Structure X1 - There are many interesting places in Greece .858 .736 X2 - There are lots of natural scenic beauty in Greece .843 .711 X3 - There are many restful and relaxing places in Greece .864 .747 X4 - There are lots of places of historical or archaeological interest to visit .816 .666 X5 - Greece’s cities are attractive .757 .574 Factor 2 - Country’s Citizens X6 - The local people are courteous .855 .732 X7 - The local people are hardworking .799 .639 X8 - The local people are honest .918 .843 X9 - The local people are friendly .905 .819 Factor 3 - Environmental Beauty & Convenience X10 - Highways and roads are in good condition .763 .581 X11 - Greece has well-developed transport system .805 .648 X12 - It is easy to get good service in restaurants and hotels in Greece .779 .607 X13 - There are many gardens and parks in Greece .818 .669 X14 - Greece is clean and green .795 .632 X15 - Greece is an orderly country .796 .633 X16 - Greece is a progressive country .836 .700 X17 - Greece is a safe place to visit .695 .482 X18 - Greece is a politically stable country .672 .452 Factor 4 - Shopping & Tourist Accommodation X19 - Greece is a good place to shop .811 .658 X20 - Good quality of products are available in Greece .883 .780 X21 - There are a wide variety of products available in Greece .878 .771 X22 - Good tourist information is available .876 .767 X23 - Food is varied and exotic in Greece .748 .560 X24 - Good tourist facilities and services are available .852 .681 Factor 5 - Local Culture & Cuisine X25 - The lifestyles and customs in Greece are similar to those in my home country .851 .725 X26 - The food in Greece is similar to ours .879 .772 X27 - The architectural styles of the buildings are similar to those in my home country .808 .654 Factor 6 – Intention to visit Greece X28 – I plan to visit Greece this year .698 .487 X29 – My dream is to visit Greece & I intend to do it .897 .804 X30 – I want to visit Greece .853 .727 Further, as regards reliability or internal consistency, it was measured using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. It was run for six question sets, as in factor analysis. The results are summarised in Table 4. The lowest accepted Cronbach’s alpha was 0.700. For the majority of the question sets, the results pointed out a good level of internal consistency. However, as regards the Intention to visit Greece items grouping, the item “I_plan_to_visit_Greece_this_year” was removed; consequently, the Cronbach’s alpha for this variable increased from 0.704 to 0.790. Table 4: Cronbach’s Alpha Results After completing the data requirements steps, i.e. validity and reliability tests, the actual analysis was performed. The answers from the question sets were averaged for each survey, in order to get a general score for every variable. Objective 1 The descriptive statistics results for the five Greek image dimensions are detailed in Table 5; these statistics help in completing the first objective of this study, which is to evaluate the Greek image dimensions as a tourist destination. The dimension assessed the highest by Moldovan consumers is Place and Architectural Structure, with a mean score of 6.02. It is no surprise that Moldovans consider Greece as a country with beautiful nature, relaxing places and attractive historical and archaeological places of interest, taking into consideration the fact that Moldova does not have these kinds of natural and historical beauties. This result is confirmed by WTTC (2016) and Nations Online (2016). Moreover, the minimum score for this dimension was 3.40, which is the highest minimum in comparison with the other dimensions, which once more confirms Moldovans’ strong positive perceptions of this dimension Variable Cronbach’s Alpha Value 1. Place & Architectural Structure .884 2. Country’s Citizens .886 3. Environmental Beauty & Convenience .914 4. Shopping & Tourist Accommodation .913 5. Local Culture & Cuisine .801 6. Intention to visit Greece .704 International Journal of Business and Economic Sciences Applied Research, Vol. 10, No.2, 48-59 53 of Greece’s image. As shown in Table 6, out of five items that are grouped into this dimension, Greek cities were evaluated the lowest, which explains the fact that this dimension of the Greek image didn’t get the maximum score of 7. Table 5: Descriptive Statistics – The Greek Image Dimensions N Minimum Maximum Mean Dimension 1 Place_and_Architectural_Structure 139 3.40 7.00 6.0187 2 Shopping_and_Tourist_Accommodation 139 2.17 7.00 5.1631 3 Environmental_Beauty_and_Convenience 139 1.78 7.00 4.6683 4 Country_Citizens 139 2.00 7.00 4.4910 5 Similarity_of_Local_Culture_and_Cuisine 139 1.00 7.00 3.1463 Valid N (listwise) 139 The second on the list is Shopping and Tourist Accommodation Dimension, with a mean score of 5.16. On average, Moldovans somewhat agree with the fact that Greece has a variety of good-quality products available, varied and exotic food, that in Greece there are available good tourist facilities, services and tourist information (see Table 7). The lowest mean score from this grouping was obtained by the item “Greece is a good place to shop”, with a mean of 4.53, which shows a neutral towards positive tendency. Hence, the shopping experience of the tourists should be improved. Table 6: Descriptive Statistics – Place and Architectural Structure Items Item N Minimum Maximum Mean Many_interesting_places_in_Greece 139 3.00 7.00 6.1439 Lots_of_natural_scenic_beauty_in_Greece 139 3.00 7.00 6.1295 Many_restful_and_relaxing_places_in_Greece 139 3.00 7.00 6.0216 Lots_of_places_of_historical_or_archaeological_interest 139 3.00 7.00 6.1871 Greek_cities_are_attractive 139 2.00 7.00 5.6115 Valid N (listwise) 139 Further, Environmental Beauty and Convenience Dimension is placed third, with a mean score of 4.67, which is neutral towards positive. Moldovans somewhat agree with the statements that highways and roads in Greece are in good conditions, that the transportation system is good, that it is easy to get good service in the restaurants and hotels Table 7: Descriptive Statistics – Shopping and Tourist Accommodation Items Item N Minimum Maximum Mean Greece_is_a_good_place_to_shop 139 1.00 7.00 4.5252 Good_quality_of_products_are_available_in_Greece 139 2.00 7.00 5.0432 There_are_a_wide_variety_of_products_available 139 2.00 7.00 5.1727 Good_tourist_information_is_available 139 2.00 7.00 5.4029 Food_is_varied_and_exotic_in_Greece 139 2.00 7.00 5.3741 Good_tourist_facilities_and_services_are_available 139 2.00 7.00 5.4604 Valid N (listwise) 139 54 . However, the respondents reveal a slightly neutral perception of Greece as an orderly, progressive and safe country to visit. The Moldovan perceptions that Greece is somewhat politically unstable (mean score of 3.27) have significantly lowered the overall score for this dimension (see Table 8). Table 8: Descriptive Statistics – Environmental Beauty and Convenience Items Item N Minimum Maximum Mean Highways_and_roads_are_in_good_condition 139 1.00 7.00 5.1871 Greece_has_a_well_developed_transport_system 139 1.00 7.00 4.9712 It_is_easy_to_get_good_service_in_restaurants_and_hotels 139 2.00 7.00 5.2230 There_are_many_gardens_and_parks 139 2.00 7.00 5.1079 Greece_is_clean_and_green 139 1.00 7.00 4.8993 Greece_is_an_orderly_country 139 1.00 7.00 4.3885 Greece_is_a_progressive_country 139 1.00 7.00 4.2374 Greece_is_a_safe_place_to_visit 139 1.00 7.00 4.7266 Greece_is_a_politically_stable_country 139 1.00 7.00 3.2734 Valid N (listwise) 139 Country Citizens component is the fourth on the list, with an average score of 4.49. It appears that Moldovans reveal a neutral towards partial agreement with the statement that Greeks are courteous, honest and friendly (see Table 9). The lowest score was obtained by the item that evaluates Greeks’ diligence, with an average of 3.91. Table 9: Descriptive Statistics – Country Citizens Items Item N Minimum Maximum Mean The_local_people_are_courteous 139 2.00 7.00 4.8633 The_local_people_are_hardworking 139 1.00 7.00 3.9137 The_local_people_are_honest 139 2.00 7.00 4.4604 The_local_people_are_friendly 139 2.00 7.00 4.7266 Valid N (listwise) 139 Finally, the lowest score was obtained by Similarity of Local Culture and Cuisine Dimension, with a mean of 3.15. As shown in Table 10, Moldovans consider the Greek and Moldovan culture and cuisine as somewhat different, especially the architectural styles of the buildings. However, the difference in culture and cuisine shouldn’t be always considered an obstacle in creating a positive image of a tourist destination. On the contrary, it should be one more reason for the Moldovans to have the desire to visit Greece and to explore its different cultural aspects. Overall, the Greek image as a tourist destination among Moldovan consumers is partially positive. The perceptions of the destination image dimensions were evaluated in the descending order as follows: place and architectural structure, shopping and tourist accommodation, environmental beauty and convenience, country’s citizens and similarity of the local culture and cuisine with the Moldovan one. Table 10: Descriptive Statistics – Similarity of Local Culture and Cuisine Items Item N Min. Max. Mean GR_lifestyles_&_customs_are_similar_to_those_in_MD 139 1.00 7.00 3.5612 The_food_in_Greece_is_similar_to_ours 139 1.00 7.00 3.4317 Architectural_styles_of_the_buildings_are_similar_to_those_in_MD 139 1.00 7.00 2.4460 Valid N (listwise) 139 Objective 2 The second objective of this research study is to measure Moldovans’ intention to visit Greece. As shown in Table 11, Moldovans display relatively high intentions to visit Greece, with a score of 5.8 out of 7.0. The highest contribution to this overall score was given by the item “I want to visit Greece”, with a mean of 6.23. Thus, it appears that the partially-positive Greek image as a