Destination’s Gastronomic Brand Formation Based on Cultural and Historical Heritage

The aim of this master thesis is to identify perspective ways to promote the brand of gastronomic cities of the Hanseatic League based on its cultural and historical heritage, as well as ways of creating a single umbrella brand of these territories. In accordance with the aim of this work objectives were formulated: to identify the role of cultural heritage in the process of branding, to define the role of Hanseatic culture in the activities of local catering enterprises, to develop ways to promote the gastronomic brand and to identify ways to create a single umbrella brand of Hanseatic League destinations. The first chapter examines the current theoretical framework for the promotion of destination brand, characteristics of a gastronomic brand, role of cultural and historical heritage and catering enterprises in the process of branding. The second chapter shows the detailed description of the object of the work, the study sample is explained; four methods of collecting the information that were used (content analysis of reviews, content analysis of menus and web sites, comparative analysis and analysis of variance) are described. The results of the research show that there are premises of creating single umbrella brand, though this happens rather inactively due to management absence. The recommendations for promotion Hanseatic League gastronomic umbrella brand based on the achieved results are exhibited in the end of the second chapter. The thesis consists of 108 pages without annexes. It contains 29 pictures, 6 tables and 6 annexes. Key words: gastronomic brand, umbrella brand, cultural and historical heritage, Hanseatic League, public catering enterprises