The national tourism organizations keep investing in their marketing activities and campaigns. In recent years the pressure on efficiency and return on investment and the technology development changed the existing modus operandi o the national tourism offices . Participants modern tourism are on the one hand, increasingly able to organize their trips by themselves , place higher demands on information and booking options online. Modern clients are on one hand able to organize their trips by themselves, demend more accurate information and online booking options. On the other hand, there were opened up new markets with huge economic potential but almost zero brand awareness and high dependence on the distribution channels. "Country branding " has become one of the important tools of competitiveness of national economies. This applies to building a competitive position in the export of goods and services. As most budgets for destination marketing are financed from public resources, the financial and debt crisis in the Eurozone decreased marketing expenses in building national brands. This raises an obvious interest in this phenomenon , both from researchers , economic journalists, and of course, politicians. The doctoral dissertation responds to the current developments and includes a comparison of selected activities of the national tourism organizations in the European Union , which naturally connects theoretical framework of the doctoral program, international trade and the focus of the Department of Tourism. The main aim of the doctoral thesis is to assess the effectiveness of selected instruments that support the tourism development and to draw the implications for management sector at the level of the Czech Republic. The assessment is based on based on the international comparative studies and analysis of empirical statistical data. In this sense, they were defined objectives. 1) To develop a comprehensive comparative profile of tourism policies in selected European countries. 2) To analyze the importance of brands of countries and cities in the context of competitiveness of tourism destinations. 3) To evaluate the impact of the national tourism organizations in terms of arrivals and brand value. |