INTANGIBLES AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT OF BANSKÁ BYSTRICA REGION.

The intangible assets as an output of creative and cultural industries represent an important part of the wealth of the society. The development of the territory established on the intangibles produced by the creative and culture industries are a factor which can support to build and exploit the local or regional competitive advantage and uniqueness of the place, especially in the field of tourism. The paper deals with the role of intangibles as an output of cultural industries that can be a source of potential competitive advantage of the Banská Bystrica region. It provides practical insights into the potential paths for the regional tourism development based on the outputs of cultural industries. The paper presents the results of the primary research realized in 2013 among the tourists in the selected districts of Banská Bystrica region, results of primary research realized among experts from theory and practice aimed on competitive advantage factor analysis realized in 2011 and the data of secondary research aimed at mapping the culture potential in the region. The final part of the paper includes the recommendations for the development of tourism in the Banská Bystrica region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]