THE PLACE AND IMPORTANCE OF DOMESTIC TOURISTS' PERCEPTUAL MAPS IN TOURISM MARKETING.

Recently, great importance has been attached to the development of domestic tourism along with international tourism by the countries throughout the world. Because domestic tourism is a very important factor both for the mobility of the economy and for the development of the sector. In this regard, Azerbaijan, having strong tourism infrastructure, has taken a number of important measures to further develop domestic tourism in recent years. The peculiarity of perceptual maps is that they provide a visual representation of the market to the decision maker. Perceptual maps are a tool needed by the businesses to recognize their competitors, identify their positions in the market, and see the gaps in the market. The main purpose of the research is to investigate Azerbaijan's domestic tourism potential in different regions, how these regions that have already proved themselves in the field of tourism are positioned as a brand and, most importantly, how this positioning is assessed by the residents of the country traveling within it. The research revealed that Azerbaijan, proved itself in the field of tourism in recent years, has a strong domestic tourism potential. Especially, there is a strong competition for leading positions in the market among the regions, tourist destinations of the country. For this purpose destinations are trying to position their products in the best way possible, to create a positive image in the minds of tourists and to attract more and more tourists. However, the research revealed that although the leading destinations in the country tend to turn their products into a popular brand and maintain a proper positioning policy, their positions in the minds of tourists are somewhat different. When choosing destinations, tourists who pay more attention to service say that the service in certain destinations of the country is not at the desired level, that is, unsatisfactory, but the prices are slightly higher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]