Vliv vietnamské diaspory na tvorbu image Vietnamu v České republice

The main aim of this diploma thesis is to determine the influence of friendships between Czechs and Vietnamese living in Czechia on the formation of Vietnam’s destination image. The secondary objectives of this paper are to assess the Czechs' willingness to visit the destination and to evaluate the role of the Vietnamese diaspora in marketing, specifically in tourism. The concept of destination image is explained in the theoretical part, alongside the importance of the diaspora in tourism, a description of the Vietnamese diaspora living in Czechia, and an introduction to Vietnam as a tourist destination. The research consisted of semi-structured interviews with members of the Vietnamese diaspora and a questionnaire measuring destination image among two groups of Czech respondents. The two groups were created based on whether respondents had a Vietnamese friend. Differences in mean values between the two groups were tested using an independent samples t-test. The results did not show a statistically significant difference in the perception of the destination image between Czechs with and without Vietnamese friends. Nevertheless, both groups considered Vietnamese people as a relevant source of information when planning a trip to Vietnam. On the other hand, a statistically significant difference was found in the willingness to visit Vietnam. Furthermore, the descriptive analysis and interviews with members of the Vietnamese diaspora revealed that their Czech friends were more interested in cultural aspects than in tourist aspects of Vietnam. The contribution of this paper is to specify the role of the Vietnamese diaspora, especially in relation to their friendships with Czechs, on the representation of Vietnam. The results imply that the diaspora’s importance lies more in sharing their culture and increasing willingness to visit Vietnam than in directly influencing the perception of Vietnam’s destination image.