This paper explores the role and significance of spatial units in online tourism marketing and branding. The analysis is based on the application of different regional typologies as categorization units in understanding and analyzing quantitative and qualitative properties of tourism websites. The study combines four distinct ways of classifying regions into a spatial framework to systematize the properties of online tourism data. The research questions are addressed through data collection from Finnish municipalities, focusing on online tourism marketing websites. Results indicate that large municipalities, urban areas, and popular tourism regions are more invested in online tourism marketing and branding in comparison to smaller municipalities, rural areas, and less popular tourism regions. Rural municipalities locating close to large urban areas have low scores in the investigated variables, suggesting that they rely on their proximity to urban areas for online tourism marketing and branding. While likely advantageous, the use of distinct marketing tools (logos, slogans, locational highlights, and interest hotspots) is relatively limited in the data. The paper concludes by stressing the need for strategic and comprehensive approaches, collaboration with stakeholders, creativity, and innovative methods in tourism management, particularly for smaller municipalities.

中文翻译：

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旅游营销和品牌中的多层空间类别

本文探讨了空间单元在在线旅游营销和品牌推广中的作用和意义。该分析基于应用不同区域类型作为分类单元来理解和分析旅游网站的定量和定性属性。该研究将四种不同的区域分类方法结合到一个空间框架中，以系统化在线旅游数据的属性。研究问题是通过从芬兰各城市收集数据来解决的，重点是在线旅游营销网站。结果表明，与较小的直辖市、农村地区和不太受欢迎的旅游地区相比，大城市、城市地区和热门旅游地区在在线旅游营销和品牌推广方面的投资更多。靠近大城市地区的农村城市在调查变量中得分较低，这表明它们依赖于靠近城市地区的在线旅游营销和品牌推广。虽然不同的营销工具（徽标、口号、位置亮点和兴趣热点）的使用可能是有利的，但在数据中相对有限。本文最后强调了旅游管理中需要采取战略性和综合性方法、与利益相关者的合作、创造力和创新方法，特别是对于较小的城市。