Studying the Basic Tourist Image of Brazil among Future Specialists in the Tourism Industry

The tourist destination image is becoming a basic tool in promoting places in tourist markets. In addition, a positive image of territory can help in managing the tourist flows and solving the problems of overtourism. Often, entering new markets is achieved through a targeted process of forming an image among different audiences, and representatives of the tourism business have priority among them. This research is aimed at examining the tourist image of Brazil among first, second- and third-year bachelor's students mastering tourism education direction at the Russian State University of Tourism and Service. The research examined mental maps, associations, stereotypes, and results of interpretation of creative task that involved writing a letter from Brazil after an imaginary trip there. As a result, the author constructed collective mental maps, comparing them with the real outlines of the country, and revealed students’ ideas about the configuration of the territory of Brazil. The article identified associations and stereotypes, as well as shortcomings and “blank spots” in the students’ images of Brazil. Based on the research we can propose the ways of correcting the image of the territory of Brazil through the improvement of educational material.