Personification of genius loci – innovations on the base of geographical identity

Innovative development of a place is necessary associated with the individual positioning of the place. Europe consists of more than 100 thousand competing territorial units, which need to attract the potential consumers by means of creating a bright and actual image. Without having the unique, characteristic image, a potentially attractive place can remain unnoticed on the enormous European location market.The objective of this research is improving our understanding of a place image and its influence on competitiveness of the location. Over the last decades, the emotional essence of place image has made considerable impact on economic and demographic development of places. This project will allow us to study quantitatively the increasing value of a place image as determinative of its appeal. Our project, thus, aspires to improve measurements of features of a place image for the purpose of management on the level of location attractiveness.The research into and expression of geographical identity of a place is convenient to carry out, using the image of a Dragon as the personification of «genius loci». The methodology is confirmed on the example of a number of cities in the southeast area of Bulgaria.