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  <front>
    <journal-meta>
      <journal-id journal-id-type="publisher-id">RFDS</journal-id>
      <journal-title-group>
        <journal-title>Regional Formation and Development Studies</journal-title>
      </journal-title-group>
      <issn pub-type="epub">2351-6542</issn>
      <issn pub-type="ppub">2029-9370</issn>
      <publisher>
        <publisher-name>KU</publisher-name>
      </publisher>
    </journal-meta>
    <article-meta>
      <article-id pub-id-type="publisher-id">06_MELUSOVA</article-id>
      <article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.15181/rfds.v49i2.2813</article-id>
      <article-categories>
        <subj-group subj-group-type="heading">
          <subject>Article</subject>
        </subj-group>
      </article-categories>
      <title-group>
        <article-title>Regional Identity in the Context of Measuring the Socio-Economic Attributes of Tourist Destinations in Slovakia</article-title>
      </title-group>
      <contrib-group>
        <contrib contrib-type="author">
          <name>
            <surname>Meliušová</surname>
            <given-names>Kristína</given-names>
          </name>
          <email xlink:href="mailto:kristina.melusova@ucm.sk">kristina.melusova@ucm.sk</email>
          <xref ref-type="aff" rid="j_RFDS_aff_000"/>
        </contrib>
        <aff id="j_RFDS_aff_000">University of SS Cyril and Methodius</aff>
      </contrib-group>
      <volume>49</volume>
      <issue>2</issue>
      <fpage>74</fpage>
      <lpage>88</lpage>
      <pub-date pub-type="epub">
        <day>02</day>
        <month>07</month>
        <year>2026</year>
      </pub-date>
      <permissions>
        <ali:free_to_read xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/"/>
      </permissions>
      <abstract>
        <p>The main objective of the study is to identify generally measurable socioeconomic and demographic indicators of tourist destinations in</p>
        <p>Slovakia, divided according to the level of existential conditions, standard of living, relational needs, and awareness of the population,</p>
        <p>and, through their measurement, to evaluate the level of the Regional Identity Index in the studied territories. In the processing of the</p>
        <p>selected issue, quantitative research is applied, according to the authors Rosičová et al. (2016), in the form of calculating the Regional</p>
        <p>Identity Index (IRI). It determines the level of IRI of selected regions, according to which the level of competitiveness of tourist destinations</p>
        <p>can also be determined. Twenty-four selected factors are examined, divided into four groups: existential conditions, standard of living, relational needs, and awareness of the region’s inhabitants. The study sets two research questions, dealing with the examination</p>
        <p>of the level of regional identity of individual tourist destinations, and the overall average regional identity of the regions in the years studied.</p>
        <p>The results of the study show that the highest level of IRI is achieved by the Bratislava region tourist destination (a value of 57.15</p>
        <p>in 2024) and the lowest value in the monitored period is the Košice region (a value of 23.70 in 2023, and 25.42 in 2024).</p>
      </abstract>
      <kwd-group>
        <label>Keywords</label>
        <kwd>regional identity</kwd>
        <kwd>regional identity index</kwd>
        <kwd>tourist destinations</kwd>
        <kwd>socio-economic attributes</kwd>
        <kwd>demographic attributes</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
      <kwd-group kwd-group-type="JEL CODES">
        <label>JEL CODES</label>
        <kwd>O18</kwd>
        <kwd>R58</kwd>
      </kwd-group>
    </article-meta>
  </front>
</article>
