Place branding as a tourist policy tool in regions of the UK

The article studies territorial branding as one of the tools of the UK tourism policy. The work identifies the most effective instruments of the UK tourism policy: the development of government programs to support the tourism industry, including support for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and direct financing of the tourism industry, the opening of a large number of tourist information centers, the introduction of innovations, training for the industry tourism. The authors analyze specifics of using these activities at the national and macro-regional levels. The study reveals perspective directions of the tourist policy of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The largest marketing campaigns to promote the UK in the international market of tourist services are considered in detail. Based on a large amount of factual material, the features of the territorial branding of the country and its macro-regions the authors identify as a key area of tourism policy. The royal family of Great Britain, the football brand, UNESCO World Heritage Sites, cinema and literary are considered in detail as the brands of the territories. Their authors assess their role in the formation of the tourist flow and in the contribution to the economy of the country and regions. The study allowed to build maps-schemes, which reflect the locations of the most significant brands of the UK macro-regions. In addition, attention is paid to the British phenomenon of "mythologization" of tourist resources. The experience of creating a sub-regional territorial brand of the Highlands, the largest region of Scotland, based on the legend of the Loch Ness monster, is analyzed. At the end of the article, based on statistical data, the authors draw a conclusion about the high efficiency of organizing the territorial branding of the UK.