The emerging green destination: An empirical study of Phatthalung’s value-based identity

Prior studies have recognized the importance of events in destination branding, but the focus has been on the roles of mega-events or sport events, while smaller cultural and freetime events have received far less attention. The stakeholder involvement in destination branding has also been attracting interest lately by many researchers, but there is lack of knowledge on how to utilize events in the branding processes. This study aims to fill the research gap through a case study in the South Savo region, eastern Finland. The purpose of this study is to examine the roles events have in destination branding, and how events are involved in cocreating the destination brand. The empirical data were collected through 13 semistructured interviews of event organizers and local tourism developers. The study identified four different roles and several involvement methods. The findings revealed the importance and potential of organized events in the branding, but it also revealed that they are not yet effectively utilized at the destination. However, there is a consensus about the importance of stakeholder involvement and a common will towards involving events in the branding process. The findings of this study can be utilized by tourism developers and stakeholders to improve destination branding processes.

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Managing participatory destination branding

Journal of Place Management and Development ◽

10.1108/jpmd-01-2019-0002 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (3) ◽

pp. 241-253

Author(s):

N. Leila Trapp

Keyword(s):

Current Case ◽

Official Document ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Content Type ◽

Volunteer Program ◽

Mass Tourism ◽

Positive Attitudes ◽

Letting Go ◽

Destination Brand

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the contemporary interest in participatory destination branding. Because of a lack of empirical and evaluative studies on this form of branding, the current case study examines a volunteer resident ambassador program, which began as part of Aarhus, Denmark’s year as a European City of Culture in 2017, and has become permanent because of its success. Design/methodology/approach The case study is based on official document analyses, participant observations of program activities, and interviews with volunteer program managers and volunteers who greet cruise ship tourists. Findings Findings indicate that while the two managers and the volunteers all report on three volunteer roles – personal hosts, place promoters and providers of information – they prioritize and understand the roles differently. Similarly, the volunteers’ encounters with visitors are all unique, and this inevitably results in the conveyance of unruly and incidental destination images. Practical implications This unruliness is not necessarily problematic: despite the wide-spread interest in the management of participative branding initiatives, it is seen to be the lack of explicit brand-centered management that fosters the program’s positive outcomes, including authentic and pleasant interactions between volunteers and tourists, which, in turn, result in positive attitudes amongst tourists toward their visit. Originality/value This study discovers that positive participatory destination branding outcomes depend on managers respecting the ambassadors’ coveted autonomy, and letting go of control of a destination brand. Because of the growing hostility toward mass tourism in cities internationally, it is also noted that a resident ambassador program’s success is expected to depend on residents’ positive attitudes toward tourists.

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Exploring Destination Identity and Destination Image in The New Age of Tourism: a Case Study of Bali Brand

E-Journal of Tourism ◽

10.24922/eot.v3i1.21242 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Ni Made Asti Aksari ◽

I Komang Gde Bendesa

Keyword(s):

Web 2.0 ◽

Destination Image ◽

The Internet ◽

Supply Side ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Travel Information ◽

Destination Brand ◽

The Relationship ◽

Share Information

Bali's economy has grown rapidly since a decade ago. This is possible because tourism is growing continuously. However, tourism growth is not optimal because of insufficient promotion and tourism destination identity is unclear. The growth of Web 2.0 as a platform to share travel information has prompted tourism bodies to pay closer attention to how their destinations are perceived by target markets. Set within the context of the emergence of Web 2.0, a platform designed to enable users to generate and share information on the Internet, this paper evaluates the relationship between destination identity and destination image and adopts the view that a successful destination brand relies on the congruence between destination identity and destination image. The elements of destination identity are composed from the supply side and the elements of destination image are composed from the consumer side. The objective of exploring the alignment between these two perspectives is to propose a model to encourage the alignment of these two perspectives and evaluate the effectiveness of a destination branding strategy.

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THE ROLE OF AUGMENTED REALITY IN DESTINATION BRANDING

Tourism and hospitality management ◽

10.20867/thm.26.2.8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (2) ◽

pp. 419-436

Author(s):

Assumpció Huertas ◽

Jan Gonzalo

Keyword(s):

Augmented Reality ◽

Communication Strategies ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Tourism Experience ◽

Destination Brand ◽

The Impact ◽

The City ◽

Depth Interviews

Purpose – The goals of this study are to find out which factors contribute to AR applications generating satisfactory tourism experiences; analyze the impact of AR on destination brand communication; and examine whether the act of communicating the destination brand also increases satisfactory tourist experiences. Design – The research is based on a case study of an AR application that belongs to the city of Tarragona (Spain) that reproduces its main monuments dating from the Roman era. Methodology – The study includes one survey conducted on 150 participants (75 tourists, 75 residents) and 15 in-depth interviews with respondents who used the Imageen application. Approach – The analysis provides detailed information on the users’ experiences and opinions, highlighting the different variables that provide the most satisfactory tourist experiences. Findings – The study shows that the AR application creates highly satisfactory tourism experiences, although not extraordinary. The main contribution of this study has been to demonstrate that the AR application has the potential to communicate the destination brand. Originality of the research – This study provides knowledge on the AR role in constructing a destination brand and its relationship with the tourism experience. Particularly, the findings of this paper have significant implications for DMOs and their marketing and communication strategies.

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Strategic Communication for Place Brand Management

Malaysian Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities (MJSSH) ◽

10.47405/mjssh.v6i2.669 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 282-292

Author(s):

Muhamad Fazil Bin Ahmad ◽

Tuan Sharifah Azura Tuan Zaki

Keyword(s):

Brand Management ◽

Place Branding ◽

Strategic Communication ◽

Learning Networks ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Tourist Destinations ◽

Complex Process ◽

Strongly Connected ◽

Place Brand

To clarify how the communicational objectives such as message efficiency, creating learning networks and sharing knowledge represent guidelines for any strategy that looks at developing a current distribution of information. Place branding management is one of the segments in destination branding, is a complex process of branding an entire country or a part of it. The Strategic Place Brand-Management model (SPBM-model by Hanna and Rowley, 2011) comprises of nine (9) dimensions which are argued to be important parts in the place branding process and research. This chapter aim to understand how place brand copes with the components in the SPBM-model, and to perceive which components in the SPBM-model that can be seen as the most important components based on a case study the perceptions of the city residents Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia. By positioning the Kuala Terengganu place branding process with the SPBM-model, it can be understood that all components are strongly connected to each other. Of all nine (9) components, three (3) of them which are evaluation, infrastructure and stakeholders should be given special attention if they are serious in branding Kuala Terengganu as one of the most attractive tourist destinations in the world.

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THE EVOLVEMENT OF BRAND IDENTITY OF LANGKAWI ISLAND, MALAYSIA

PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL ◽

10.21837/pm.v14i4.168 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Mohd Fadil Mohd Yusof ◽

Hairul Nizam Ismail

Keyword(s):

Identity Development ◽

Theoretical Aspect ◽

Destination Image ◽

Brand Identity ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Historical Perspectives ◽

Close Relationship ◽

Destination Brand ◽

Destination Management Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the brand identity development efforts of Langkawi Island as one of the most prominent and well-guarded tourism destinations in Malaysia. It will be viewed from the historical perspectives for the last 35 years since the 1980s until the present time as to how this involvement influences the formation of its brand identity and later, the existing destination image. Based on in-depth interviews with eleven different levels of managers of separate divisions for destination management organizations (DMOs) in Langkawi Island, Malaysia, theoretically, the findings provide an opportunity to expand the knowledge of destination brand identity development and the involvement of DMOs in influencing image making over time. Practically, the findings indicate three key important antecedents of brand identity development efforts related to: (1) the effects from multiple positioning themes and slogans, (2) the important of brand coordination, and (3) brand leadership issue. These empirical findings provide new insights into enhancing the theoretical aspect of managing a destination brand, including its close relationship with issues faced by destination marketing organizations in managing destination branding strategy. Thus, using the case study of Langkawi Island, the context of multiple identities or image fragmentation is important to be understood due to the different perceived ideas on how the image should be projected according to stakeholders and market segmentation.

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The idea of destination brand licensing and the question of its effectiveness

Tourism and hospitality management ◽

10.20867/thm.18.2.9 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 297-312

Author(s):

Michal Zemla

Keyword(s):

Financial Stability ◽

Destination Image ◽

Practical Implementation ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Study Approach ◽

Research Findings ◽

Proper Definition ◽

Definition Of ◽

Destination Brand

Purpose – Destination branding is one of the most popular topics among tourism destinations researchers and practitioners however recent research revealed that it doesn’t have a clear concept. The purpose of presented paper is to enhance the destination branding theory by introducing some new elements taken from other popular concepts used in destination management into destination branding theory. The concept of destination brand licensing was undertaken as a response to several critical arguments raised against the existing idea of destination branding. However the concept is not completed and practical examples presented so far need scientific background to prepare some guidelines on successful procedure for implementing destination brand licensing. The aim of the paper is pointing out some crucial elements which are conditions for effective implementing of destination brand licensing. Design – Five main areas were discussed, namely: the proper definition of the product, the brand name, the nature of cooperation and network, financial stability and the scope and the nature of promotional actions. The structure of the paper follows this division. After introduction and presentation of destination branding and destination brand licensing concepts further chapter are devoted the five presented problem areas. At the end, there is a chapter in which effectiveness of destination brand licensing procedure is discussed. Approach and methodology – The paper is theoretical with limited use of case study approach. Within the frame of those five areas several dilemmas and potential problems were presented on the basis of several practical implementation examples of destination brand licensing ideas from different European countries. Research findings and originality – Apart from the five problem areas, three overall effectiveness indicators were proposed. These are: increased volume of tourism movement, improvement in destination image and enhancement of local stakeholders for better cooperation. However both, problem areas and indicators should be perceived as initial proposal and further discussion is expected.

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THE EVOLVEMENT OF BRAND IDENTITY OF LANGKAWI ISLAND, MALAYSIA

PLANNING MALAYSIA JOURNAL ◽

10.21837/pmjournal.v14.i4.168 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Mohd Fadil Mohd Yusof ◽

Hairul Nizam Ismail

Keyword(s):

Identity Development ◽

Theoretical Aspect ◽

Destination Image ◽

Brand Identity ◽

Destination Branding ◽

Historical Perspectives ◽

Close Relationship ◽

Destination Brand ◽

Destination Management Organizations

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the brand identity development efforts of Langkawi Island as one of the most prominent and well-guarded tourism destinations in Malaysia. It will be viewed from the historical perspectives for the last 35 years since the 1980s until the present time as to how this involvement influences the formation of its brand identity and later, the existing destination image. Based on in-depth interviews with eleven different levels of managers of separate divisions for destination management organizations (DMOs) in Langkawi Island, Malaysia, theoretically, the findings provide an opportunity to expand the knowledge of destination brand identity development and the involvement of DMOs in influencing image making over time. Practically, the findings indicate three key important antecedents of brand identity development efforts related to: (1) the effects from multiple positioning themes and slogans, (2) the important of brand coordination, and (3) brand leadership issue. These empirical findings provide new insights into enhancing the theoretical aspect of managing a destination brand, including its close relationship with issues faced by destination marketing organizations in managing destination branding strategy. Thus, using the case study of Langkawi Island, the context of multiple identities or image fragmentation is important to be understood due to the different perceived ideas on how the image should be projected according to stakeholders and market segmentation.

Download Full-text