The Urban Sensescapes and Sensory Destination Branding

The sensory attractiveness of destinations has recently been one of the most important focal points when considering the impact of senses on positive and memorable travel experiences. Specifically, urban areas reflect different multisensory dimensions that can be analyzed and included in marketing efforts to stimulate positive tourists' experience and memory of a place, but also to encourage local sustainable development. Despite the fact that tourism studies center tourist experience mainly on visual impressions, recent researches stress the importance of recognizing and understanding the role of the human body in forming positive experiences, which is in tourism literature known as sensescapes (i.e., tactile, visual, gustatory, olfactory, and auditory senses).

Gamification or How to Make a “Green” Behavior Become a Habit

One of the main challenges faced by tourist destinations is waste management. A poor waste collection and management policy is an additional factor affecting the tourist destination's sustainability within this general problem. These situations are trying to be solved with incentives derived from gamification tools that motivate people to recycle. This study, within the scope of a European project called UrbanWaste, found significant results that suggested that this tool can promote recycling behavior, but what happens when customers come back home? Gamification even makes a habit take root in the people who use it by activating external motivators. This recycling habit emanates from an altruistic feeling and aims to leave a better world for future generations (intrinsic motivation). However, they also recommend the app to show a benevolent image by making the behavior visible (internalized extrinsic motivation) and improving destination branding.

EXPLORATORY RESEARCH FOR THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE ROLE PLAYED BY CULTURAL DESTINATION BRANDING IN THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF TRIBAL INDIA – CASE STUDY OF JAUNSAR BAWAR TRIBAL REGION OF THE HIMALAYAS.

Purpose: Cultural Destination Branding plays an important role to attract tourists. Jaunsar Bawar is endowed with historical and archaeological sites. The main purpose of this study is to identify the constituent elements of the overall image of the brand of Jaunsar Bawar’s main heritage destinations by utilizing heritage, general, and unique images, and it proposes a model for branding Jaunsar Bawar’s cultural & heritage destinations. The region has all the potential to be an important cultural destination in the world. Well-planned branding strategies of these cultural destinations are a primary requirement to attract both foreign and domestic tourists. There are some barriers, which can impede successful cultural tourism marketing in Jaunsar Bawar. Lack of coordination among stakeholders, insufficient funding and providing less importance to the needs of the tourists can obstruct successful cultural destination branding. Developing creative promotional program, coordination among relevant stakeholders, conservation and protection of heritage sites and active participation of both private and public sector are necessary to implement cultural destination branding in Jaunsar Bawar. Design/methodology/approach – This research is exploratory in nature and it uses the qualitative approach of primary research methodology by adopting a non-random stratified sampling method. To collect the data, approach of face-to-face semi-structured & openended interviews of 19 local people as well as some from outside region but having specific knowledge about Jaunsar Bawar due to their detailed work done here was conducted. Outcomes – The study shows that the people believe Destination Branding as an effective tool for the enhancement of the tourism in field related to Cultural & Historical perspective of a tribal region like Jaunsar Bawar. The study also establishes that the various initiatives in field of creating a destination brand enhances the reputation and build a very strong, unique & competitive brand in the minds of locals as well as in the minds of tourists/ visitors who are planning or who have visited Jaunsar Bawar and this could result in the economic development of this Himalayan tribal region. Research implications – The findings of the study represent a significant contribution to the field of destination branding and will help practitioners to develop destination brand of their area of research and achieve competitive advantage in long-run which will create several business opportunities in the local area and thus gives competitive advantage in the long-run. Research limitations – The study is confined only to the region of Jaunsar Bawar thus having a limited geographic scope of one region of one state of India. Therefore, studying other tribal regions of Himalayas may carry out further research. Keywords: Jaunsar Bawar, Tourism, Cultural Destination Branding,, Economic Development, Cultural Tourism, Destination Brand.

La “Marca Ciudad” y su comunicación como vector de desarrollo

Este trabajo de investigación parte de la premisa de que los territorios urbanos tienen una identidad cultural subyacente y distintiva; que cuenta además con ciertas potencialidades y recursos que pueden generarle posibilidades concretas de desarrollo. Parte de la certeza de que un territorio no puede reinventarse de cero, como sí podría hacerlo un producto/servicio si es que cuenta con recursos suficientes. Los territorios responden a una identidad en constante evolución, dotada de plasticidad adaptativa que se conforma de acuerdo a la acción de sus ciudadanos, la historia que los define, el impacto de los cambios sociales en sus rasgos singulares y su capacidad de adaptación e innovación frente a las nuevas condicionantes de orden mundial. El objeto de la investigación considera distintos enfoques sobre planificación y desarrollo económico, así como el papel de los gobiernos locales en la gestión y desarrollo de las ciudades, enfocándose en aquellas de países en desarrollo. A lo largo del trabajo se considera que las ciudades y las regiones se ven abocadas a gestionar directamente los recursos para satisfacer eficientemente las necesidades de su población. En este contexto, se analiza y propone la concepción, construcción y desarrollo de una marca de ciudad (place branding) o marca de destino (destination branding), que represente y proyecte a la ciudad, a la vez que se constituya en una manifestación del poder comunicativo del espacio, cuya gestión de imagen, resulta decisiva como generadora de recursos, facilitadora de bienestar para sus pobladores, así como para su crecimiento y desarrollo sustentable a largo plazo. Abstract This research work is started from the premise that urban territories have an underlying and distinctive cultural identity; that it also has certain potentialities and resources that can generate concrete possibilities for development. It starts from the certainty that a territory cannot reinvent itself from scratch, as a product/service could if it has sufficient resources. The territories respond to an identity in constant evolution, endowed with adaptive plasticity that is shaped according to the action of its citizens, the history that defines them, the impact of social changes on their unique features and their capacity for adaptation and innovation in the face of the new conditions of world order. The object of the research considers different approaches to planning and economic development, as well as the role of local governments in the management and development of cities, focusing on those in developing countries. Throughout the work, it is considered that cities and regions are forced to directly manage resources to efficiently satisfy the needs of their population. In this context, the conception, construction and development of a city brand (place branding) or destination brand (destination branding), is analyzed and proposed, which represents and project to the city, at the same time be constituted in a manifestation of the communicative power of the space, whose image management is decisive as a generator of resources, facilitator of well-being for its inhabitants, as well as for their growth and long-term sustainable development.

Stakeholder-based conjoint analysis for branding wellness tourism in Kerala, India

Wellness tourism is a fast-growing tourism industry segment and major wellness tourism destinations are found in the Asia–Pacific region, including India. The region of Kerala in India has an abundant natural, cultural and entrepreneurial resources for the development of wellness tourism. These resources are centered on the unique and traditional Ayurveda treatment, complemented by impressive natural landscapes and rich cultures and history. Despite the abundance and quality of resources and services provided by a large number of stakeholders, Kerala lacks a branding strategy for differentiating Kerala as a wellness tourism destination to compete in international markets. A stakeholder-based participatory process was developed to co-create a branding strategy, involving a destination audit supported by an online conjoint analysis survey to discover the relative importance of ‘high-level’ attributes associated with Kerala’s wellness tourism resources. The most important attributes are ‘Fits with strategic priorities of the organisation’ and ‘Ability to integrate into wellness tourism packages’. The main resources complementing wellness services are natural features and cultural heritage. This research contributes to stakeholder-based participatory methods for destination branding.

Forest Bathing: A New Attraction and Disaster Mitigation for Batur UNESCO Global Geopark Bali

Forests have ecological and sociological functions, including tourism development as well as disaster mitigation efforts. In the conditions of the Covid-19 pandemic that hit Bali tourism, it is necessary to develop new types of tourism such as this forest bathing. This research intends to study the potential and opportunities of bamboo forests in the Batur Geopark area to be used as new types of tourism, which at the same time can also be used as a disaster mitigation. A case study method with qualitative data collection includes observation, in-depth interviews, and literature study. A mapping plan for the bamboo forest area is also carried out to support the facilities and infrastructure for forest bathing activities. Bamboo has been used for the restoration of areas affected by the fire at Geopark Batur. However, no one has specifically offered the concept of Forest Bathing. Introducing forest bathing as a new attraction to revive Bali tourism and at the same time to preserve the environment is possible and necessary. Furthermore, there is important to develop destination branding and marketing for the forest bathing attraction.

Tell me your story: Branding destinations through residents’ (place) stories

Concerns have been raised that destination branding often overlooks the destination's internal stakeholders, and in some cases, has resulted in a brand identity that does not reflect the meanings and emotions that residents attach to places. Consequently, scholars have advocated for a more participatory approach to destination branding in which residents’ sense of place can be acknowledged, represented, and operationalized. This paper synthesizes these arguments and demonstrates that such an approach can be achieved by embracing residents’ place stories. Through storytelling, residents construe different facets of the place identity that is the foundation of destination brand identity. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the role, constituents, and effects of storytelling in destination branding, particularly exploring whose stories should be told and how these stories should be conveyed. In doing so, a participatory approach to destination branding is presented that employs residents’ place stories as a genuine form of participation in the destination branding process. Lastly, an agenda for future research is proposed, and practical implications for destination marketing practice are discussed.

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

Regarding as a unique natural wetland where biogeographic region is under Ramsar convention, Phatthalung is also well-known for its iconic natural landmarks and geographical origin. However, the city itself are deemed to be either a short-visit destination or a secondary tourism destination amongst visitors. The aim of this paper is to explore a strategy of green branding on an emerging destination and to identify a value-based identity as a medium of persuasive communication tool. The paper establishes the conceptualization by a thorough case study analysis of Phatthalung’s destination brand from a geographic perspective to deep-rooted characteristic of local people. In order to critically find out the factors which have an effect on eco-tourism driven, the correlation between the influence of place equity and sense-of-place is analytically reviewed. Thus, it is clear that strategic place branding and destination branding play an important role in multidimensional meaning towards Phatthalung’s identity.