The Branding of Tourist Destinations: Theoretical and Empirical Insights

The tourism marketing environment consists of internal and external forces which could impact the organisations’ performance. To be successful, companies must adapt to ongoing trends and developments in their macro- and micro-environments. When organisations scan their marketing environment, they will be in a position to deal with any possible threats from the market and to capitalise on any available opportunities. Therefore, this chapter explains the external environmental factors of tourist destinations, including political, economic, social and technological influences. It also considers their internal environmental factors, including capital structures, resources, capabilities and marketing intermediaries, as it identifies competitive forces from differentiated or low-cost service providers.

This chapter explores the concept of branding in a contemporary competitive arena of places. The multi-dimensional interpretations of places offer a variety of possibilities to better understand the true essence of destination branding. One of the common interpretations of places is through the study of their images, as destination branding requires a thorough understanding of destination image. The important foundation and relation of destination image are specified and explained. The notion of destination branding has evolved from the fields of marketing and urban studies and has become a cross-disciplinary research area. Thus, the researchers explain that destination branding as well as ‘place branding’ are dynamic concepts that are being continuously being explored in academia for the benefit of practitioners in travel and tourism. This chapter suggests that the use of brand equity is also one of the frontier areas of study in ‘place branding’ as it emphasises the need to thematise destinations (e.g. for their historical heritage, cultural value, natural attractions, etc.) and places for residence (e.g. as green cities, creative cities, smart cities, etc.).

The marketing environment is constantly changing due to political, economic, social and technological issues. Therefore, this chapter explains how practitioners in destination marketing can improve their internal capabilities, competences and resources whilst responding to the ongoing changes in the external environment. The strategic management of destination marketing organisations involves continuous decision-making processes due to the nature of the tourism product. Hence, the author underlines the importance of stakeholder management, organisational culture, employee satisfaction, leadership and corporate governance/political environment, as these variables may contribute to the effective strategic management of these organisations.

This chapter examines the significance of multisensory experiences in the branding of the Swedish tourist destinations. Firstly, it provides a critical review of the relevant literature in the field of nation branding. It discusses about the tourism branding strategies that are intended to attract more visitors to Stockholm and in other areas in Sweden. Secondly, this contribution suggests that the destination marketers are engaging with tourists and are providing them with multisensory experiences to drive their emotional resonance for the Swedish destinations. Thirdly, it analyses how the ‘Swedishness’ could be expressed through the destinations’ attractions and from creative marketing campaigns. In conclusion the author provides four case studies on ‘The Swedish Number Campaign’, ‘ICEHOTEL’, ‘The ABBA Museum’ and ‘IKEA Museum’ to better explain how the Swedish destinations are providing the mentioned multisensory experiences to tourists.

Many travellers are increasingly visiting destinations’ natural environments as they seek extraordinary experiences that are different from their usual lifestyles. Very often, they demand agritourism experiences in rural settings. This development has inevitably led many businesses to provide agritourism services to meet these tourists’ needs. In this light, this chapter explores the agritourism sector in Italy. The aim of this chapter is to analyse the agritourism supply in Campania. It analyses the main success factors which can affect the development of agritourism industry in the region. This contribution study is divided into three parts. The first part presents a brief introduction as well as a definition for agritourism. The second part provides an overview of this industry sector in Italy, as the researchers analyse official statistical data on this topic. In conclusion, the authors imply that there are opportunities for the growth of rural tourism in Campania.

This chapter illustrates the key concepts that are related to cultural tourism, including the destination’s heritage, language and lifestyle, among other aspects. The authors discuss the effects of using creative marketing strategies as they explain their H2LM model of tourism development. This model represents a functional framework that identifies the key strategies for the destination marketing of Italy’s cultural product. In a nutshell, the H2LM model consists of four main elements: Heritage, Language, Lifestyle and ‘Made in Italy’. The authors maintain that these dimensions ought to be considered by destination marketers, particularly if they want to promote Italy’s culture.

Many destination marketers organise events to draw economic benefits over the short and long term. However, this chapter suggests that events can result in more than economic benefits, as they can be used to improve a destination’s branding and image. The authors explain how the organisation and implementation of successful events can enhance the destination’s attributes. They explore the consumer-based brand equity (CBBE) of the event and examine its relationship with other variables, including the destination’s image. Moreover, they maintain that music festivals can enhance the destination’s image and branding, particularly, when the visitors share their positive experiences with others. The authors make reference to two Portuguese events: NOS Primavera Sound event and NOS ALIVE. In conclusion, they imply that such music events are improving the brand equity among customers and adding value to the destination marketing of Portugal.

The ‘Essence of Wine’ is the largest wine event that is held in Porto, Portugal. Therefore, this chapter explains how the tourists (domestic and foreign visitors), as well as local residents and exhibitors can influence the level of satisfaction of the event. The authors discuss about the tourists’ satisfaction. They suggest that satisfied tourists would be interested in returning to the event in the following years. In conclusion, this contribution implies that the loyal visitors and their positive publicity of the ‘Essence of Wine’ can improve the brand image of the event and of the destination.

This chapter analyses the development of oleotourism through the use of local resources in a democratised decision-making process. It explains that the production of olive oil is making a novel contribution to the tourism industry. The authors suggest that oleotourism is also offering opportunities for stakeholder engagement. Therefore, the authors identify key elements that serve as drivers for the development of oleotourism in Jaén. They put forward a framework that can lead to a democratised decision-making process that is intended to support the stakeholders of oleotourism.

This chapter investigates the environmental behaviours of three, four- and five-star hotels in Azuay (Ecuador). The methodology involved a quantitative research that measured the relationship between environmental responsibility (Gallardo, Sanchez, & Corchuelo, 2013) and stakeholder engagement (Kostova & Roth, 2002; Llamas-Sanchez, García-Morales, & Martin-Tapia, 2013; Vargas-Sánchez & Riquel-Ligero, 2012). The main findings suggest that the managers of the hotels implement environmental practices as they reduce waste, gas emissions and recycle materials. These practices are aligned with Ecuador’s extant legislation and regulations. In conclusion, this contribution implies that the hotels’ managers ought to communicate about their environmental responsibility with their stakeholders, including the employees, suppliers and customers.

This chapter sheds light on the ‘country of origin’ concept. The author contends that this concept is composed of micro- and macro-components. He argues that the tourists’ hedonic and monetary gratifications are derived from the travel experiences. Therefore, the country-of-origin image (COI) can have an impact on the destination’s brand extension. In this light, this contribution examines the relationship among COI, overall brand equity and brand extension. The author implies that the hedonic and monetary values can have a moderating effect on the impact of COI and on destination brand extension.

This study uses the social identity theory and relationship marketing theory to investigate customer satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty towards hospitality brands. Therefore, the author develops and empirically tests the relationships among these constructs. The methodology involved the use of structured equation models to investigate the hypothesised relationships. The results suggest that customer brand identification has a positive influence on loyalty, commitment, satisfaction and trust. The study also implies that commitment mediates the relationships between the three relational constructs (customer identification, trust and satisfaction) and brand loyalty.