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This paper aims to develop an empirical understanding of the local identity changes of Chiang Mai heritage city from residents’ perspectives from when the city was pushed forward to inscription on the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites during a period of transformation in tourism development. The indicative themes of identity change are proposed in a conceptualised model of the multiple stages of identity change in transformational tourism development.

This study applied the qualitative approach to gain insight on local residents in Chiang Mai. Twenty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with local residents who underwent transformational experiences with the city, including life-changing tourism experiences with mixtures of senior citizens who were born in the city, migrants and local experts. Site observations and secondary data supplemented the interviews were used in triangulation with identity changes during the transformational tourism period.

This study’s findings revealed identity changes in locals’ way of life regarding tradition and culture and the increased urbanisation. The indicative themes that caused local identity changes included tourism demand, national policy and new critical emerging issues of capitalism and education are underlined. The way of life in local community transition, tradition and culture has been distorted by effective destination marketing, However, the positive perspectives of identity changes were explored in this study.

This study fills a research gap, given that few scholars (Gu and Ryan, 2007; Lean, 2009; Lemmi et al., 2018; Reisinger, 2015; Robledo and Batle, 2017; Willson et al., 2013; Xue et al., 2017) have conducted in-depth studies on identity change problems that are caused by rural to urban transformational tourism development.

This study aims to investigate what the crucial elements are when it comes to using a mascot to brand a destination. This study applies the proposed framework of “mascot usage for destination branding” to two mascot cases, namely, Kumamon and Sukjai. In particular, the Kumamon mascot is first investigated, looking at how it is used to promote Kumamoto, one of the key cities in Kyushu, Japan. Sukjai, another mascot, is then analysed in a similar light. The dominant factors that lead to the success of Kumamon mascot are analysed on the case of Sukjai mascot. The disparity between the two mascot cases allows for a better understanding of the dimensions and practices or lack thereof, that can occur in mascot creation and implementation.

A qualitative methodology is applied, and thematic and content analyses are applied to the three data sources, namely, secondary data collection from different data sources in the English and Japanese languages; researcher onsite observation in Kumamoto; and an in-depth interview with purposive sampling experts.

The findings indicate that according to the proposed framework, Kumamon has shown all three elements of the framework, namely, promoting destination identity and personality, creating differentiation for the location and having strong stakeholder involvement. On the other hand, these elements were found not to be as strong in the Sukjai case. The findings from the case comparison determine several underlining factors, including the national culture, which can help or hinder in laying the groundwork for the successful application of a mascot in destination branding.

This study complements the previous literature on mascot branding and elaborates on the framework of mascot usage for destination branding based on a combination of the three proposed elements.

This study examines a phygital approach to rural cultural heritage tourism, adopted by a rural community in Sapphaya, Chai Nat Province, Thailand, in response to the Covid-19 crisis. Specifically, it investigates a community’s initiatives to amalgamate its physical and digital marketing communications in order to engage with consumers as a strategy for destination recovery and resilience.

This is a qualitative exploratory study involving three stages of action, applying two research approaches: (1) participatory action research (PAR) with Sapphaya’s tourism stakeholders, and (2) social media research utilising netnographic analysis of Sapphaya’s tourism social enterprise social media pages.

The findings indicate that a phygital rural cultural heritage strategy can facilitate the interconnectivity between a destination’s physical and digital dimensions of its cultural heritage tourism product, thereby enhancing its intrinsic value, meaning and experiential perceptions. Specifically, it recommends that a successful community-based phygitalisation strategy requires grassroot engagement across all stages of planning, development, implementation and management of the rural cultural heritage tourism product.

The paper focusses on the cultural heritage tourism strategy adopted by a rural community across the physical-digital-phygital spectrum to augment its sustainable tourism development during a time of crisis. A framework for phygital rural cultural heritage as a strategy for destination resilience and recovery is also proposed.

This study adopts a local engagement approach to develop a cooperative community heritage management strategy, based upon local rural capacity building towards digitalisation and empowering innovative partnerships amongst its stakeholders.