Place Branding and Destination Image

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 ar...

W niniejszym artykule została podjęta próba wskazania wybranych, odnoszących się do marketingu miejsc tendencji, które wydają się istotne z punktu widzenia promocji i rozwoju społeczno-gospodarczego jednostek terytorialnych. W tym ujęciu marketing miejsc można rozumieć jako odpowiedź na zapotrzebowanie w obszarze profesjonalnego zarządzania jednostkami terytorialnymi. Na wstępie zostały przedstawione teoretyczne aspekty marketingu miejsc, w dalszej części scharakteryzowano poszczególne tendencje, wśród których przykładowo można wymienić markowe produkty turystyczne, promocję miejsca poprzez sport, spa&wellness, turystykę konferencyjną, zintensyfikowaną promocję gospodarczą. W ramach podsumowania zaprezentowano wybrane korzyści wynikające ze stosowania rozwiązań wpisujących się w marketing miejsc.

The present study aimed to examine the effects of negative portrayal of a destination in Bollywood movies on viewers' attitude towards destination, intention to visit and destinations image. Experiments were conducted in which, one group of the participants were exposed to movie clip and second group of the participants were not exposed to movie clip and responses were collected by filling the questionnaire. An independent t-test was used to test the hypotheses. Results suggest that negative portrayal of a destination in films significantly influence viewers' attitude towards the destination, intention to visit and destination image. However, results stated that the viewers' responses were positive and favourable towards the destination depicted in the film. The results also call for more empirical studies within the effects of negative portrayal of a destination in films, such as their long-term effects on the intention to visit and destination image.

The aim of this research article is to examine the effectiveness of the tourism branding campaign “Oman: beauty has an address” within the destination branding context. Cross-examination and gap analysis tools were used to determine the possible existence of any gaps between the brand image that brand Oman is trying to portray against the brand image from the recipient’s i.e. tourist perspective. The case study approach was found the most suitable to address the research aim(s); because it is an empirical inquiry that examines a contemporary phenomenon within a real-life context. As for the data collection methods, in addition to secondary sources, a qualitative primary method was adapted in the form one-on-one in-depth interviews, where officials from the Ministry of Tourism were interviewed to gain an understanding of Oman’s destination branding strategy, to be used as a comparison benchmark against the interview responses received from tourists in Oman. The research article has found that “Oman: beauty has an address” has had a success in communicating Oman’s brand identity to its audience. Research findings, however, suggest a gap in communicating Oman’s brand logo and slogan to the target audience. Essentially, research analysis has concluded that Oman’s brand has been successful in communicated its distinct identities. The gap however, is found when attempting to establish a link between the brand’s identities and their visual representations i.e. logos and slogan, both of which play a vital role in brand awareness, brand recognition, brand differentiation and building a brand image. Using Oman as the case study subject, this article also aims to make a contribution to the destination branding literature within the Middle Eastern context.

Events and festivals have become increasingly important policy tools for cities and regions. They are able to produce a wide range of externalities, including economic impacts, image change, social capital and cultural regeneration. All of these event-related externalities have impacts and effects on the places in which they are staged. In many cases, these event-related impacts are analysed separately, but in fact the most powerful effects of events are more holistic, able to impact not just on individual economic sectors or social groups, but on places as a whole. Over time, the use of events by cities and regions has grown more sophisticated and complex. The range of policy goals for which events are utilised has expanded, and the range and type of events staged has increased as well. Increasingly, public administrations seek to coordinate the events in their jurisdiction to create synergies between events and to maximise the benefits generated. Event policies make frequent references to the development of programmes or " portfolios " of events (Antchak, 2016). The ability of events to effect a broad range of changes in different places has added to their attractiveness as a placemaking tool, and has led to more cities developing " events units " and other forms of event-based

The importance of nation branding in contemporary glocalised market is arguably undeniable. In recent times, nation branding has emerged as one of the key strategies for positioning nations in the global map. As nation branding and sports diplomacy continue to gain significance in terms of branding countries and cultures, the diplomacy associated with sports and sport media coverage will likely be the center of the world diplomatic stages.  John Nauright pointed that governments use large-scale sports events to attract global media coverage that in turn attract tourists and investments (Nauright, 2004). Many Gulf national governments have been racing to host and associate their countries’ names with globally prestigious sports events. They have been using marketing strategies to brand their countries. Hosting prestigious sporting events of global reach will undoubtedly be a decisive factor in branding Gulf countries and make them visible on the world map. In a world saturated with brands, small nations have embraced sport events as excellent opportunities to facilitate engaging experiences and emotions with people. In recent times, the three small Gulf countries have adopted sport sponsorship for a number of reasons. The objectives of the sports sponsorships are designed to create awareness through exposure and to generate goodwill vis-à-vis the nation. According to the research findings, the three countries have a positive and favorable image on global map. These global sports sponsorships can offer small states a truly global presence that is envied by others. This paper aims to provide an understanding of nation branding in the Gulf region.

Globalisation is dramatically changing the context of urban communities and the premises for urban development policy. In the context of global intercity competition, cities' major goal is to increase their competitiveness, in which the positioning and attractiveness of a city have a critical function. Attraction-oriented development strategies aim at effective absorption of external resources from the global space of flows. At the core of attraction strategy are business promotion activities with appealing incentives, but it is assumed that such a competition is risky and may lead to a race to the bottom. Therefore the emphasis is increasingly on less costly and more synergistic city marketing, which utilises city branding and “city profiling” that aim at attract high value-adding services or high-tech firms. This paper proposes a city attraction hypothesis that states that global intercity competition is essentially about a city's ability to attract the highest possible value from global flows of values in order to promote urban development. The result of such a global intercity competition determines cities' functions and positions in the global division of labour and thus in the global urban hierarchy, and ultimately determines their ability to increase prosperity and welfare in urban communities.

Turismo e terremoto: un tema poco considerato a livello nazionale, eppure si tratta di un argomento che dovrebbe essere centrale in una nazione come l’Italia, un territorio ad alta vocazione turistica, ma geomorfologicamente ad alto rischio sismico. L’assunto che si porta alla luce è il rapporto tra turismo e terremoto in una micro-realtà turistica, uno zoom che aiuta ad evidenziare l’importanza di attuare politiche governative e di Destination Management che considerino il forte legame, in alcune località, tra l’economia del turismo e la diseconomia del terremoto. Castelluccio di Norcia è un piccolo villaggio appenninico che si trova in Umbria. Luogo di contadini e di pastori transumanti, data alla sua conformazione geografica e alla fisica lontananza da altri borghi, questo borgo rimase isolato per molti secoli, mantenendo immutato il proprio Genius Loci, e riuscendo a tramandare, di generazione in generazione, il proprio modus vivendi. Tuttavia, l’economia castellucciana assistette ad una brusca trasformazione nel giro di soli 60 anni, passando dall’economia agricola a quella turistica. Case e stalle furono trasformate in strutture ricettive o di ristorazione; contadini e pastori, in imprenditori. Quando, il 24 agosto del 2016, il paese fu colpito dalla prima scossa sismica, la destinazione era al suo topos turistico: quasi tutti i settori pastorali-agricoli erano stati o completamente assorbiti dall’industria dei viaggi o erano fortemente complementari ad essa. Infatti, fino a quel giorno il 68% delle attività economiche castellucciane dipendeva direttamente dalle entrate monetarie del settore dei viaggi, mentre il restante 32% poteva contare sulla ricchezza indiretta o indotta proveniente da questa industria. Va da sé che, quando Castelluccio di Norcia venne distrutto dalla scossa del 30 ottobre 2016, insieme ai suoi edifici e alla sua storia crollarono anche l’economia e i flussi turistici. Questo è il secondo punto focale di questi elaborato, e cioè l’analisi degli impatti sismici sui flussi turistici in questa località. Dal 2010 ad oggi la storia turistica di Castelluccio è stata contraddistinta da 3 fasi: - quella ante-sismica, che coincide con una crescita della domanda e dell’offerta; - quella dell’anno del sisma, caratterizzata da danni turistico-economici contenuti e in cui si ha una piccola contrazione dei flussi; - quella post-sismica, caratterizzata da danni turistico-economici gravi dove i flussi turistici sono quasi inesistenti e dove le entrate monetarie sono scarse se non assenti. Partendo dal secondo punto elencato, quando la prima scossa ha colpito il paese i danni turistico-economici sono stati essenzialmente due: quelli correlati alla fuga turistica e alla successiva cancellazione delle prenotazioni da parte degli imprenditori locali. Tutto questo comportò un crollo della domanda e delle presenze, per il 2016, pari rispettivamente al 22% e al 32%, e una perdita economica minima pari a 36 mila euro. Lo scenario economico diventa più cupo con la scossa del 30 ottobre, i cui effetti sono tutt’ora visibili e tangibili. Per quanto riguarda il 2017, questa era la situazione in cui versava l’offerta turistica locale: l’82,2% delle strutture ricettive, il 95% dei ristoranti, il 71% delle attività agricole essenziali o connesse, e il 50% delle attività di leisure erano (e sono) inagibili. In termini economici questo significa una perdita annua oltre il milione e mezzo di euro lordi. Dal lato della domanda, vi è stato un crollo degli arrivi pari al 94% rispetto al 2016 (anno in cui vi era già stato un calo del -22% rispetto al 2015). La motivazione a queste cifre negative è da rintracciare, in primo luogo, nell’inagibilità delle strutture ricettive e alla conseguente mancanza di posti-letto, e in secondo luogo, al limitato numero di giorni lavorativi delle strutture, che sono stati 90. Secondo i 150 individui che hanno visitato Castelluccio nel primo anno post-sisma (2017), tra le maggiori problematiche turistiche figurano la chiusura delle strade, la mancanza di sicurezza, il ridotto numero dei posti-letto, la presenza delle macerie e la mancanza di un’area attrezzata per camper e roulotte. È su questi punti e su altri che si sono sviluppate le proposte per la ripartenza e la riqualificazione del settore in questo piccolo borgo che ha vinto il titolo di “piccolo Tibet Italiano”. Infatti, il terzo e ultimo obiettivo di questo elaborato è stato quello di tracciare 13 linee-guida di breve, medio e lungo termine che mitighino le criticità individuate nel ante e post sisma, e avanzino idee utili a sviluppare le opportunità non sfruttate.

Durante o Ciclo Olímpico do Rio de Janeiro, diferentes grupos musicais e carnavalescos ocupavam as ruas do Centro de maneira ativista. Enquanto obras alteravam paisagens e encareciam aluguéis: blocos não oficiais e festas gratuitas eclodiam diante da cidade transformada. Investiga-se aqui, as apropriações desse mesmo movimento nos primeiros anos do Boulevard Olímpico e de suas áreas vizinhas. Invadindo exatamente aquela região do Centro à beira-mar, essas manifestações dividem espaço com turistas, marinheiros, grupos ancestrais e grandes marcas. Alheias tanto ao porto das manifestações tradicionais, quanto ao projeto idealizado da Cidade Olímpica, tais festividades Piratas passaram realizar ataques secretos, normalmente noturnos e ambulantes por ali. Atuando num Rio de Janeiro boêmio e litorâneo, atraem multidões ao território numa estética diferente da projetada inicialmente pelo Projeto Olímpico. A partir de uma deriva pelo Boulevard, Praça XV, Praça Marechal Âncora e áreas vizinhas, busco compreender os novos personagens, conflitos e propósitos desses grupos que aplicam outras práticas de vida a um Centro da cidade transformado. O trabalho desenvolve-se a partir dos conceitos de imaginário, consumo e performance e compreende a visualidade e corpografia como métodos investigativos.

El dossier tiene la intención de mostrar la importancia de las marcas territoriales en periodos crisis y/o eventos extraordinarios (desastres naturales, pandemias, crisis económicas y conflictos armados), en este caso, a través del recuento de las estrategias de comunicación, socialización, reactivación y posicionamiento que realizó la marca ciudad de carácter metropolitana: Guadalajara, Guadalajara durante la pandemia del COVID-19 causada por el virus SARS-COV-2 durante 2020 y 2021.

Para ello la publicación está dividida en tres momentos: 1) contextualización de los fenómenos extraordinarios, así como el enfoque de la atractividad territorial frente a dichos fenómenos naturales, de salud pública y económicos; 2) identificación y análisis de las estrategias que realizó la marca Guadalajara, Guadalajara durante el inicio y los primeros meses del COVID-19, así como el periodo de reactivación de la marca durante el transcurso de la nueva “normalidad”; 3) propuestas y sugerencias para posicionar al territorio del Área Metropolitana de Guadalajara mediante la marca Guadalajara, Guadalajara durante el periodo la de la postpandemia y a largo plazo.

La obra se realizó por especialistas, así como estudiantes de pregrado y posgrado interesados en la atractividad territorial, debido a ello se presenta como un semillero de investigación para la difusión y divulgación de dicha temática.

This paper critically examines the potential and use of video blogs or vlogs shared on Facebook for creating a destination image. In particular, it makes an in-depth analysis of the travel vlogs about the Philippines created by popular non-Filipino travel vloggers-Lost LeBlanc, BecomingFilipino, Nas Daily, and Drew Binsky. The data were gathered through a qualitative content and narrative analysis of the user-generated videos posted on the travel vloggers' Facebook accounts. Content and visual analysis of the videos as well as viewer responses support the argument that travel vloggers and their respective vlogs play a key role in creating an online destination image of a place. Stories and images in vlogs vividly create destination images necessary and fundamental for place marketing. Travel vlogs are representations of destination experiences, from which public and private tourism agencies can use in their promotional/marketing agenda.

The paper aims at studying the linguostylistic and cultural peculiarities of tourism advertisements representing Armenia on social and commercial tourism websites. On the one hand the texts on tourism sites provide information about different destinations, often complemented by pictures and videos, on the other their main function is persuasion. Our focus is on what linguistic and visual means are used to persuade the customers to buy country brands, and how countries, as culturally marked places, are introduced as brands. The development of e--tourism is also considered within the framework. It is studied whether the dialogue with the tourism industry changes the attitude of tourists towards the commercials, i.e. the potential tourists; trust in the information provided in the advertisements. The methodologies of our research are linguostylistic method of analysis and multimodal discourse analysis that help to reveal text, image and video interaction in tourism discourse and the specific linguistic and stylistic means through which the discourse realizes its communicative aims. The overall conclusion is that textual and visual texts on social tourism sites created by the authentic tourists telling about their real experiences strengthen the impact function and the persuasiveness of the discourse and thus compete with the advertisements on commercial sites vitally changing the potential tourists' attitudes.

This special issue has now been published (Dec 2019).

For free access (until 30 January 2020) to its editorial article, go to:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/IJTC-12-2019-163/full/pdf?title=marketing-smart-tourism-cities-a-strategic-dilemma


For access to the whole special issue, go to:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/publication/issn/2056-5607/vol/5/iss/4

The monograph offers a research and a planning technology of tourism development in an emerging tourist destination, whose current image does not support, but hinders the development of tourism. Vire this monograph the path from the desire of local authorities to develop viable tourism is traced to the final formulation of practice-oriented guidelines for creating a marketing and communication strategy to promote the municipality of Chelopech as an attractive tourist destination. Here you will find the know-how of each step in tourism development planning, also explained in terms of marketing theory. The valuable thing is that the theory is synthesized and presented logically through practically realized steps - it is a textbook in practice, in research methodology, in methodology of creating a new image, in methodology of product construction of a tourist destination, in methodology of analysis of factors, in methodology of creating rational sectoral policies and targeted actions aiming  sustainable tourism development of the future tourist destination, as well as a practical guide for the local authorities to serve as a guide for tourism development. The theoretical part of the monograph traces all the basic concepts applied in the study, as well as the differences between image and brand, between marketing communications and integrated marketing communications - two current issues of modern marketing, that could be entirely understood only after their practical application. In theory and in practice the main functions of the destination organizations are presented, what the function of almost  all marketing tools is, what the function of the quantitative methods in tourism is, you will see what the selection of the questions in the marketing surveys is and why these questions were selected, how in practice the real state of the image is studied; the state of the tourist development and the supply in the destination are studied; which the system of matrix methodologies is that work in synchrony and these methodologies are interchangeable at each stage of their application to activate resources, to consolidate and to promote the entire product range, which leads to planned, predictable and sustainable product development as a whole.
The empirical researches contribute to supplementing the strong information deficits in the region and it is necessary constant observations and a periodic updating to be carried out in relation to the dynamically changing realities.
The contribution of the present study is that it could serve as a model of local tourism development and branding for other destinations as well. It creates the know-how  about the inexhaustible tourist resources - nature, culture and history, that can be integrated and interpreted through festivals and events in any traditional or new tourist product. At the same time, following the example of Chelopech, the resources of the artistic and creative unions, the community centers in the Republic of Bulgaria, clubs for hobby interests, cultural and other organizations can be integrated for the creation of the long-awaited Bulgarian entertainment industry.
The marketing plan activates and integrates resources to create a wide range of regional tourism products that have the spirit of our history, culture, nature and traditions. Thus, the form, the content and the technology for product realization of Chelopech resource build in the name of tourism, culture and products of Bulgaria a national philosophy and a national vector based on intangible resources.
Indirect effects of applying the proposed methodology for building a viable tourism and turning a small municipality into an attractive tourist destination are: creation of manageable processes for short-term, medium-term and long-term activation of the demand and supply of Bulgarian tourist products; formation of thematic visions and tourist packages - with attractive in thematic profiles sport, cultural, culinary, party, academic and other areas and tours to build a thematic-regional image of tourism; creating the basis of a vision and mission for strategic positioning of the product of Chelopech in the Bulgarian cultural tourist product and activating the tourist resources of the Bulgarian rural municipalities and regions following the example of Chelopech destination.

Observations about the reasons why governments typically become concerned about the state of their national image; some remarks about the various image challenges which countries can face; thoughts about the central role played by cultural relations and cultural activities in shaping international perceptions of places; the role played by political and other kinds of leaders.

Tema fondamentale della presente tesi è la disciplina del place branding, che, oltre a interessare il progettista della comunicazione, interessa anche altre professioni e figure, da quella del sociologo, dell’antropologo, a quella dell’esperto di marketing e così via. Tutti punti di vista, i loro, che, seppur mossi da diversi obiettivi, vogliono essere almeno in parte salvaguardati e raccolti, per dare, del bran- ding territoriale, una visione completa e sfaccettata. Il primo obiettivo della tesi è di delineare in maniera il più possibile completa strumenti, metodologie e finalità della disciplina, costruendo, attraverso ciò, tassonomie con cui indagare, in maniera critica e obiettiva, casi reali di applicazione pratica della materia.
Più nello specifico, i casi studio presentati sono tutti accumunati dalla possibilità di essere considerati esempi di quelli che qui vengono definiti sistemi visivi multiformi, in altre parole sistemi visivi caratterizzati dalla capacità di comunicare molteplicità attraverso non più un solo segno ma forme varie. La scelta di attingere proprio da questi è legata al fatto che essi potrebbe rappresentare una tra- duzione concreta di una qualità intrinseca dei luoghi, quella di essere, ovvero, in costante e perpetuo divenire. A loro volta, i casi studio han- no lo scopo di fare luce sullo stato attuale della disciplina del design e in particolare di esplicitare i cambiamenti del ruolo del progettista visivo, in campo territoriale e non, e, allo stesso tempo, del suo modo di agire e di rapportarsi con gli altri soggetti.
I principali cambiamenti sociali, primo tra tutti quello legato alla figura del consumatore che diventa prosumer, spingono in una direzione di sempre maggiore inclusione e partecipazione. Non ci si accontenta più di ricevere, ma si vuole contribuire; un fenomeno non nuovissimo ma straordinariamente importante se si pensa al cittadino come a un consumatore che crea costantemente il suo prodotto, la città, e che lo riplasma, o tenta di farlo, sulla base dei propri bisogni e desideri; un consumatore, quindi, che allo stesso tempo desidera diventare autore.
Con questa tesi si vuole comprendere in che modo, a partire
da questo fenomeno, la figura del designer muti e in che modo muta il processo di produzione, che dovrà necessariamente rispondere alla domanda di collaborazione da parte di chi prima era solo destinatario. Nascono nuove questioni e l’attenzione si sposta dal prodotto finito al momento della sua definizione e creazione, fasi in cui è possibile chiamare in causa gli altri, portatori di saperi taciti ed esperienzia- li, con cui meglio definire problematiche e trovare soluzioni concrete e reali. Si va nella direzione di un’opera sempre più aperta, flessibile e dinamica che, tentando di risponde alla nuova domanda di inclusione, riplasma la figura del progettista visivo, che si trova oggi davanti a nuove responsabilità, nuove capacità da acquisire e nuovi strumenti da gestire.

KEYWORDS: PLACE BRANDING, BRANDING TERRITORIALE, INCLUSIONE, PARTECI- PAZIONE, APPROCCIO BOTTOM-UP, SISTEMI VISIVI MULTIFORMI

Towns of Enchantment for the Island of Enchantment (Pueblos del Encanto para la Isla del Encanto) is a comprehensive program that is proposed as a strategic tool for the development of competitiveness and sustainability of Puerto Rican destinations through the quality standard of a brand and the enhancement and showcasing of its heritage assets. The brand seeks to detonate expectations in the potential visitor based on the national imaginary of "enchantment", and thereby attract them to consume the Puerto Rican cultural heritage.

The research conceptualizes and models an innovation product for Puerto Rico with the purposes of: a) decentralizing the touristic offer and generating an increase in the territorial dispersion of demand,  b) elevating the competitiveness of the destination, and c) generating sustainable economic development for the benefit of its residents.

Inspired by Mexico’s  “Pueblos Mágicos” Program, and based on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, the research presents the conceptual branding for Pueblos del Encanto, and the process and proposed guidelines for incorporation and membership in the Pueblos del Encanto Program, a program that would designate a Puerto Rican locality as worthy of the brand.

The research illustrates the impact of the application of several of the program guidelines as per the pilot study conducted in the municipality of Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, and presents strategic tourism development plans for this town.
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Pueblos del Encanto para la Isla del Encanto es un programa integral que se propone como herramienta estratégica para el desarrollo de la competitividad y sostenibilidad de destinos puertorriqueños mediante el standard de calidad de una marca y la puesta en valor de sus activos patrimoniales. La marca persigue detonar expectativas en el visitante potencial fundamentadas en el imaginario nacional "del encanto", y con ello atraerlo a consumir el acervo cultural puertorriqueño.

La investigación conceptualiza y modela un producto de innovación para Puerto Rico con el propósito de descentralizar la oferta turística y generar aumento en la dispersión territorial de la demanda, elevar la competitividad del destino, y generar desarrollo económico sostenible en beneficio de sus residentes.

Inspirada en el Programa Pueblos Mágicos de México, y fundamentada en los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible de las Organización de las Naciones Unidas, la investigación presenta el branding conceptual para Pueblos del Encanto, y el proceso y lineamientos propuestos para la incorporación y pertenencia al Programa Pueblos del Encanto, programa que designaría a una localidad puertorriqueña como merecedora de la marca.

La investigación ilustra cómo se vería la aplicación de varios de los lineamientos del programa en el municipio de Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico (localidad que fungió de piloto para el estudio) y presenta planes de desarrollo estratégico turístico para esta localidad. 

En función de los resultados obtenidos y la ilustración de los lineamientos en el municipio piloto, se concluye que la propuesta tiene alto potencial de replicabilidad. Se percibe que las posibilidades de generalizar el modelo son altas, y que muchas otras localidades en Puerto Rico podrán servirse de la metodología empleada como herramienta estratégica para el desarrollo de su competitividad y sostenibilidad.

Similar to companies and organizations across the globe, countries as well engage in branding strategies to establish a brand identity and to be positioned as major tourist destinations. Thereupon, the destination logo as one of the most significant elements of a country's branding has become an important subject for brand design and communication research. In this paper, to respond to the research scholarly interest in communication design, the researcher has made an attempt to provide a design review of Malaysia's destination logo from 1990 to 2020. Based on destination logos employed by Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board, the researcher examined how different logos have been designed to represent Malaysia as an outstanding tourism destination along with the development of the "Visit Malaysia Year" (VMY) tourism campaigns. In total, eight logos of "VMY" were reviewed based on their intellectual unity and visual unity. On the intellectual unity aspect, the subject matter of each logo was discussed, and on visual unity features, design elements such as logo style, visual representation, graphic elements, and colors selection were examined. As aforementioned, this paper will provide insights into an understanding of the design and development of destination logos in Malaysia.

Μπορεί η θετική ή αρνητική φήμη μιας πόλης να επηρεάσει τις προοπτικές της όσον αφορά την κοινωνική και οικονομική της ανάπτυξη; Αν ναι πόσο επηρεάζει ο πολιτισμός τη φήμη αυτή; Πολλές Ευρωπαϊκές πόλεις καθώς και αρκετές ελληνικές διαθέτουν σημαντικό μέρος του προϋπολογισμού τους για την υποστήριξη της εικόνας και της φήμης τους με βάση τις πρακτικές του μάρκετινγκ. Η τάση αυτή συνοδεύεται από την αναζήτηση ενός θεωρητικού πλαισίου, καθώς και μεθοδολογικών εργαλείων για το σχεδιασμό και την αξιολόγηση της εφαρμογής των αντίστοιχων στρατηγικών, προκαλώντας μία ιδιαίτερα ενδιαφέρουσα επιστημονική συζήτηση. Κεντρικό ρόλο στις προσπάθειες αυτές κατέχει το συμβολικό κεφάλαιο μιας πόλης: η ιστορία, η κληρονομιά, η σύγχρονη πολιτιστική δραστηριότητα, οι εκθέσεις, οι λογοτεχνικές αναφορές, κ.λπ. Ο πολιτισμός της πόλης ως αναγνωριστικό στοιχείο για τους κατοίκους ή τους επισκέπτες αλλά και ως στοιχείο της καθημερινότητας στην πόλη με την έννοια της πολιτισμικής πολιτικής και τον τρόπο που επηρεάζει στις συμπεριφορές και τις νοοτροπίες αποτελεί επομένως κρίσιμο στοιχείο.
Πρέπει να αποτελέσουν οι στρατηγικές μάρκετινγκ πόλεων προτεραιότητα σε περίοδο οικονομικής και κοινωνικής κρίσης στην Ελλάδα και αν ναι υπό ποιες συνθήκες; Ποιος ορίζει ποιες θα είναι οι κυρίαρχες εικόνες και ταυτότητες που θα επιλεγούν σε σχέση με τον πολιτισμό μιας πόλης; Μέχρι πρόσφατα τα ζητήματα αυτά δεν έχουν αποτελέσει προτεραιότητα για τις ελληνικές πόλεις και, εκτός από ελάχιστες περιπτώσεις, οι σχετικές προσπάθειες κατάρτισης στρατηγικών σχετίζεται με τη διαχείριση τουριστικού προορισμού ή με συγκεκριμένες, συχνά συγκυριακές, αφορμές, π.χ. την υποψηφιότητα για το θεσμό της Πολιτιστικής Πρωτεύουσας της Ευρώπης. Σκοπός του άρθρου είναι να παρουσιάσει τις προσπάθειες πόλεων της Ελλάδας να πειραματιστούν με τα εργαλεία του μάρκετινγκ πόλεων προκειμένου να προβάλλουν συγκεκριμένα πολιτιστικά χαρακτηριστικά και να σχολιάσει τα αποτελέσματα. Έμφαση δίνεται στη διαδικασία λήψης αποφάσεων και τη μέθοδο διαβούλευσης που ακολούθησαν αλλά και τα διλλήματα που προέκυψαν. Στη συζήτηση αναδεικνύονται οι δυσκολίες και οι συγκρούσεις που προκύπτουν στη προσπάθεια «ελέγχου» της πολιτιστικής ταυτότητας μιας πόλης.

Medical tourism is growing in many parts of the world. As such, it should not be surprising that there is a growing body of literature focusing on the nature of scope of this tourism sector. One subset of this literature involves the motivations that tourists have to travel outside their home country for medical care. To develop a better understanding of these motivations, this study investigates the motivators most commonly used in medical tourism research and classifies them with regard to whether they are push or pull motivators. The results reveal that some of the most commonly used pull motivators include lower medical costs, service quality, international accreditation of the medical facilities, and shorter waiting times, while the least commonly used include reputation of the medical practitioners and tourists' social and cultural familiarities with the destinations. With regard to push motivators, the most commonly used are recommendations from friends, doctors, and family, inadequate insurance coverage, and desire for privacy and confidentiality of treatments. The least commonly used are lack of treatment options and distrust in home-country healthcare systems. The study concludes with a discussion of the managerial implications of these results and provides recommendations for further research in the areas of medical tourism.

This paper discusses an analysis of the impact of tourists ’ food
experiences at gastronomic events on destination image and
these events ’ contribution to both destination and event loyalty.
Data were collected with a survey conducted during two
renowned Spanish gastronomic festivals: the Cherry Blossom
Festival, in the Jerte Valley, and the National Cheese Fair, in
Trujillo. A total of 616 valid responses were obtained and analysed
using the partial least squares path modelling technique. The
results show that gastronomic experiences have a positive effect
on destination image and loyalty. Furthermore, destinations ’
structural elements have a significant relationship to destination
brand but not to destination loyalty. Loyalty to gastronomic
events is positively correlated with event brand and destination
brand and image. Together, these elements have a positive
relationship to destination loyalty. This study provides a novel
approach to gastronomic experiences associated with place
branding. The findings indicate that managers need to coordinate
the different branding strategies of public and private
administrators to focus these on emphasising the value of
destinations ’ structural elements and events ’ brand and, thereby,
enhancing tourists ’ loyalty.

Despite place attachment’s prominence within the environmental psychology literature, the scales and items used to  measure place attachment vary significantly, hindering the ability of  researchers to  rally behind a standard measure. These types of discrepancies hamper the ability of researchers to directly compare findings across communities and conduct metanalyses on the antecedents and outcomes of place attachment. Further-more, scales consisting of more than three items may unnecessarily burden respondents, thus impeding oppor-tunities to add new constructs to surveys so that the precursors and outcomes of place attachment can be better understood. With this in mind, the purpose of this paper is to present and test the cross-cultural reliability and validity of an Abbreviated Place Attachment Scale (APAS) (i.e., three items for place identity and three items for place dependence) across seven samples spanning five data collections and four countries (United States, Cape Verde, Nigeria and Poland) involving residents and visitors. Confirmatory factor analysis reveals that the abbreviated scales perform just as  well as  their extended parents, and the multi-group confirmatory factor analysis reveals full measurement invariance demonstrating that the APAS is equivalent across cultures. Based on these results, the APAS should be given full attention by place attachment researchers seeking to expand the literature on the understanding of how people connect to places and the implications that these connections have on other important constructs such as quality of life, support for tourism, and place-based conservation efforts or individual environmental behaviors.

Country branding (also known as nation branding) is actually nothing else than the technical application of branding for countries in order to improve the reputation of the country, thus attracting more tourists and investors, improving export, etc. – in other words, resulting in greater competitiveness and more money. In the past two decades, country branding has become a hot topic: country image centres and country brand councils have been created throughout Europe and the world. Their task is the same everywhere: to position the country, distinguish it from ”competitors”, create a uniform brand strategy, and coordinate the various messages about the country in a certain sense. One of the important elements of this branding activity is the visual identity guide defining the logo and colours used by the country and the basic visual implementations used in most frequently used offline and online communication tools. Although visual identity guides are extremely useful, we have to admit that they mostly serve as an aid for advertising agencies designated to country branding, helping them to create
country advertisements that are as consistent visually as possible. However, if we want to achieve a greater impact involving the citizens in the promotion of their country, we need more: a so-called brand book. This tool also provides guidance verbally: it tells the “story” of the
country – what are its typical attributes, why is it special, what is its character, what values does it represent, what messages does it communicate, and how – more precisely, how it should communicate in order to have maximum impact. Therefore, such a publicly available brand book may also be considered a knowledge centre or a knowledge management tool. The present article provides countries with advice on this topic through an analysis of the brand books of Estonia and Finland. The two countries were selected for several reasons. First, both countries created a well-devised and complex system that is easy to use. Second, their brand building is characterized by a lot of creativity from word games to emojis. Third, their identity building has a digital focus, providing state-of-the-art solutions. Fourth, they particularly encourage citizens to “engage” in the building of the country brand.

Celem niniejszego artykułu jest analiza kompleksowych działań promocyjnych
podejmowanych przez Regionalną Organizację Turystyczną Województwa Świętokrzyskiego
od roku 2008, ukierunkowanych na zwiększenie ruchu turystycznego i dochodów z turystyki
w regionie. Realizowane projekty obejmują m.in. wdrażanie zintegrowanego systemu
promocji i informacji turystycznej województwa świętokrzyskiego oraz kreowanie i promocję
markowych produktów turystycznych regionu. Omawiając kampanię promocyjną
województwa świętokrzyskiego, przeanalizowano postęp budowy Regionalnego Systemu
Informacji Turystycznej, udział regionu w krajowych i zagranicznych targach turystycznych,
publikowane materiały promocyjne w postaci wydawnictw i gadżetów, organizowane
imprezy promocyjne, a także działania z zakresu public relations oraz różnorodną reklamę w
prasie, telewizji i w internecie. Szczególną uwagę poświęcono zagadnieniu turystycznej
promocji regionu świętokrzyskiego poprzez produkcje audiowizualne oraz inne nowoczesne
instrumenty i narzędzia z dziedziny ambient marketingu czy event marketingu. Autorki w
swoich rozważaniach oparły się na kilkuletnich obserwacjach aktywności marketingowej
województwa świętokrzyskiego.

Raento, Pauliina (2009). Tourism, nation, and the postage stamp. Examples from Finland. Annals of Tourism Research 36: 1, 124–148.

ABSTRACT: In the expanding visual paradigm of tourism studies postage stamps remain overlooked. This empirical study of Finnish stamps from 1917–2001 exemplifies the potential of this data, the methods of its interpretation, and connections to literature. The examination contributes to the study of tourism and national identity politics by offering one critical narrative of the changing relationship between tourism promotion, identity-building, and citizenship education. A basic quantitative and qualitative assessment reveals two major turning points in the data, both of which connect to geopolitics and the world economy. The easily reproducible examination shows how representative emphases and absences serve ''banal nationalism'' and the construction of an ''imagined community'' of 'us.'

Immár két évtizede annak, hogy megjelent az országmárka, illetve az országmárkázás fogalma a nemzetközi szakirodalomban, majd vette át a magyar marketing akadémiai szféra, és 2009-ben a gyakorlat, az Országmárka Tanács létrehozásával. Az országmárkázáson kívül azonban más fogalmak is időről időre megjelennek a szakirodalomban: a nemzetmárkázás, az állammárkázás, a helymárkázás, a desztinációmárkázás, a lokációmárkázás, a területmárkázás vagy éppen a régiómárkázás. Sőt, a márkázást érő kritikák miatt olyan terminológiákkal is találkozni, mint a puha hatalom, az országimázs-menedzsment, a nemzetireputáció-menedzsment, a nyilvános diplomácia, valamint a versenyképes identitás. A tanulmány ezeket a fogalmakat rendszerezi, illetve arra keresi a választ, hogy mire hasonlít legjobban egy ország márkázása: egy termékére, egy szolgáltatáséra, egy vállalatéra, vagy netán másra? Egyáltalán milyen technikák adaptálhatóak a márkázás világából az országokra?

Raento, Pauliina & Stanley D. Brunn (2005). Visualizing Finland. Postage stamps as political messengers. Geografiska Annaler, Series B 87: 2, 145–163.

Postage stamps are a very political, territorially grounded and yet overlooked part of visual culturec. We argue that the mundane omnipresence of stamps gives them considerable nation-building power and makes them exemplary tools of what Michael Billig calls 'banal nationalism'. By focusing on the socially constructed visual qualities of stamps, we argue that their 'reading' as political, socio-culturally and territorially specific texts offers valuable insights into the evolution and outlook of the issuing state and the 'imagined community' within its boundaries. Our examination of 1457 stamps issued in continental Finland between 1917 and 2000 shows how the desired visual representation of the Finnish state, nation and society has evolved over time, along with the changing outlook of the national elite, its relationship with ordinary citizens and the country's geopolitical context. The stamps illustrate how the state's focus shifted from war to peace, Finland's economy diversified and specialized, and the Finns reached a relatively high level of social welfare and equality. The myth of Finland's cultural homogeneity remained strikingly strong despite dramatic changes in Finland's cultural make-up, suggesting that not only presence but also absence of a narrative from a visual scene can be strongly meaningful. Over the course of the twentieth century, Finnish nationalism grew increasingly 'banal' and inclusive in character, but the stamps maintained their influential role in citizenship education. Our findings promote the use of postage stamps in the teaching and research of political geography and identity-political iconographies.

Keywords: visual methodologies, iconography, banal nationalism, postage stamps, Finland

l libro affronta il tema conosciuto in ambito internazionale come place branding, un fenomeno che ha coinvolto città, regioni e paesi a livello globale, diffondendo prassi di produzione della marca territoriale. Una ricercata internazionalizzazione dei territori nel quadro di una competizione globale per l’attrazione di investitori, turisti e talenti fa da sfondo alla rapida diffusione del place branding, così come il cambiamento del modo di comunicare e, in qualche caso, di costruire le politiche di sviluppo economico territoriale. Il testo analizza questo fenomeno nella sua evoluzione, passando in rassegna una serie di casi internazionali e mettendo a fuoco gli elementi cruciali delle politiche di branding, nonché le loro problematicità. Una riflessione organica sul place branding è oggi necessaria, in un momento cruciale nell’evoluzione della materia a seguito di forti ripensamenti negli studi di branding sulla logica con cui si produce la marca: un ripensamento dovuto alle nuove tecnologie, all’utilizzo intensivo dei social media e al radicale cambiamento nelle architetture di governance della marca, con un ruolo sempre più necessario e critico di una molteplicità di attori.

Place Branding. Percezione, illusione e concretezza. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316786699_Place_Branding_Percezione_illusione_e_concretezza [accessed Jun 22, 2017].

Au cours des 20 à 30 dernières années, le marketing des territoires a bénéficié d'une attention accrue, à la fois comme pratique et comme sujet d'études académiques, même si la littérature sur le sujet reste encore peu abondante, notamment sur ce qui fait le succès des stratégies de marketing, dont les budgets se chiffrent à des millions de dollars ou d'euros, et sur l'impact de ces dernières sur le développement territorial. En nous basant sur des recherches menées par différents auteurs, aux Etats-Unis et en Europe, et sur les résultats d'une recherche doctorale menée au niveau de la Région de l'Oriental au Maroc, nous proposons une étude comparée des facteurs de succès des démarches de marketing des territoires entre les trois continents. Mots-clés : Marketing territorial ; Facteur de succès ; Développement territorial ; L'Oriental marocain. Abstract. Over the past 20 to 30 years, place marketing has received increased attention, both as a practice and as a subject for academic study, even though the literature on this subject is still scarce, especially on what makes the success of marketing strategies, which budgets are worth millions of dollars or Euros, and on their impact on territorial development. Based on research conducted by various authors, in the United States and Europe, and on the results of a doctoral study carried in the Oriental Region of Morocco, we propose a comparative study of factors contributing to successful place marketing approaches in the three continents.

Global cities are increasingly competing together in order to showcase themselves as the best destination for tourists, investors, and talented people. During the last four decades, there has been a growing interest in City branding. It takes place within a communication system that closely connects the overall city image and identity. Community leaders are more and more recognizing that there is a direct link between the city image and its attractiveness as a place to visit, live, invest, and study. Aimed at developing the theoretical framework of city branding, this research attempts to identify and explain the relationship between the variables affecting the city image as a paradigmatic model of city branding and sustainable urban development. Therefore, 35 peer-reviewed articles are initially selected from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), through purposive sampling. Then, the collected data is analyzed in four stages using grounded theory. The results of this study indicate that the boosting of city image is a complex process that continuously and dynamically requires a meaningful combination of planning, actions, and stakeholders at various organizational levels.

This book explores theoretical concepts of strategic promotion and place branding in cities. It outlines the issues associated with strategic management of urban territories and highlights various types of development strategies that seek to encourage socio-economic development, growth and city branding, particularly within the tourism industry. It examines the rules and methods for analysing the current branding of a city and how new branding and promotion strategies are created. Through a range of international examples the book considers the missions, aims and implementation of branding strategies and the importance of monitoring and controlling procedures. The first part of the book provides theoretical context, followed by a detailed exploration of the promotional and branding strategy prepared for the city of Tomaszów Mazowiecki in Poland.

This book provides the reader with theoretical and practical insights on city branding and will appeal to scholars and students in urban studies, geography, tourism, management and economics.

Citation, reference:

Raszkowski A., The Importance of City Image in Socio-Economic Development, „Nierówności społeczne a wzrost gospodarczy”, zeszyt 29. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Rzeszowskiego 2012 r., s. 335 – 344.

The article discusses selected problems referring to the role of image in the context of city social and economic development. Its initial part presents theoretical aspects of city image placing particular emphasis on its definition, listing the addressees of activities related to city image creation and characterizing the important functions played by the city image. Next, the role of image in socio-economic city development is discussed from the perspective of strengthening its investment attractiveness, as well as the dimensions of investment advantages, including the key role of image, are presented. Positive impact of image, on the selected spheres of city functioning, is also discussed and supplemented by broader characteristics of its influence on the social sphere.