Search results

This chapter relies on descriptive case studies from various regions around the world to better explain critical elements for the effective marketing of destinations. The authors put forward a theoretical framework, entitled the destination marketing triangle (DMT), that sheds light on the complex relationships and on the interconnectedness of three dimensions of destination marketing. Their model suggests that destination leaders ought to work closely with tourism service providers and to continuously engage with tourists through traditional and digital media. This way, they can improve the experiences of their visitors and prospects. At the same time, they could build a solid brand identity for their destination.

This research aims to investigate how emerging destinations cope with digitalization of information, where they are in the process and how digitalization of information takes place in destination marketing organizations (DMOs). As a case for emerging destinations that must deal with the negative consequences of the digital divide, the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD) will be examined. A new framework, solutions in general, and potential innovative approaches will be presented.

A mixed methods approach was used. Firstly, a content analysis comprising 68 criteria to examine 10 destination websites was conducted to evaluate the performance of provincial destination websites of VMD. Secondly, the authors interviewed five managers from VMD DMOs to reveal the strategy, status quo and their challenges with digitalization.

Some digitalization is evident in VMD DMOs, with the digitization of tourist information provision developing from analog formats to digital modes. The content analysis of the websites shows that provincial destination websites of VMD perform well with regard to communication but need improvements for transaction, and especially relationship aspects. Emerging destinations like VMD DMOs are reaching the second or third level in the digitalization process. Yet they face challenges with human and financial resources.

This research provides recommendations concerning destination website performance, the process of digitalization and how to promote digitalization and apply more digital instruments to move to the next stages of destination digitalization. Also, suggestions on how to overcome existing challenges/barriers in similar areas of the world are provided.

A new, extended more granulated version of the digitalization framework by Karpova et al. (2019) has been developed. The new model acknowledges the continued importance of printed information, provides information about the sequence of steps how to implement website dimensions, and which instruments are realistic to implement in different levels of digitalization considering the challenges and barriers developing destinations face.

This paper aims to examine the role of social media communication, tourist satisfaction and destination brand equity components in enhancing destination brand equity based on the Stimulus – Organism – Response (S-O-R) theory.

The conceptual model and research hypotheses were assessed using covariance-based structural equation modeling (SEM). An online survey was used to collect data from 369 domestic tourists who had traveled to Danang and knew about content related to Danang generated by either DMOs or other users on social media.

Except for the effect of DMO-generated social media communication on tourist satisfaction and the impact of destination brand awareness on destination brand loyalty, the findings confirmed the sequential causal relationships between research concepts based on the S-O-R model.

Future research should explore the proposed model based on comparisons of different nationalities to better understand the impact of cultural factors.

DMOs should associate social media with their marketing strategies to enhance destination brand equity, using cutting-edge technologies to create content and update information in a significant way to make communications by DMOs more effective. The findings especially suggest that UGC plays a vital role in improving brand equity dimensions, so DMOs could exploit UGC to engage existing customers and build relationships with potential customers. This research provides guidance for DMOs to improve their brand equity based on social media.

This study has contributed to the destination marketing literature by applying the S-O-R theory to propose a pathway for effectively increasing destination brand equity and highlight the importance of social media communication as a driver to achieve a hierarchical relationship between destination brand equity components and tourist satisfaction from stimulus to organism (e.g. cognition to affect).

This study examines how formal and cultural management control systems (MCSs) are used to support the promotion of gender equality through a case study of a Japanese bank.

A case study was adopted to investigate the use of formal and cultural MCSs in promoting gender equality. Primary data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with managers experienced in promoting gender equality. Then, the data were analysed by reading the interview answers repeatedly and coding interviewees' comments to generate themes.

The findings indicate that both formal and cultural MCSs can be critical aspects in promoting gender equality. The use of cultural MCS fostered norms and cultures over time that enhances the process of formal MCS to achieve gender equality. Formal MCS was also designed and utilised under the constructed norms and cultures to promote gender equality. Furthermore, the use of formal MCS contributes to shaping norms and cultures that encourage gender equality by controlling and discussing the process of promoting gender equality.

This study clarifies how formal and cultural MCSs can be used to promote gender equality, which is an unresolved issue in Japanese companies. Mechanisms for companies in male-dominated societies are also provided to promote gender equality in terms of MCSs.

This study aims to uncover the destination personality of the World Surfing Reserve (WSR) in Europe, Ericeira, from local stakeholders’ perspectives; understand if WSR recognition influences the perception of destination personality; and understand if there is an alignment between the vision of the destination management Organization (DMO) and stakeholders in terms of destination personality.

An extensive literature search was conducted to identify personality traits, which were then filtered and included in a survey of Ericeira's stakeholders and in a DMO interview. A principal components analysis enabled the identification of the most relevant personality traits.

Cool, appealing and self-assured emerged as destination-specific personality traits of Ericeira, indicating that other similar destinations can consider them in future branding actions. The findings indicate that WSR recognition can be a determinant for local tourism but has no impact on destination personality as viewed by local stakeholders. Therefore, one can suggest that personality is embedded in a tourist destination and is somewhat resistant to external WSR recognition. In general, alignment was found between the views of the local stakeholders and the DMO.

This study reinforces the literature on the importance of stakeholder involvement in place brand development. It also suggests that external recognition may have an impact on local tourism but has a limited impact on destination personality. Finally, this research constitutes a baseline for further studies on the destination personality traits of current and prospective WSR.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of Andalusia’s tourism promotion budgets and the efficiency of its campaigns from 2010 to 2022.

A mixed-methods approach is used. Tourism promotion budgets from 2010 to 2022 were measured as a supply indicator. Demand indicators (e.g. airport’s passenger arrivals, number of tourists and hotel occupancy rate) are analysed to measure tourism promotion budget impacts on them.

Tourism promotion budgets are a priority to stimulate tourism demand for Andalusia in times of uncertainly, and promotion campaigns are pivotal to attract and convert potential customers into actual tourists. Moreover, findings reveal that tourism promotion budgets had positive impacts on tourism demand. Whereas tourism promotion campaigns such as “Andalucía wants you back”, “Intensely”, Fitur, World Travel Market, ITB Berlin events and tourism advertising through digital channels have helped to improve tourism demand in Andalusia, ignoring the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in the year 2020.

This study emphasizes how tourism promotion budgets and promotion campaigns must be constantly monitored by destination marketing organizations to measure the efficiency and effectiveness of assigned economic budgets and its return on investment.

The objective of this paper is to examine the ways in which tourism can be regarded as a catalyst for positive change, benefiting both people and the planet. The authors consider the integral role of community engagement as a tangible component within the governance frameworks of destination management organizations (DMOs).

Originating from the authors' professional experience and academic expertise in managing and marketing tourist destinations, both at the local and regional levels, the article explores the pressing requirement for reevaluating policies and strategies. It aims to emphatically underscore and reiterate the role of tourism as a pivotal driver for enhancing peoples' quality of life and ensuring the sustainability of tourist destinations. This effort involves not only maintaining equilibrium among the four widely recognized pillars of sustainability but also pondering the significance of an equally crucial aspect of destination management – the political sustainability of the governance framework of tourist destinations.

Current realities encourage the authors to contemplate and act, guided by the unfolding of tourism's swift regenerative influence. It is anticipated that people have gleaned vital lessons from the collective pause people underwent during the pandemic, coupled with the stark realization of being unable to partake in the favourable contributions of tourism in everyday life. This article highlights the urgency of implementing DMO models that are capable of conceptualizing and operationalizing a human-centred tourism development policy and the resulting sustainability strategies, enhancing representation and guidance for the satisfaction of stakeholders.

It is neither a widespread practice, nor are there many prior studies that tackle the potential of forecasting the comprehensiveness of governance and management models for tourist destinations that encompass stakeholders who represent the direct interests of local communities within the tourism system. Supported by a literature review, analysis of secondary data and the first-hand experience of the authors, it becomes apparent that the operational landscape of most organizations functioning as tourist destination managers is predominantly at the regional and local tiers. These very organizations are the ones that have been progressively evolving, displaying a readiness to introduce innovation in this realm. Implementing these models would represent an approach to governance more inclined towards a bottom-up style, thereby posing a challenge to the more rigid and commonly employed strategies that emanate from a centrally structured national framework.

The nuclear purpose of this research paper is to analyse representative bridges around the world as a tourist attraction and iconic element through destination marketing organisations’ (DMOs’) tourism official websites where these are localised and three online travel agencies’ (OTAs’) websites.

This research used a mixed method. The author carried out Google research (13 March 2023) that included the following search word string “iconic bridges around the world” and “the most famous bridges worldwide” to select the most relevant bridges around the globe. Moreover, this research used a content analysis to examine how Expedia, Booking and Orbitz OTAs promote the bridges through their websites in terms of a tourist attraction, iconic element, tourist package, images and information.

Findings suggest that the most representative bridges analysed in this study are promoted as iconic element and tourist attraction through DMOs’ websites. Nevertheless, Booking, Expedia and Orbitz OTAs promote and sell products and services related to bridges selected, except in the case of the Millau Viaduct in France, the Si-O-Se-Pol bridge in Iran, the Danyang Kunshan Grand bridge in China and the Royal Gorge in the USA. Furthermore, results support that OTAs need to enhance the quality and variety of products and services that are linked to iconic bridges sightseeing tours because at the moment, there is a great uniformity in the promotion of products and services provided.

This paper contributes to broader debates in the importance of bridges as a tourist attraction and iconic element to attract tourists through tourism promotion websites.

This research finds out to what extent companies’ names are influenced by the place’s attributes versus the official branding policies of a place and, consequently, whether and how local companies “buy into” the place’s strategies put forth by official bodies.

This paper is both conceptual and empirical, as a mixed quantitative and interpretive approach is used. The companies’ names of a tourist industry (the tour and guiding companies) in three destinations are compared and pitched against the branding of these cities. The companies' names are classified into categories to ascertain whether they reflect (or diverge from) the official strategies. Finally, a conceptual model is developed to explain the findings: the strategic naming model (SNM).

Our main finding is that the overall business features of a place being stronger determinants to the naming strategies than tourist destination branding initiatives. The intrinsic features of a place seem thus to be “above” destination branding policies. The researched features account for different naming strategies, such as highly original names, flat names or non-strategic names.

As the work is based on a convenience sample, it cannot claim strong representativity. The fact that each of the three data sets was processed by a different researcher might bring up personal biases.

This work is a call for a more intensive use of naming strategies to the companies’ advantages, as naming is found out to be strategy used to a very low degree. Thanks to this research, companies will understand the different naming possibilities and be able to apply them to their strategies by choosing names which express “uniqueness” or “belonging”. Practitioners will also be aware of whether they are communicating towards the industry or towards the market.

No works were found that empirically pursue our research goals. Therefore, this research might be considered as a novelty. The proposed SNM model explains and relates the most usual company naming techniques, which were unrelated up to date.

This paper discusses the development of Madeira's tourism and its continuous action on aspects of sustainability.

The paper analyses the evolution of tourism in the region in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and how an investment in sustainability and on the certification of the archipelago as a sustainable tourist destination is a key move for stakeholders, in particular residents, companies and tourists.

To return to normality, and thus overcome the 2019 difficulties, Madeira continues to develop promotional activities in various international markets and develop sustainable tourism, supported by practices and policies that optimize the use of environmental resources. In so doing, sociocultural identity and authenticity is secured, while providing socioeconomic benefits for all stakeholders.

The approaches and solutions presented are those of the regional Government of Madeira, illustrated by the efforts and decisions that led to the certification of the archipelago as a sustainable tourist destination.