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India and the Republic of Korea are two prominent democracies in Asia. Both countries had to fight for their long-desired freedom. India's growing friendly relationship with the Republic of Korea has been marked by mutual understanding and bilateral trading cooperation. India–Republic of Korea relations have made great strides in recent years and have become truly multidimensional, spurred by a significant convergence of interests, mutual goodwill, and high-level knowledge exchanges. This study intends to critically discuss how soft power has been applied in New Delhi–Seoul relations and how soft power has been a very effective tool to maintain unity among the Indian diaspora and the Korean community. Soft power has been beneficial for India in propagating India's films, culture, medicines, yoga, heritage, etc., through which India is generating revenue. The blending of liberal economic policy and knowledge-based soft power diplomacy has immensely helped in making reciprocal bilateral relations. South Korea's open market policies found resonance with India's economic liberalization and “Look East Policy” as well as “Act East Policy.” Similarly, India has opened up its economy through the adoption of “new economic policy.” With the trade liberalization, India had started vibrant trading relations with South Korea. The significant investment of Korean companies in India has made a strong base of economic relations. Both countries have developed their knowledge exchange programs in many ways.

Recent political and socioeconomic events are providing Iran with the opportunity to become a high-profile destination. The question arises as to which strategic objectives can lead Iran to this end. Qualitative and quantitative improvements of hotel supply and the modernization of air transport should be the key objectives within this process. But the preservation of tangible and intangible cultural heritage, as well as the maintenance of authenticity, must remain the core principle. This chapter focuses on the role of cultural heritage management policies and what their tourism development implies for the host population, which will be the beneficiary of sustainable and responsible tourism development.

This chapter introduces the tourism–disaster–conflict nexus through a comprehensive review of the contemporary social science literature. After reviewing conceptual definitions of tourism, disaster and conflict, the chapter explores various axes that link through this nexus. The linkages between tourism and disaster include tourism as a trigger or amplifier of disasters, the impacts of disasters on the tourism industry, tourism as a driver of disaster recovery and disaster risk reduction strategies in the tourism sector. Linkages between tourism and conflict include the idea that tourism can be a force for peace and stability, the niche status of danger zone or dark heritage tourism, the concept of phoenix tourism in post-conflict destination rebranding, tourism and cultural conflicts, and tourism’s conflicts over land and resources. Linkages between disaster and conflict include disasters as triggers or intensifiers of civil conflict, disaster diplomacy and conflict resolution, disaster capitalism, and gender-based violence and intra-household conflict in the wake of disasters. These are some of the conversations that organise this volume, and this introductory chapter ends with a summary of the chapters that follow.

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.).

This chapter approaches the topic of teaching the Western scholarly tradition in non-Western countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE) from three perspectives employing the following metaphors: as a Public Servant motivated by public service to the goals and aims of the country’s development articulated by UAE rulers and its citizens; as Cultural Diplomat, representing the Western tradition and its scholarly achievements while respecting other traditions; and as Intellectual Imperialist, aiming at a colonising incorporation of the UAE into the Western academic world.

The main methodology adopted is the Weberian ideal type, located within a comparative and historical context that produces the metaphors as analytically possible perspectives as a western expatriate faculty member. Additional critique is drawn from Bourdieu, Said, Freire, Giroux, Foucault, Goffman and cross-cultural organisation studies.

The findings consist of an analytic framework consisting of public servant, cultural diplomat and intellectual imperialist as a set of conceptions for analysing possible orientations of Western expatriate academics in developing countries.

The implications are threefold: on a personal level, what experientially does each of the metaphors mean for one’s sense of identity, profession, values and relationships; on a pedagogical level, what principles and values distinguish the curriculum and teaching styles as well as orientation to Arab and Islamic scholarship; and politically, what is the potential impact and unintended consequences for the indigenous culture, sovereignty and societal survival of a country under the heavy influence of globalisation. The contention of this chapter is that one cannot avoid adopting one or more of these roles and may even perform in contradictory ways.

The originality is in establishing a new set of analytic categories drawing on post-colonial, diplomacy and critical studies.

This chapter is in line with the strand of literature on urban environmental stewardship and examines how cities around the world have been teaming up with each other in order to foster cocreation and codeployment of nature-based solutions (NBS) to tackle global environmental challenges and promote climate-resilient communities. This chapter describes such an effort that cities made to build international alliances and networks as a new wave of “city diplomacy.” Indeed, recent environmental negotiations at the global level on sustainable development and climate change have proven how cities of different size, with diverse socioeconomic and environmental conditions, were able to put NBS on the agenda and show their transformative power for the common good. Throughout the chapter, the European policy context is always placed at the meso level, between the macro (international arena) and the micro (city) dimensions, in order to demonstrate how the European Union has been instrumental in connecting the global, regional, and local agendas on NBS for renaturing cities.

Purpose: This chapter is exploring opportunities out of the coronavirus crisis and investigating how to turn the crisis into a stepping stone for enhancing heritage tourism in Egypt.

Design: A qualitative approach is adopted and thirteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders about cultural heritage activities before, during, and after COVID-19.

Findings: Main findings of the chapter are divided into management-related (cultural sites carrying capacity, interpretation of cultural heritage attractions, site accessibility, hygiene, and safety) and marketing-related (the limited number of exhibited destinations, using technology and promoting heritage tourism locally) challenges.

Research Limitations/Implications: This study is limited to the Egyptian context. Future research could investigate the challenges and opportunities for heritage tourism in more developed countries. Besides, the use of qualitative methods can be altered to surveys in future research to enrich the body of knowledge in this area.

Practical Implications: The study is suggesting practical steps to tourism authorities related to management and marketing aspects of heritage tourism.

Originality/Value: This study is based on original research that produces new knowledge by using the study approach in collecting data, reports and interprets the findings and discusses possible implications.