“Lonely Planet” gathered the top 10 destinations in Europe for 2013. Amongst them are Porto (Portugal), Cinque Terre (Italia), Copenhagen (Denmark). But how is a destination considered to be one of the top ones? How can it gain the lead? In the globalised world in which we live, every place has to compete with each other for share of mind, share of income, share of talent, share of experiences, share of voice. Converting a place into a tourism destination requires it to be recognized as one, which often means to have a recognized destination brand. A destination brand is the mix of the core characteristics of the place that makes it distinctive and memorable. The creation of a destination brand may be based on natural resources, history, fun. But what really matters is to distinguish and by distinguish I mean to create an enduring essence of the place to the visitors’ or investors’ mind. A destination brand is what enables a place to establish, reinforce and gain or raise its reputation. For example, the special feature of the destination brand of New Zealand is that it is based on its unique landscapes, especially by exploiting the crucial role of well known films such as the trilogy of The Lord of the Rings. A successful slogan of this campaign was the «Best supporting country in a motion picture» and the «Best supporting country in a motion picture, again». But the strongest slogan is «100% Pure New Zealand», which is combined with illustrations of unspoiled landscapes to capture the feeling of the modern consumer and the need for direct contact with nature and the landscape. In general, many countries have chosen not to incorporate the concept of the "value" of their tourism, but focus on the fundamentals of branding such as the logo «Keep Exploring» Canada through television commercials and the “It will never leave you” slogan of Panama on printed ads. The "expensive" destinations have also dropped in number markedly to incorporate the concept of value in order to maintain quality in their images. Small countries like Monaco, the Maldives fit into this category.
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Destination brand, Tourism strategy, Destination branding, National brand strategy,
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