This presentation is an introduction to my work on destination brands

1. Destination brands:
development,
challenges & cases
Professor Nigel Morgan

2. Professor in the Welsh Centre for Tourism Research, @ Cardiff
Metropolitan University
Research areas: destination reputation management, brands &
development; tourism, place, citizenship & identities. Co-editor of
Destination Brands: Managing Place Reputation
Visit our research group at www.uwic.ac.uk/wctr
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4. Our globalised,
competitive
world where it’s
getting harder
to command
attention and
maintain
relevancy.

5. What is a ‘Destination’?
• Described by marketers and tourism professionals as a geo-
political system with its own Destination Management
Organisation or DMO.
• Seen by sociologists and cultural geographers as a socio-
cultural construction.
• In other words, some treat a destination as a set of attributes
and others treat it as a set of cultural and symbolic meanings
and contested 'realities'. Both views are right.

6. Expert Definitions of Destination Branding
I believe destination or place branding is about creating value. The value that
products and businesses receive through direct association with a brand, or the
additional value that potential visitors attribute to a place because of its brand
image. This is sometimes referred to as the “identity premium.” (Roger
Pride, VisitWales)
Destination branding is describing the experience of the place to the consumers
and the formation of the experience in terms of the facilities, amenities and
other resources that the area can provide. (Malcolm Allen, Placebrands)
Destination branding is a continuing process to create unique tourist experiences
and build a sustained image that emotionally bonds with the host community
stakeholders and resonates with its targeted markets. (Liping Cai, Purdue
University).
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7. Expert Definitions of Destination Branding
However, it is also about more than simply making a
destination more competitive:
Destination branding is about packaging and marketing a set of
images to promote a particular destination. There are however
consequences that extend beyond marketing, for example, the
brand vision can become an instrument for transforming the
place and social engineering local cultures.
The branding process also requires mobilising support and
cultivating consensus in realising the brand as a place identity.
(Can Seng Ooi, Copenhagen Business School)
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8. A strong brand provides added value, brings a powerful
identity benefit, drives consumers’ behaviour,
influences their perceptions of reality, opens doors,
creates trust and respect and raises expectations of
quality and integrity.
In short we are talking about strong place reputations. A
strong destination brand must deliver distinctive,
compelling, memorable and rewarding experiences to
its target audience.
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10. 1st
• Who do you think
has an effective
destination brand?
2nd
4th.
• The top four 3rd
according to their
peers are:
4th 10

11. DMO Branding Practice %
Have an official brand strategy 82
Have a brand manager
DMO Branding Practice 37
Have a set of brand values 80
Think they have an unique positioning 75
Have a brand toolkit 80
Developed the brand in collaboration 90
Don’t measure their brand’s impact 37
Do cooperative branding 37
Are tourism-related only 60
Source: WTO & ETC (2009) Handbook on Tourism
11 Destination Branding

12. Source: WTO & ETC (2009) Handbook on
12 Tourism Destination Branding

13. The mission of any
Destination Management
Organisation (DMO) is to
promote its destination to a
wide range of stakeholders
and audiences
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOJM6cHSqKI
&feature=player_embedded

14. 100% Pure New
Zealand brand -
calculated to be
worth around
US$13.6 billion,
ranked 21st in the
world just behind
Samsung and ahead
of Dell.
14
Source: http://10yearsyoung.tourismnewzealand.com

15. But ...
destination
reputation is
NOT created by
DMOs
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16. Destination Reputation is based on three principles:
i) Communication - reputation is something you talk
about and is produced through storytelling;
ii) Evaluation - reputation is something you critically
assess;
iii) Distinction - reputation makes you different.

17. Creating Differentiation
• Whilst places which have strong brands have an easier time
attracting businesses and talent within the knowledge
economy, it is difficult to differentiate places.
• Factors such as a place’s environment, its people,
entertainment and leisure services and traditions in art and
culture are assuming more importance with potential
investors and tourists.

18. What does not work and is NOT branding
• Creating a logo and a tagline is NOT building a destination
brand.
• A destination brand has to be rooted in a sense of place, it has
to mean something to internal and external stakeholders and be
credible and deliverable.
• It is more than marketing, it has to be delivered on the ground.

19. Examples of Brand Values:
• ‘creative, credible, contrasting, cool’
• ‘passion, people, culture, destinations’
• ‘indulgent, charming, abundant, vibrant’
• ‘welcome, quality, freedom, authenticity, sensuality’
• ‘rugged, natural, soulful, liberating’
• Real-ness, fusion, can-do-ness’
• ‘open, innovative, authentic, caring.
19 Source: WTO & ETC (2009) Handbook on Tourism
Destination Branding

20. Bill Baker (2007) argues that some words have
been so over-used that they have lost all their
potency and sense of differentiation. He suggests
that the most over-used words in branding
include:
• Discover (yourself)
• Enjoy
• Explore
• Friendly
• Gateway
• Historical
• Natural
• Relaxing
• The best, the centre of
• Welcoming…
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21.  Today's tourists face a vast choice of
destinations;
 A handful of major countries attract 75% of
the world’s tourists;
 Most destinations are niche players competing
for the remaining 25%;
 Small Destination Marketing Organisations
have to deliver maximum value in a noisy &
crowded marketplace on restricted budgets.
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22. The Key Challenges in
Reputation Management:
(1) Leadership;
(2) Partnership;
(3) Communication & delivery;
(4) Relevancy & impact.

23. Leadership
Leadership is increasingly being recognised as one of
the key intangible assets of organizations which,
along with their brand, are major determinants of
their image and reputation and major components
of their intellectual capital.
What remains a cause for concern is the slow
development of the leadership skills of elected
politicians and officials and the lack of meaningful
involvement of leaders from the other sectors of our
societies in leading the development of places.

24. Partnership
Leaders need to use their power effectively to create a
genuine partnership of those with a major stake in the
reputation of their place.
They need to align, engage and mobilise stakeholders
from the private and community sectors in the
leadership of their places and the creation and
management of their reputation.

25. Communication
In a world where we’re inundated with advertising and
personalised communication, it is vital to build brand
relationships; moreover, the power of social media means that
today’s tourist can tell the world about your destination’s
shortcomings through YouTube or Facebook in a click.
Thus, the interface between DMOs and tourists has completely
changed. No longer is the marketing mix about product,
promotion, path, pricing, packaging and push. It is the consumer
2.0 marketing mix based on conversations and context,
connectivity, collaboration, creativity, collaboration and co-
operation.

26. DMOs face major communication challenges:
• Place reputation is derived from a host of sources, not just
tourism marketing.
• DMOs cannot control the place story or the image and they
do not ‘own’ the destination.
• DMOs are under pressure especially as a result of the
digital revolution and their cost, relevance and value-for-
money has come under greater scrutiny.

27. The global
media plays a
powerful role in
shaping place
reputation
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28. Tone
Testimonies Traditions
Creative
Places
Technology Tolerance
Talent
The Virtuous Circle of Destination Reputation