For anyone in or interested in the tourism industry to explore issues associated with branding a country, region, destination, attraction, hotel, tour etc
7 of the Top Destination Brands of 2023
Visit Maldives Over the past decades, destinations in Europe, North America, and the Caribbean have been the stars in both destination branding and popularity among travelers. And while all the above certainly remain among the world´s most powerful performers in tourism, the World Travel Awards (dubbed “the Oscars of travel”) in 2023 have underscored strong showings outside these traditional areas, particularly in Asia and the Middle East. Here´s a quick rundown of this year´s winners:…
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Very interesting & challenging project about England's Vineyards. Check James Clarke's article about Charles Hamilton & Painshill Park (The World of Fine Wine, Issue 21 2008, pg. 80-85).
Here in Brazil I am publishing guide books, but for them I am also developing the kind of tourism I want to promote by establishing branded tourist routes. The first ones will be privately funded. In future I hope to engage public sector support, but not financial dependency or control. Actually I am hoping that my case studies will lead to them outsourcing their miss-guided projects to me, as they are creating routes, but not as brands, and within boundaries that the brand stories extend beyond.
Re-Wine Routes in Brazil, yes they are in the plans for future development, and I may well engage your help. First I must complete the projects I already started, focused on history and culture.
My background is traditional brand strategy development, I ran a boutique agency in London. I see fundamental problems in the concept of country branding as it is currently practiced, due to the critical differences between product and nation / place branding.
I am very interested on your thoughts on the single brand idea. At the moment I have a problem in seeing how that applies to Nation Branding, and the logic in trying to make it fit. If a brand is, as often quoted, the sum of our perceptions, knowledge and experiences of a nation or place, an individual mind made concept, does a one size fits all approach make sense, and should it?
Paul, here's an example from my own portfolio:
Project England's Vineyard is a new regional destination brand scheduled to be launched in 2010 comprising the greatest concentration of vineyards in the SouthEast Counties of England: Kent, Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire/Isle of Wight & Berkshire.
Led by the private-sector marketing arm of the English Wine Producers trade body and supported by the public sector Tourism South East, Project England's Vineyard is designed not only to generate tourism, but also inward investment and exports.
The Talent and Terroir (the soil is similar to France's Champagne district) is resulting in the unthinkable: English sparklers are beating the French houses in international competitions - the current champ is Nyetimber from Sussex.
Gary Vaynerchuk, the social media sommelier and online global celebrity is returning to the UK in early summer 2010 to help us position this new destination brand online using social media platforms.
Paul, I hope the above has inspired you to get one of the up and coming wine regions of Brazil branded. We'll be happy to support you.
Later, I'll aim to answer your question: Should a destination focus on a single big brand idea or multiple big brand ideas? Meanwhile please swat up via google on DNA Molecules and Anti-Parallels.
Re-Brand Australia, the example incicates to me why it may not make sense to look for one "big idea" or a single "core essence" iwhen branding a nation, or even a nation´s tourism industry. In the days of mass and broadcast media such simplification may have been necessary, in the age of narrowcast new media rich and detailed messages can be delivered to various segments of the market: backpackers via some media channels and high-spending travellers via others.
Granted, this is complexity that may be difficult to manage, but perhaps it should be the aim?
Thanks for your insightful comments.
I'm sensing a change, in some countries, where the private sector is taking the lead with support of the public sector in terms of destination branding and marketing - from country to region to city right down to street-level.
Brand Australia
Oz's public sector is trying to change their country's perception from 'backpacker's paradise' to 'sophisticated playground' - a marketing mission impossible when the cultural source code for Australia in many of its key markets - US, UK, Japan & NZ - is 'Crocodile Dundee'.
They have failed to grasp, that the low-spending backpackers return as high-spending travellers and inward investors, provided Oz's sub-brands - its sophisticated wine regions and cities are powerfully positioned.
You see, although Australia and its wine regions, states and cities are lumped together on the world map, in the influential mind map however, they are in very different places.
Witness how the private sector-led wine brands clearly understand this, by co-branding product with place in the US market. Please see 30-sec video Wines of Oz.
I am starting to think that each time a gov or tourism office manager changes, they start a new branding program. In cases that the brand doesn't perform or doesn't communicate the essence of the country, it is OK, but rebranding for the sake of rebranding is stupid, at least in my opinion.