Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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brand promise points to ensure they align with customer needs and refl ect the brand;
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core experiences to ensure quality and meaningfulness.
Conclusions
Destination reputation management is largely concerned with enhancing how the outside world
sees tourism places but it begins at home; as part of the wider process of place reputation
stewardship it depends upon building a productive coalition between civil society, government
and business which can then act as a powerful dynamic for change management (Morgan,
Pritchard and Pride 2011). This often requires new ways of working, building partnerships across
disparate, competing and even confl icting stakeholder groups with the DMO as an obvious
coordinator. Central to the whole process is a place's vision for its future (Anholt 2010, 2009a,
2009b). What kind of place does its leaders, stakeholders and communities want it to be?
A place's reputation refl ects how others see it and how it sees itself; its enhancement moves its
reputation forward to where it wants to be seen. Competitive destinations are those which fi nd
bottom-up, inclusive ways of enhancing and sustaining their reputation, taking advantage of the
events economy, harnessing popular culture and digital platforms, delivering unique individual
experiences and employing the testimonies of residents, tourists, investors and students as place
ambassadors (Morgan 2012).
Harnessing tradition, culture, and talent to get where they want to be requires responsible
governments, administrations and DMOs to reconcile competing needs, pressures and desires
and agree a platform for action. They must also ask fundamental questions about the kind of
society and communities they want and the kind of environment they desire for tourists and
residents alike (Insch and Florek 2010). When it comes to tourism, communities must ask what
kind of tourism industry they want. Do they see tourism as important in their economic, social
and cultural development? If so, how will they project their traditions and culture to the outside
world? Who will have the authority to tell their stories, whose narratives will be told and whose
will be excluded? These and other questions need answers if a place is to enhance its reputation
and build equity in its tourism brand (Morgan 2012). Crucially, to be truly effective destination
brand management must be a holistic strategy which coheres tourism, economic development,
urban planning, major event planning and a host of other activities and sectors. In this chapter
we have seen how, in today's competitive globalized tourism marketplace, standing for something
and standing out from the crowd has never been more important. Tourism provides us with a
unique opportunity to personalize our relationship with places. Just the very act of visiting
somewhere makes a place's reputation or image more signifi cant for the visitor; once we are
there our experiences will lead us to reappraise that place's reputation - for good or ill. The
tourist's voice is a critically important piece of the overall destination brand, but it is only an
echo of the destination itself, a looking glass that mirrors reality. The destination brand promise
is also a refl ection of its stakeholders' belief for what the country, region or city stands for.
Or perhaps more accurately, their hopes for what the destination will become. Deliver on that
promise and the destination becomes the place its residents want it to be. Exceed that promise
for tourists and the destination quickly has a legion of brand advocates, disappoint and no
amount of strategizing can enhance its reputation.
References
Aaker D.A. and Joachimsthaler, E. (2000) 'The brand relationship spectrum: Key to the brand architecture
challenge', California Management Review , 42(4): 8-23.
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