Tourism Branding

For anyone in or interested in the tourism industry to explore issues associated with branding a country, region, destination, attraction, hotel, tour etc

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A look at the top international hotel brands of 2026

It will come as no surprise to anyone thatin the world of hospitality, chain dominate as they have done for quite some time. And here I take a look at the world´s top brands and sub-brands, ranked in order of size and influence - and while most are familiar, there are a couple which might not be (thanks, China!). read post

Started by Max Pesling

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7 of the Top Destination Brands of the Year

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: read…

Started by David Paul Appell

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How brands can manage a travel-industry crisis like coronavirus

Travel isn’t always a bed of roses. There are natural disasters, tainted products, bad actors, data breaches, regional and global viruses, and events big and small that require industries to step up, speak up, and do whatever it takes to care of their employees and customers. As the coronavirus outbreak tops more than 135,000 in some 140 countries, it’s an appropriate time to offer advice on how to handle an industry crisis. read post

Started by Tripatini

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Cross-border migration and tourism

All across the world - Europe, the United States, Australia, Asia, and elsewhere - immigration and refugees are hot topics. But little attention has been paid to how this issue meshes with the other great mass movement of our era: tourism. An integral part of tourism is the exchange of cultures and the appreciation of the “other”, and the industry is often dependent on "importing” guest workers from abroad, who provide needed services and often also give a sense of the exotic…

Started by David Paul Appell

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Comments

Paul Barnett January 13, 2010 at 2:15am

WOW - Things are getting off to a great start here - some of the comments sting more than skin after a day on the beach under scortching rays! Guess thats ok if it brings out some truths, so long as everyone is prepared for the heat! But, seriously, lets keep it constructive, positive and professional please, we don´t want actions for slander.
José Balido January 13, 2010 at 2:03am

Speaking of destination taglines, here's a link to some real beauts. I especially like "Austria. At last!" along with "Sicily: Everything else is in the shade" (???) and of course the New South Wales' ever-popular "There's no place like it" (was that last one the same branding company that came up with "There's only one"??).
Rossitza Ohridska-Olson January 13, 2010 at 1:49am

Righ, Jose, not only this, but Andalucia has the weakest branding in Spain. Specially among the locals. It is in need of new positioning, new branding and this hasn't been done even for the Expo in 92, much less now. Go figure. Catalunya brand is the most strong from the regional Spanish ones, I believe. From the cities, Madrid has great brand (Landor's best), but the municipality is doing everything to screw it up and water it down.
Rossitza Ohridska-Olson January 13, 2010 at 1:25am

Regarding Columbia branding: Who invented the tagline? For me, there are only 4 destination branding companies in the world: Landor, FutureBrand, Wolf Ollins, and THR out of Spain. From these 4, only THR has specialists in tourism. Country brands and destination branding projects fail for that reason: they don't register the dynamic of the tourism (domestic and international), TOGETHER with the local perspective. Simon Anholt is a PR person, and is more concerned about the image and the results sometime are disastrous, if you follow his "brilliant" writings for the last 10 years.
Rossitza Ohridska-Olson January 13, 2010 at 1:20am

Congratulation you decided to work with Binder Group. Regina is very smart lady and really has a lot to offer, specially if you consider cultural tourism as place development.
Rossitza Ohridska-Olson January 13, 2010 at 1:18am

For in depth comparison on Country Branding and Nation Branding of Simon Anholt (he should not be credited with the concept, please read the 100 MB of literature on the subject), see:
6 articles comparison and which is more practical tourism:http://www.culturalrealms.com/2009/11/country-branding-from-a-globa...
Presentation on the subject: http://www.slideshare.net/rokambur/r-olson-country-branding-cbi-nbi...
David Paul Appell January 12, 2010 at 11:04pm

I agree a little bit with everyone -- it was a bold and certainly refreshing move, rather than totally ignoring the elephant in the room. But not having any training in psychology and particularly the psychology of marketing, I don't know whether using the word "risk" risks opening a can of worms. Seems to have worked well enough for them, though. Now we see others like Mexico and Brazil facing similar issues -- though not nearly to the extent that Colombia did.
Regina Binder January 12, 2010 at 10:43pm

I agree with Paul, when I heard about the new slogan (from a Colombian archaeologist) I was taken aback, but to change perception first you have to acknowlege it.
José Balido January 12, 2010 at 10:39pm

Indeed. And ultimately, everybody I met who has heard the Colombia slogan remembers it for precisely this reason... so it's working. They've created a slogan that turns popular perception on its head in a fun, provocative, and very memorable way.
Paul Barnett January 12, 2010 at 10:32pm

Re-Columbia I think addressing the issue head on was absolutely the right approach. However, I am not sure that the ONLY risk in Columbia is wanting to leave.

I am based in Brazil. I wonder if they may just adopt a similar approach here.

In my opinion the worst thing for a a country to do is deceive, such a policy would have dangerous consequences within quite a short time.