Comments

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  David Paul Appell November 5, 2010 at 7:48pm

  Future Brand released the initial version of its annual Country Brand Index. Canada snagged #1 thanks in part to the Winter Olympics.
  
  The USA has slipped three notches to No. 4 in an annual ranking of nations with the most favorable brand performance, says a new study.
  
  1 Canada
  2 Australia
  3 New Zealand
  4 USA
  5 Switzerland,
  6 Japan,
  7 France,
  8 Finland,
  9 United Kingdom
  10 Sweden
  
  The bottom three: Zimbabwe, Iran, Pakistan.
  
  Whew, I guess North Korea and Somalia can breathe a sigh of relief.
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  Alan 'Brand' Williamson September 12, 2010 at 12:35pm

  Paul, thanks for raising the issue of branding tourist routes - mega opportunties for the future of destinations - at trans-local, trans-regional and trans-national level.
  
  I would love to see private-sector led projects with the support of the public-sector developing in the future.
  
  Monique, I believe your own exciting 'Black Paris' project sort of falls into a trans-city tourism route category?
  
  In the UK, Project England's Vineyard, will be developing trans-county wine routes based on the cultural source codes for the various destination hierarchies:
  England: CLASS (Higher Social Status)
  SouthEast England: HOME (Home Counties)
  Sussex: FESTIVAL
  Sparkling Wine: CELEBRATION
  and so on across the various counties comprising England's Vineyard.
  
  Going forward into the future, co-branded routes with wine regions around the world are an exciting prospect.

  

  England's Vineyard: England's Newest Regional Destination Brand

  England's Vineyard: England's Newest Regional Destination Brand, comprising the counties of Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire
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  Tripatini September 10, 2010 at 7:50pm

  Congratulations, Paul, and congratulations to all the members of Tourism Branding on Tripatini for hitting 100 members. This group has hosted some very interesting and lively discussions. Here's to the next 100!
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  Paul Barnett September 10, 2010 at 7:41pm

  The train routes are interesting. Is it the routes or the trains that get branded? e.g. Orient Epxress, Blue Train etc? The air and sea routes I am not familiar with. I just wonder if, related to the trends in culture and heritage tourism, there isn't an opportunty to establish more branded routes that link places. I personally believe there is, and that there are big advantages in doing so. I think journeys of discovery relate well to a number of social and cultural trends.
  
  Although not thought of as a brand perhaps, I think The Grand Tour of Europe undertaken by British nobels from the early 17th Century was indeed a branded tourist route, and it's impact was great, socially and economically, for over a century. Not all of the impact was good of couse. This was also an early example of sex tourism and had significant environmental impacts.
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  Raymond Hall September 10, 2010 at 11:27am

  There are famous train routes (I could list a dozen off the top of my head, from Russia to Asia to Africa and australia) as there are famous sea routes (how about the transatlantic route), most of which are marketed to some extent. There are even air routes such as scenic journeys over Antartica. I think that we would be surprised at the great number, when we set about listing them!
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  Paul Barnett September 10, 2010 at 11:09am

  There are branded tourist routes in the world - Route 66, The Inca Trail and so on. I think they evolved as brands, and were not designed as such, and I am not sure if they are managed as such even today. I am interested to know why there are not more branded tourist routes. Is this an opportunity being missed?
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  Murad Hassan September 10, 2010 at 12:30am

  What you think of "Maldives, the sunny side of life!" ?
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  Max Pesling September 5, 2010 at 4:47am

  Hi Alan, Wish I'd seen this comment sooner. Totally agree with you about the "Madrid Only Happens in Madrid" being nonsensical. Reminds me of "Andalucia -- There's Only One." Huh??
  
  I like the United Hispanica theme in concept, but wonder how it would actually play out. There is, as you imply, a cultural clash between New and Old World Hispanics, but also among the many different nationalities of New World Hispanics... so an attempt to unite them in one campaign could prove fraught with potential pitfalls, to say the least. But... is it worth a try? I would certainly say so.
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  Alan 'Brand' Williamson August 17, 2010 at 7:45pm

  David
  
  Great point about Sporting Spain.
  But first BrandSpain has to drop small brand ideas such as campaigns based on 'Smile' and 'Need'. Likewise its capital city - Madrid - with nonsensical campaigns such as 'Madrid Only Happens in Madrid'.
  
  To get the brand debate going here, I would suggest BrandSpain and Madrid start to dig deep within the cultural clash between the Hispanic Old and New Worlds and perhaps build a new United Hispanica starting with a Sporting theme.
  
  What do Tripatinos think?
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  David Paul Appell August 13, 2010 at 5:37pm

  Excerpts from an interesting item I came across recently on the Grayling PR blog:
  
  Bread and Circuses: Winning the World Cup and the Brand ‘Spain’
  
  "Marketing experts know that there are only 72 hours to maximize momentum and take advantage of the effect of victory on consumer behavior. After that, consumers return to their old pattern and the fact is that with an unemployment rate of 20% and a flat GDP growth, it remains to be seen whether the Spanish start consuming again.
  
  But even if we concede that the world cup has no immediate effect on the economical cycle, the long term effects might be very positive because of the recovery of the brand ‘Spain’ after months of international speculation about a second ‘Greece’.
  
  ...the brand ‘Spain’ could win in importance even further, and might eventually become an asset for Spanish companies doing business abroad. Or how bread and circuses do contribute to reputation enhancement and, eventually, to growth."