Structuration and branding of a religious tourism product: Catalonia sacra

This article aims to provide an overview of the products Catalonia has to offer in terms of religious tourism. The growing interest in this kind of tourism worldwide, and in Catalonia itself, along with the region's wealth of religious heritage (particularly connected to the Christian Church) contrast with the lack of religion-based tourism products available, which results in its absence from the region's image as a tourism destination. In view of this, the Faculty of Tourism (University of Girona), the Vic Bishopric's Albergueria-Centre for Cultural Dissemination and the Tarraconense Episcopal Conference's Interdiocese Secretariat for the Custody and Promotion of Holy Art (SICPAS) decided to address the situation with the help of funding from the Autonomous Government of Catalonia. In order to re-position Christian religious heritage in the image of Catalonia as a tourist destination, the aforementioned parties embarked upon a project to set up a series of routes throughout the region, branded under the name Catalonia Sacra

BRAND EQUITY OF LAHORE FORT AS A TOURISM DESTINATION BRAND

ABSTRACTStudies that measure the brand equity of destination brands by using the Customer-Based Brand Equity (CBBE) model in a developing country context are scarce. The present study investigates the destination brand equity of the Lahore Fort by employing the CBBE model in a developing country context of Pakistan. Following the positivist tradition, we adopted a survey-based approach to collect data from 237 tourists visiting the Lahore Fort. Data were collected through a questionnaire developed to explain the relationship of brand awareness, brand image, brand association, and brand loyalty with Lahore Fort’s overall brand equity. We used various robust statistical techniques such as correlation, regression and confirmatory factor analysis (using PLS method) to reach meaningful conclusions and found that brand image and brand associations positively contribute to brand loyalty. Furthermore, brand loyalty significantly contributes towards overall brand equity. Pragmatically, this study measures the customer based brand equity of the Lahore Fort, a destination brand. The results are useful as they suggest a few strategies that can help policy makers to enhance Lahore Fort’s brand performance.

Turning Lisbon into a tourism and luxury shopping destination for Chinese travellers

Branding Lab

El Branding a les empreses familiars turístiques: El cas del Grup Mas de Torrent

El projecte estudia la influència de la família en el procés de creació d’una marca cooperativa (branding) d’una empresa familiar turística, així com en l’activitat empresarial que desenvolupa. Aquest es centra en el Grup Mas de Torrent

Aplicaciones digitales con software libre para City Branding de Valledupar

El uso de las TIC se ha masificado dentro del ámbito del turismo convirtiéndose en herramienta fundamental y un aliado para llegar a conquistar turistas para los diferentes destinos que se promocionan a través de aplicaciones moviles o de website.Cada vez más las entidades turísticas o las empresas recurren a las tecnologías de la información, en particular Internet, como medio para promocionar sus productos y servicios turísticos. Estas nuevas tecnologías han cambiado el concepto de vida de personas en cuanto a la consulta de precio y rapidez de información de los diferentes servicios turísticos.En Valledupar se debe: aprovechar la tendencia mundial al rescate de los valores auténticos, el medio ambiente y las comunidades indígenas a través de diferentes modalidades de turismo: Ecoturismo, etnoturismo, agroturismo, cultural, religioso, compras, aventura, salud, deportivo, ciudad capital. Se debe ampliar el conocimiento del territorio municipal y de los valores autóctonos. Mediante uso de software libre y de código abierto se pueden crear soluciones para fortalecer la promoción del sector turístico de la ciudad de Valledupar.

El Branding a les empreses familiars turístiques: El cas del Grup Mas de Torrent

El projecte estudia la influència de la família en el procés de creació d’una marca cooperativa (branding) d’una empresa familiar turística, així com en l’activitat empresarial que desenvolupa. Aquest es centra en el Grup Mas de Torrent

La proyección de imagen a partir de Soft Power, mediante Nation Branding y Diplomacia Pública en el caso de Japón, durante el periodo 2002 – 2010

En el actual contexto de globalización y con el comienzo de la era de la información, cada vez más Estados han buscado proyectar una imagen favorable con el objetivo de atraer atención y crear una reputación que permitan cumplir objetivos de política exterior y fomentar el desarrollo económico, logrando de esta manera un posicionamiento en el sistema internacional mediante estrategias novedosas, que incluyen elementos tanto diplomáticos, políticos, económicos, como comerciales y culturales. Para Japón, Nation Branding y la diplomacia pública han sido dos de las principales herramientas para lograr este reposicionamiento internacional, resaltando atractivos como las tradiciones culturales, el turismo, los incentivos para negocios, y trabajando en conjunto entre el gobierno nacional, el sector privado y la sociedad civil para crear relaciones entre el país y gobiernos y sociedades a nivel internacional.

A proposed Model for Country Branding : an experimental Application on Nigeria

In the era of globalization, countries compete with each other for attention, respect and trust of potential consumers, investors, tourists, media and governments of other nations. Branding is the most powerful tool that a nation can utilize for effective differentiation strategies and for creating competitive advantage over other nations. Unfortunately, not every nations or destination marketers have a broad understanding of the concept of branding and how a country can be successfully branded. Hence, this study has proposed a model that could be used as a valuable guide for country branding. Also the model is recommended for countries struggling with image crisis; on the mission to improve the image internationally. Nigeria is a good example of countries with image crisis; it is one of the most populated countries in the world with a population of about 160 million inhabitants and growth rate of 2.553percent annually. Despite the abundant resources (e.g. coal, petroleum, natural gas etc.) that the nation is endowed with, it is quite disappointing that the population below poverty line is still at the alarming rate of 70percent of the total population. The mismanagement and poor leadership of the nation characterised by corruption, fraud, embezzlement of public fund etc. has culminated into serious image crisis that is slowing down the potential for investment and economic growth. However, there has been series of image rebranding campaigns but no tangible achievement has been recorded. It is quite questionable though, if image rebranding will provide the kind of future that Nigeria envisaged, considering the socio-political situation and the economic imbalance; compounded by the obvious fact that the nation has no known brand. Therefore, this paper argues that there is need to redirect the effort invested on image rebranding to the creation of a unique and competitive brand for the country. It was established from the study that a nation’s brand is capable of improving the reputation of the nation as well as stimulate the expectation of the target audience. However, it was also established from the study that a wrong approach to branding could mislead the target audience and attract negative publicity. Hence, as a contribution of the study to the field of branding, a model was proposed as a functional guide for country branding. Also, considering the abysmal performance of Nigeria’s image in the international community and to strengthen the argument that brand creation is required for the country; an experimental application of the proposed model was conducted using Nigeria as the case country. The first phase of the model suggested a major improvement in the society; this is required to further enhance the strengths of the country and to motivate the much needed community participation and confidence in the brand creation. It is the conclusion of the study that a strong nation brand can offset the image problem if it is built on something concrete, genuine, and uniquely identifiable with the country, capable of connecting to the cognitive psychology of the target audience.

City branding:can goods and services branding models be used to brand cities?

A city's branding is investigated using generic product and services branding models. Two generic branding models and tourism segmentation models guide an investigation into city branding 'as it should be' and 'as it is' using Birmingham, England as a case study. The unique characteristics of city brands are identified and Keller's Brand Report Card provides a theoretical framework for building a picture of the brand-building activity taking place in the city. Four themes emerge and are discussed: 1) the impact of a network on brand models developed for organisations; 2) segmentation of brand elements; 3) corporate branding; and 4) the political dimension. A conclusion is that city branding would be more effective if the systems and structures of generic branding models were adopted.

A stakeholder perspective on heritage branding and digital communication

How does an archaeological museum understand its function in a digital environment? Consumer expectations are rapidly shifting, from what used to be a passive relationship with exhibition contents, towards a different one, in which interaction, individuality and proactivity define the visitor experience. This consumer paradigm is much studied in fast moving markets, where it provokes immediately measurable impacts. In other fields, such as tourism and regional development, the very heterogeneous nature of the product to be branded makes it near to impossible for only one player to engage successfully. This systemic feature implies that museums, acting as major stakeholders, often anchor a regional brand around which SME tend to cluster, and thus assume responsibilities in constructing marketable identities. As such, the archaeological element becomes a very useful trademark. On the other hand, it also emerges erratically on the Internet, in personal blogs, commercial websites, and social networks. This forces museums to enter as a mediator, authenticating contents and providing credibility. What might be called the digital pull factor poses specific challenges to museum management: what is to be promoted, and how, in order to create and maintain a coherent presence in social media? The underlying issue this paper tries to address is how museums perceive their current and future role in digital communication.

Epidemiological study on leishmaniasis in an area of environmental tourism and ecotourism, State of Mato Grosso do Sul, 2006-2007

The aims of this study were to carry out a serological survey of canine leishmaniasis and identify the phlebotomine fauna in the urban area of Bonito, Mato Grosso do Sul. The serological survey was conducted on a sample of 303 dogs, by means of the indirect immunofluorescence test. Phlebotomines were captured using automated light traps. The serological survey found that 30% of the dogs were seropositive, both from the center and from all districts of the town. A total of 2,772 specimens of phlebotomines were caught and the species most found was Lutzomyia longipalpis (90.4%), which corroborated its role as the vector of for canine visceral leishmaniasis in the region. Phlebotomines of the species Bichromomyia flaviscutellata (the main vector for Leishmania (Leishmania) amazonensis) and Nyssomyia whitmani (the vector for Leishmania (Viannia) brasiliensis) were also caught. The findings indicate the need for continuous epidemiological surveillance, with attention towards diminishing the vector breeding sites and the transmission of these diseases in that region.