Branding a region : the next step for the regional tourism organization of Southern Africa

ENGLISH ABSTRACT:Marketing practitioners and academics are increasingly applying the concepts and techniquesof products or services branding to the branding of destinations. To date, most of thesestudies focussed on using product and services branding concepts for branding destinationson the level of an individual resort, city or country. This thesis extends this trend byconsidering to what degree these destination branding ideas can also be used to brand anentire region consisting of several countries with multiple destinations. The specific focus ison developing such a regional branding framework for the tourism industry of the SouthernAfrican Development Community (SADC).First the state of tourism within the SADC region was described, including the establishmentof RETOSA and the tourism performance of the region. On the basis of this overview,opportunities for regional destination branding were then considered.Secondly, the core concepts of product branding and their application to destination brandingwere discussed. Four theoretical frameworks for branding were reviewed and then used tocompare product and destination branding.Thirdly, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) was used as a case study of aregion that has attempted regional destination branding initiatives, with a view to what theSADC-region may learn from this experience.In conclusion a regional destination branding framework is proposed for the SADC region.The following list makes up the elements of this framework: the vision and mission, thedestination brand and its proposition, core values of the destination and its brand identity,brand image, clear view of the market, audience and competitors, brand personality, brandpositioning, stakeholder consultation process and tourism marketing research.