Branding Tourism Destinations : A Qualitative Approach

The branding of places is now prevalent and the focus in the tourism marketing literature is on places as destinations. Branding destinations with history, heritage and cultural attractions will shape the perceptions of tourists. Such perceptions may influence their intentions, e.g., revisit intention. Previous literature is referred to in this paper to review the interaction of brand and tourism destination. The research used the repertory grid technique for this aim. With depth interviews to elicit the attributes associated with the brand of 18 destinations in Turkey, the study identified 11 categories of brand attributes. Tourism marketers need to appropriately manage perceptions of local destinations and consider cultural issues when branding destinations