المستخلص: |
A destination can be anything from a nation to a region, a resort to a city, an attraction to an event - or even the tour operators that help them to sell. Branding, in turn, defines a unique set of beliefs about a destination and (he sort of holidays or breaks it offers - beliefs that are equally emotional and rational, make it stand out from the competition and make it feel just right for each of its many target audiences. Many factors will go into the creation of these beliefs. Moreover, to keep moving forward a destination may well be obliged to continuously adapt not just its product but also its image and positioning. And if it does not, it will surely lose out - to other destinations more alert to new opportunities and new emotional buttons waiting to be pressed. That is called Dynamic Branding, which in action means, first of all, continuous revolution and readiness to keep up to date by steady adjustments to positioning and brand image. But the sad truth is that many countries do the right things at home, but still fail to get the credit abroad. Literatures said that tourism - the acceptable public face of a national brand- and its promotion - in whatever form (advertising, PR, websites, etc) - will have the biggest impact on attitudes to a nation. It is the easiest option to counter prejudice and to build warm and positive feelings to nations. Problem of Study: in general, although the concept of branding has been applied extensively to products and services, tourism destination branding is a relatively recent phenomenon. In particular, destination branding remains narrowly defined to many practitioners in Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and is not well represented in the tourism literature (Levy and Ritchie, 2005, pp: 328-338; Baker, 2007). Regarding Alexandria, moreover, DMO executives generally lack creativity and innovation in marketing the city as international tourist destination and, as well as, understand the concept of destination branding by implementing only selective aspects of this concept, particularly logo design and development (Mckawy, 2009). Objectives of study: This study has two goals. First, it attempts to review the conceptual and theoretical underpinnings of branding as conveyed by leading authors in the marketing field. Second, evaluate and prioritize the destination branding potentials and policies of Alexandria according to the view of its foreign and domestic visitors.
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