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In the last decade, a growing number of tourist destinations have been facing image crises

Marketing Tourism Destinations in an Era of Uncertainty Eli Avraham, PhD University of Haifa, Israel. In the last decade, a growing number of tourist destinations have been facing image crises Uncertainty associated constantly to tourism industry

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In the last decade, a growing number of tourist destinations have been facing image crises

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  1. Marketing Tourism Destinations in an Era of UncertaintyEli Avraham, PhDUniversity of Haifa, Israel

  2. In the last decade, a growing number of tourist destinations have been facing image crises • Uncertainty associated constantly to tourism industry • Today, facing a crisis is no longer a question of “if” but a question of “when”…

  3. Two kinds of uncertainty/image crises: • Sudden crisis (sudden uncertainty) Crime waves, terror attacks, inter-racial conflicts, epidemics, natural disasters (earthquakes, hurricanes, mudslides and floods) • Crisis as a cumulative result (prolonged uncertainty) Ongoing, long-term problems: prolonged high crime rates, war, unemployment, social-economic crisis, low quality tourism services

  4. Related Theories and Models • Marketing and advertising, branding, image management • Strategic public relations • Crisis communication • Destination and place management • Image restoration • Stigma and stereotype handing

  5. Marketing Destinations with Prolonged Image Crisis • A great deal of experience has been accumulated in the field of place marketing and branding • Not always relevant to places that suffer from negative or weak images, stereotypes, generalizations and during uncertainty

  6. Methodology • Qualitative analysis of symbols, visuals, slogans, and texts in many website, news articles, ads and other promotional tools • The date: destinations websites; video sharing website (YouTube); destinations web sites; tourism news websites; international tourism journals; news articles and academic articles; ads, interviews, press releases, tourism brochures

  7. Channel Technique Crisis Characteristics Audience Characteristics Place Characteristics Goals & Timing Message Employing Counter-Message, Ignoring, Spinning Liabilities into Assets Source Changing Source, Media Credibility, Blocking Media Audience Changing Target Audience, Similarity, Patriotism SAM Media Strategies FeedbackProcess Tactics Execution & Evaluation

  8. Source Strategies 1. Establishing rapport with the news people (media relations) 2. Trying to damage the media’s credibility 3. Applying a physical/economic threat to the newspepole 4. Blocking media access 5. Finding alternatives to the traditional media: celebrities, Internet, social media

  9. Channel Technique Crisis Characteristics Audience Characteristics Place Characteristics Goals & Timing Message Employing Counter-Message, Ignoring, Spinning Liabilities into Assets Source Changing Source, Media Credibility, Blocking Media Audience Changing Target Audience, Similarity, Patriotism SAM Media Strategies FeedbackProcess Tactics Execution & Evaluation

  10. Message-Focused Strategies – The “Crisis? What Crisis?” Approach • Ignoring the damage to the image • Examples: Istanbul, Egypt and Spain choose to employ a “business as usual” during the 2000s • New Milford, Connecticut: “A great past, and a greater future” • Ramle, Israel: "Discovering the past, looking towards the future"

  11. ImageAcknowledging the Negative North England: “The image of the city as grey and covered with smoke has disappeared, and now the city is attractive” (Burgess, 1982) • American city of Tulsa, Oklahoma: “When someone says ‘Tulsa’ some people draw a blank…This should fill in the blank about Tulsa… ”

  12. Narrowing / Diminishing the Problem • London – limitation of the Foot and Mouth disease problem to the rural areas • Nepal – “Violence took place in remote, rural areas, while top tourist destinations were secure and free of violent incidents”

  13. Tackling the Issue Solve the problem that led to the negative image (crime, terror, racial conflicts, lack of cultural events) Examples: New York, Egypt, Caribbean, Miami

  14. Hosting Spotlight Events Sport events, Olympics, the World Expo, exhibitions, cultural events, festivals and other special events (Belfast, Salt Lake City, Beijing 1990) "The Great Ethiopian Run" “Super Bowl XL is not only an affirmation of what Detroit is but what it is becoming”

  15. Hosting Cultural Events • Reno attracting visitors to improve the city's image by creating the "Artown“ cultural events • Belfast

  16. Employing Celebrities • Celebrities can easily attract potential consumers' attention • People seek to emulate their favorite celebrities, and would like to imitate whatever their favorite celebrities are doing or consuming • Celebrities are usually known for having good taste and large variety of options to choose from

  17. Employing a “Counter-Messages Offensive”: The Dominican Republic • Highly publicized health problems among British tourists (1997) • Recover strategy: to show with statistics that less than 1% of the 2 million British tourists in the past year had fallen ill

  18. Spinning Liabilities into Assets • Spinning the negative factor responsible for the bad image • Minnesota - winters are marketed as unique and have become a tourist attraction, with various winter cultural events, ice fishing and festivals catering to many • Bradford, England: “Flavors of Asia”

  19. Wichita Falls, hosting a cycling event called Hotter ‘n Hell One Hundred, where cyclers ride 100 miles in 100 degree F weather. The events been going for over thirty years now.

  20. Spinning Liabilities into Assets: Economical Crisis as Opportunity • Greece: "Great classic, great value“ campaign • The number of tourists, to Iceland and Hong Kong increased after the devaluation of local currency • Traveling during uncertainty time is cheaper, less crowed so the tourism experience is greater

  21. Spinning Liabilities into Assets: Economic Crisis as Opportunity "Financial crisis tourism": "Financial crisis tours" and “Scandals and the crooks of Wall Street tour"

  22. Branding the Destination Counter to the Stereotype • Reposition the destination in a manner directly opposed to the existing stereotype • Examples: repositioning Nuremberg as a center of “peace and human rights”

  23. Softening the Image

  24. Geographic Isolation Strategy • security issues (real or perceived) always have a spillover effect • “destination-specific” or “isolation strategy” • “Eilat on the Red Sea”

  25. Survey in 1985 found: most of the Americans surveyed had no intention of visitingCanada. • In response, theprovince ofNova Scotia launched a creative campaign, presenting it as a freestanding entity. • The result of this surprising campaign was a 90 percent increase inUSvisitors toNova Scotia.

  26. “Like me” strategy: Similarities to American Audience

  27. Channel Technique Crisis Characteristics Audience Characteristics Place Characteristics Goals & Timing Message Employing Counter-Message, Ignoring, Spinning Liabilities into Assets Source Changing Source, Media Credibility, Blocking Media Audience Changing Target Audience, Similarity, Patriotism SAM Media Strategies FeedbackProcess Tactics Execution & Evaluation

  28. How to Choose the Right Strategy in an Era of Uncertainty? AP Characteristics Analysis • a. Place characteristics (the place's international status, place's location, regime, and availability of resources) • b. Crisis characteristics (the crisis's stage and duration, type of threat, scale of damages, geographical scale, and origin of casualties) • c. Audience characteristics (the audience's knowledge of the crisis, sources used regarding the events, the place's former image and proximity to the places being marketed)

  29. Summary • Theoretical frame to analyze marketing destinations during uncertainty • Three kinds of strategies chosen to restore destinations’ positive image • More details: Book and Elsevier teaching presentation

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