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Relational network brands: Towards a conceptual model of place brands


Graham Hankinson Journal of Vacation Marketing 2004 10: 109 DOI: 10.1177/135676670401000202 The online version of this article can be found at: http://jvm.sagepub.com/content/10/2/109

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Journal of Vacation Marketing

Volume 10 Number 2

Academic Papers Relational network brands: Towards a conceptual model of place brands
Graham Hankinson Received (in revised form): 10th July, 2003 Anonymously refereed paper
Department of Business and Service Sector Management, London Metropolitan University, 277281 Holloway Road, London N7 8HN, UK Tel: +44 (0)20 7753 7049; Fax: +44 (0)20 7753 5051; E-mail: g.hankinson@londonmet.ac.uk

Graham Hankinson began his career as a market and social researcher. He has held professorial positions at Thames Valley University and at the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside and now teaches and researches in the Department of Business and Service Sector Management at London Metropolitan University. His recent research and publications focus on the branding of places as destinations and his current project, Destination Branding and the Business Tourism Market, is being conducted in collaboration with the BACD.

as a value enhancer and the brand as a relationship. A review of the place marketing literature suggests that the focus to date has been on brands as perceptual entities or images. The paper argues that such conceptualisations seriously limit the development of place brands in general and destination brands in particular. A model of the place brand is presented based upon the concept of a brand as a relationship with consumers and other stakeholders, focusing on behaviours rather than communications and reality rather than image. The practical implications of this approach are discussed.

ABSTRACT KEYWORDS: place brands, relational exchange, marketing networks, services marketing, brand reality

This paper develops a conceptual model of the place brand which goes beyond the conceptualisations currently to be found in the literature and, it is argued, reects more closely the reality faced by those who market places as destinations. The paper begins with an analysis of the classical branding literature and a review of the emerging literature associated with the relational exchange and the network marketing paradigms. Four streams of thought are identied as regards the nature of brands. These include the brand as a communicator, the brand as a perceptual entity or image, the brand

INTRODUCTION There is a signicant and growing body of literature on place marketing which extends across several academic domains, each with its own perspective. In the urban planning literature, for example, the focus is upon the macro perspective and the efcient social and economic functioning of the area concerned in accordance with whatever goals have been established.1 In this context, the role of marketing is to promote an image in order to help achieve those goals. In contrast, other domains reect the multipurpose nature of places, focusing on specic areas of economic activity such as tourism, retailing, cultural activities and sporting events. Place branding has also received considerable attention over the past

Journal of Vacation Marketing Vol. 10 No. 2, 2004, pp. 109121, & Henry Stewart Publications, 1356-7667

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two decades in both the marketing press and the academic literature. Classical branding theory, with its roots in product marketing, is, however, still in its infancy and the application of branding to the more specialist areas of marketing is even less developed. Even in the area of services marketing, which in recent years has grown to take a very central place on the marketing stage, there is little published on branding.2 In the domain of place marketing there is a relatively small, although growing literature on brands and branding.3 As yet, however, no general theoretical framework exists to underpin the development of place brands apart from classical, product-based branding theory. It is the purpose of this paper to address this issue. The paper is in three parts. First, it analyses alternative perspectives on classical branding and reviews the emerging literature on the relational and network marketing paradigms. Secondly, it compares the literature on place marketing and branding with classical branding theory and these new marketing paradigms. Thirdly, it presents a conceptual model of the place brand and discusses its implications for the branding of tourism destinations.

Brands as communicators First, brands are conceptualised as communicators. A brand represents a mark of ownership and a means of product differentiation manifested in legally protected names, logos and trademarks.7,8 As such, brands are subordinate to products.9 This conceptualisation is encapsulated in the American Marketing Associations denition of a brand as a name, term, symbol or design, or a combination of them, intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competitors.10 This view of the brand is perhaps the most widely held.11 The brand as a communication device is taken a stage further, however, through the conceptualisation of the brand as an identity. The identity develops the products differentiation further by communicating the rms vision of the brand.12 A brands identity is used by an organisation to communicate its positioning relative to the competitive set.13 Overall, the concept of the brand as a communicator can be classied as an input orientation to branding.14,15 Brands as perceptual entities Secondly, brands are conceptualised as perceptual entities. This approach has its origins in consumer behaviour theory.16 As long ago as the 1950s, brands were regarded as having a public image17 dened in terms of a collection of associations perceived by the consumer.18,19 This has led in turn to a decompositional approach to brands. Thus, as perceptual entities, brands are said to appeal to the consumers senses, reason and emotions.20 To the consumer, the brand image is characterised by a set of associations or attributes to which consumers attach personal value.21 These attributes have been variously categorised under either two or three dimensions. Two-dimensional models typically categorise attributes as either functional or symbolic22 or functional and representational,23 appealing to reason and emotion. Three-dimensional models add a third, experiential dimension, which appeals to the senses.24,25 Overall, the concept of the brand as a perceptual entity can be classied

ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE ON CLASSICAL BRANDING Classical branding literature focuses upon the concept of the product brand. Characteristic of an area of academic study in its infancy in relative terms, there has been a proliferation of articles dening a brand and branding terminology. There have also been several useful review articles summarising these, focusing in particular on denitions of the brand4,5 and brand management.6 Not surprisingly, there are considerable similarities between these classications once the semantics are set aside. This paper identies four main streams of brand conceptualisation. These are not independent of each other. Indeed, they are arguably inextricably linked to each other through input-outputfeedback relationships.

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as an output orientation to branding.26,27 As a result of semantic nuances, some writers turn the concept into an input and refer to the need to manage the brands long-term image.28 In this paper, however, images are dened as what the consumer perceives while identities are dened as what the rm tries to communicate.
Brands as value enhancers Thirdly, brands are conceptualised as value enhancers. As a result of a series of mergers in the mid-1980s, brands came to be regarded as corporate assets to be nurtured and invested in.29 The concept of the brand as a value enhancer has led to the development of the concept of brand equity. Like the concept of a brand, however, this has also developed multiple meanings.30 To the accountant, brand equity is about the brands nancial value, as reected in its future income potential. To the marketer brand equity is about indicators of future income, such as relative price, brand loyalty, distribution and awareness levels.31 This conceptualisation has laid the foundations for a strategic approach to brand management. The role of brand management from this perspective is to dene and manage a brand identity32 as a means of achieving competitive advantage.33 The links between this conceptualisation and the brand as a communicator are apparent here. Brands, however, also represent enhanced value to the consumer. Where there is perceived risk associated with the product purchase, brands operate as risk reducers34 and reduce search costs.35 Enhanced value is also reected in consumers perceptions of quality.36 To some, brand equity is a consumer-centred concept and as a consequence is output rather than input focused.37,38 Brands as relationships Fourthly, brands have been conceptualised as relationships. Here, the brand is construed as having a personality which enables it to form a relationship with the consumer. This relationship can be the result of congruity with the consumers self -image39 or the develop-

ment of a brand-consumer t between the consumers physical and psychological needs and the functional attributes and symbolic values of the brand.40 This perspective is seen as being particularly relevant to services brands.41 Central to the delivery of services brands is the service encounter interaction between consumers and service contact personnel. Consumers thus become co-producers of the service product.42 The service encounter between the service providers contact personnel and the consumer provides an opportunity for the development of a real relationship through the provision of a positive experience. Some authors go as far as to argue that experiences can be managed in such a way that they become products in themselves, quite distinct from services. An experience occurs when a company intentionally uses services as the stage, and products as the props, to engage individual consumers in a way that creates a memorable event.43 Services brands also require interactions with a broader group of stakeholders than just consumers. For example, the importance of the service encounter implies the need for an equally strong relationship with staff.44 The conceptualisation of brands as relationships is arguably part of the increasing acceptance of the relational paradigm of exchange and the inappropriateness of the transactional paradigm of exchange to a growing number of marketing situations. The relational exchange paradigm characterises exchange as a continuous process focused on the creation of value through relationships with all stakeholder groups not just consumers.45 These include employees, suppliers, alliance partners, shareholders, government agencies etc. This conceptualisation puts brands at the centre of marketing activities. It also widens the focus of branding activities beyond communications to include behaviours, a focus of considerable relevance to place branding. Allied to the growing acceptance of relational exchange as a means of value creation has been the increasing interest in marketing networks as vehicles for integrating producers, consumers, employees and other stake-

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holders in a collaborative partnership of value enhancement. The network marketing paradigm recognises that the world no longer consists of rms and markets. It increasingly consists of a complex web of relationships with a variety of other organisations.46 Its strength lies in its emphasis on organisations combining resources with other organisations to create value through the continuous development and transformation of a set of relationships, each of which is in some way unique. In this paradigm, competition is seen as taking place between networks rather then between companies. This has considerable relevance to the context in which place branding takes place.

PLACE MARKETING AND THE DESTINATION BRAND While the literature on the marketing of places can be found in several academic areas, it is most comprehensively discussed in two domains: urban planning and tourism and vacation marketing. These two domains, however, take very different approaches. Surprisingly, a review of the literature from both domains, which it is acknowledged can never be totally comprehensive, indicates an absence of conceptual articulation between the two domains. Such a link, it is argued, could advance the level of place brand conceptualisation considerably. The urban planning perspective The urban planning literature focuses on the nature of the place product, its historical development47 and the marketing implications of its distinctive features.4850 Sleipen51 argues that the place product is dualistic, and distinguishes the nuclear product (the place as a holistic entity) from the products contributory elements (the services, activities and features of which the place is comprised). Van den Bergh and Braun,52 divide the place product into three levels: the individual good or service (eg a tourist attraction), clusters of related services (eg urban tourism) and urban agglomeration, referring

to the collection of goods and services which make up the place. Ashworth and Voogt,53 similarly, point out that places operate at different spatial levels, which means rstly that the product from the marketing viewpoint can differ from the product experienced by the consumer. Each consumer assembles their own product from the range of spatial levels offered by the place. It means secondly that a space can also be sold for different purposes to different groups of people by different producers.54 Thus, places are multifunctional. These inherent product complexities make the marketing and therefore the branding of places a difcult task. First, the product experience cannot be controlled like manufactured products. The place marketer has little control over the consumer experience. Each consumer is free to choose which contributory elements of the place product to consume, and it is therefore possible for the same space to be consumed simultaneously by two groups of consumers for two different purposes. Secondly, from the local authority marketers perspective, the product is legally dened. The geographic boundaries cannot easily be changed.55 The product promoted, therefore, may not be the product consumed,56 and product development may be seriously limited. Thirdly, the product is managed by a complex organisation of public and private sector stakeholders, making it difcult to present a consistent brand proposition. Place branding therefore inevitably becomes a coordinated process rather than a managed activity. Furthermore, the role of coordinator usually falls to local authorities, which operate on low budgets and are subject to political control and interference57 which further exacerbates the task of brand management.

The tourism and vacation marketing perspective Table 1 gives examples of some of the published articles in this area. These examples have been classied on the basis of their branding perspective. It is accepted that this

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Brands as value enhancers

Thode and Masulka (1998) Westwood (2000)

analysis is neither comprehensive nor totally objective such is the nature of any literature review. The aim here is to give the reader a feel for the range and balance of the literature in this area.58 As can be seen, brands as perceptual entities represent the most established perspective. Other perspectives are only just beginning to emerge.

Table 1: Brand conceptualisations from the place marketing perspective

Hall (1999) Morgan et al. (2002) Kotler and Gertner (2002) Pride (2002) Gnoth (2002)

Brands as communicators

Destination brands as perceptual entities Brand image or perceptual perspectives dominate the literature. One article alone includes a systematic review of 15 papers in this area.59 The literature on destination images includes studies of specic destinations60,61 and studies identifying common attributes across a sample of destinations at regional,62,63 national64 and international levels.65 This perspective is also reected in several conceptual models. Woodside and Lyonski66 set out a general model of traveller destination choice. The model suggests that intentions to visit reect a destinations level of traveller awareness, its propensity to become part of the choice set and its affective associations or level of perceived emotional attraction. Echtner and Ritchie67 set out a conceptual model of the components of a destination image based upon three categories of brand association; individual attributes versus holistic impressions, functional versus psychological characteristics and common versus unique characteristics. Destination brands as communicators Papers taking this perspective focus on brand strategy. Gnoth,68 for example, sees destination branding as a management process which leads to a strategic plan to build a brand identity based upon destination attributes selected on the basis of competitiveness, uniqueness and desired identity. Hall69 sees the core objective of destination branding as the production of a consistent, focused communication strategy, based upon the selection of a collection of core intangible

Brands as relationships Brands as perceptual entities

Woodside and Lyonski (1989) Echtner and Ritchie (1991) Echtner and Ritchie (1993) Walmsley and Jenkins (1993) Young (1995) Walmsley and Young (1998) Nickerson and Moisey (1999) Leisen (2001)

Westwood et al (1999) Sirgy and Su (2000) Morgan et al. (2002) Kotler and Gertner (2002)

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values existing in the mind of the consumer. In contrast, Pride70 combines a communicator perspective with a relationship perspective in which tangible attributes play a key supporting role within the communication framework, providing reasons for the consumer to believe. Other articles also link these perspectives. Kotler and Gertner,71 for example adopt the American Marketing Associations denition of a brand but link this to a brand personality which speaks to the consumer. Morgan et al.72 argue that increasing product parity requires destinations to create unique identities in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In addition they set out a brand architecture, which includes the development of a personality, as the focus of consumer relationships with the brand.
Destination brands as relationships This perspective is illustrated by Sirgy and Su,73 who argue that a destinations environment inuences the formation of stereotypic images of the kinds of people who typically visit the destination. The propensity to visit is dependent upon a match between the destination visitor image and the tourists self-concept. Westwood et al.74 link the relationship brand perspective with the value enhancer perspective, arguing that the role of brands is to build a meaningful relationship with the consumer in order to secure higher prots through the formation of consumer-brand bonds. Destination brands as value enhancers Only two articles were found in this category. Both focus on the development of brand equity in specic industries: Thode and Masulka,75 in the context of vineyards and Westwood,76 in the context of package holidays. The dominance of the perceptual perspective, it is argued, has seriously limited the development of place brands in general and destination brands in particular. Research has shown that destinations which focus purely on the brand as a perceptual entity or as a

communicator fail to address the issues associated with organisational structure and managerial control.77 Place brands, like product brands, are complex concepts78 requiring a broader, multidimensional perspective. The success of cities such as Manchester, Sydney and Barcelona in building successful brands through key sporting events was based upon the development of strong relationships between stakeholders who would benet from that success. Marketing Manchester for example, the organisation responsible for promoting the 2002 Commonwealth Games, has 300 members including hotels, restaurants, visitor attractions, the airport, the passenger transport authority and the local authorities. This brand as a relationship approach has been successful for several reasons. First, it is more appropriate to serviceoriented and service-related products such as places. Secondly, it is clearly linked to the experiential nature of the place product and emphasises the importance of the service encounter as a central activity in the development of place brands. Thirdly, it recognises the role of a range of stakeholders in the development of a successful place brand. Fourthly, it more adequately reects the reality of place brand management. Finally, it utilises a network marketing approach.

PLACES AS RELATIONAL BRAND NETWORKS AND THE IMPLICATIONS FOR DESTINATION MARKETING In this section a broader, more general model of the place brand is developed which draws upon concepts from classical branding theory, the relational exchange paradigm and the network paradigm discussed above. This model, referred to as the relational network brand is set out in Figure 1. The place brand is represented by a core brand and four categories of brand relationships which extend the brand reality or brand experience. These relationships are dynamic. They strengthen and evolve over time. Stakeholder partners may also change as the brand develops and repositions. Unlike a

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The relational network brand


Consumer relationships Non-conflicting target markets Residents and employees Internal customers Managed relationships from the top

Figure 1

Brand infrastructure relationships Access services external transport (air, sea, land and rail) internal transport Hygiene facilities car parks open spaces Brandscape Core brand Personality Positioning Reality

Primary service relationships Services at the core of the brand experience retailers events and leisure activities hotels and hotel associations

Media relationships Organic communications Induced/marketing communications publicity public relations advertising

conventional service brand, however, the process of brand management, as has been noted, is less controllable. Thus, the extension of the brand from the core to include primary services, the brand infrastructure, media and communications and consumers is best described as a ripple effect in which brand relationships are gradually extended through a process of progressive interaction between the network of stakeholders. The brand core represents a places identity, the blueprint for developing and communicating the place brand. It may be the vision of one or a number of organisations, and can be dened by three elements. The rst element is a statement of the brand personality, which is characterised by functional attributes, symbolic attributes and, most importantly in the context of service products, experiential attributes (see Table 2). Functional attributes are tangible, and include what Sirgy and Su79 refer to as utilitarian and environmental attributes. Symbolic attributes in contrast are intang-

ible, and meet the need for social approval, personal expression and self-esteem.80 Linking these two categories of attribute together is a set of holistic attributes,81 which describe the visitor experience and answer the question what will it feel like?. These might include descriptors such as aroused, excited or relaxed. The second element required to dene the core brand is a clear statement of the brands positioning. This denes the brands point of reference with respect to the competitive set by identifying the attributes which make it similar to other places and then identifying the attributes which make it unique within that set. For example, the attributes which dene the set may be related to a destinations historical buildings, such as a cathedral or castle, and the unique attribute could be related to a particular event which occurred there. The third element of the brand core is the brand reality. Both the personality and the positioning need to be rmly rooted in

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Table 2: Components of the relational brand personality


Potential functional attributes Museums, art galleries, theatres and concert halls Leisure and sports activities and facilities Conference and exhibition facilities Public spaces Hotels, restaurants, night clubs and entertainment Transport infrastructure and access Potential symbolic attributes The character of the local residents The prole of typical visitors (eg age, income, interests and values) Descriptors of the quality of service provided by service contact personnel Potential experiential attributes How the destination will make visitors feel (eg relaxed, excited or fascinated) Descriptors of the destinations feel (eg the city experience, vibrant or peaceful) The character of the built environment (eg historic, modern, green and spacious) Descriptors related to security and safety

reality if the promised experience is to be fullled. Developing the core brand is not about creating an image which presents a highly selective identity as a means of selling the place, as suggested by some authors,82 nor is it a sales pitch which sees the place through rose-tinted spectacles. The successful branding of destinations results from a combination of imaginative marketing supported by investment in the key services and facilities required to deliver the experience on offer. Unless sufcient funds are invested in the brand and its services and facilities, there will be no reinforcement of the core brand values and no repeat consumption. But, the ultimate success of a place branding strategy relies on the effective extension of the core brand through effective relationships with stakeholders, each of which extends and reinforces the reality of the core brand through consistent communication and delivery of services. The model groups these relationships into four categories: consumers, primary and secondary services, and the media. Primary services will include services at the heart of the core brand. Without a positive relationship with these service providers, the core brand will be difcult to establish. Depending upon the specication of the core brand, these may include retailers and

retailer associations, hotels and hotel associations, events and leisure organisations and organisations responsible for the management of historic monuments and buildings. It is the character of their service offer and in particular the behaviour of their customercontact personnel which are crucial to the delivery of the brand. Central to this is the producer-consumer relationship. What are the expected behaviours? How are the brand values communicated? How are enquiries and complaints dealt with? The brand infrastructure has three elements: access, hygiene facilities and the brandscape.83 Access includes both transport to a destination and the transport within it, such as the provision of park-and-ride services and walkways. This is probably one of the most difcult areas of the destination brand to develop. While internal transportation and associated services can be locally determined, external access requires relationships to be built with national and international service providers. These include private rail operators as well as government agencies responsible for road construction. They include relationships with organisations such as airport authorities and the airlines. It is also necessary to build relationships with those who manage hygiene facilities such as car parks, toilets, baby-changing facilities and

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street cleaning. The nal element in the brand infrastructure is the brandscape. In the context of destination brands, the term refers to the built environment in which the various services forming part of the core brand take place. Although each of those services will have its own servicescape,84 the experience of these will be enhanced or reduced by the ambience of the destination in terms of the built environment. In centres of historical interest, the ambience is part of the destinations heritage. For destinations without such heritage, the ambience has to be created. The character and extent of the investment required to do this will depend, to some extent, upon the degree of concentration of the principal services and attractions forming part of the core brand. The more dispersed these are, the more investment may be required to ensure an attractive brandscape linking these. For example, research into the brand image of Bradford identied the corridors through the city as an essential catalyst for change.85 The third category of relationships is media and communications. Unless a consistent identity is portrayed through marketing communication channels (notably through advertising, publicity and public relations), and through organic channels (in particular the arts and education), the core brand will fail. The role of effective public relations is crucial to the portrayal of a positive organic image. Evidence suggests that it is frequently organic communication processes, developed through the arts, education and the media, which have the strongest and most pervasive inuence on the image of a destination.86 Little can be done to change such imagery until the reality is changed through strategic investment. Crucial to the beginning of this change in organic image is the establishment of a relationship with the media, local, national and international. The purpose of this is not to try to change the image while the reality remains unchanged, but to communicate the changes to the brand reality as they occur. The nal category of relationships is consumer groups, which include the residents and employees of local organisations as well as

the targeted visitors. Building effective relationships with these is, of course, the ultimate objective, but insufcient attention to the different needs of different groups may lead to conict. Tourists who are desirous of a tranquil and scenic environment may not be attracted to a busy city bustling with people. On the other hand, the busy, vibrant atmosphere of a major city may be very attractive to younger tourists and business tourists. It is also important to remember that residents and employees of local organisations are also consumers of the destination brand. They are also part of the brand reality and need to be supportive of the core brand values. This can only happen if the target visitor segments are compatible with the characteristics of the majority of the resident population. Lack of care in selecting target market groups can potentially destroy a destinations indigenous culture and thereby destroy one of the key features of the core brand. This is a problem which arguably affects tourism markets in particular, where visitors are likely to come into closer contact with residents more frequently. This may not be straightforward, however. Conicts can arise between a destinations economic aspirations and the socio-cultural needs of residents, leading to commodication at the expense of culture.87 Building relationships with key community stakeholders can therefore be crucial to the success of the core brand. But problems may still remain even if the choice of market segments is consistent. Failure of two departments within on organisation to communicate consistent core brand values can result in brand confusion. This is a problem evident in local authorities, which are frequently the prime movers and shakers of the branding process. A department responsible for inward investment failing to coordinate its communications with a separate department responsible for tourism is not uncommon in some local authorities.88 In such cases the relationships between different internal stakeholders lacks coordination. This emphasises the need for responsibility for the place brand to reside

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with the most senior levels of management in an organisation.

Directions for future research This paper has postulated a conceptual model of the place brand, drawing upon the literatures relating to classical branding, relationship marketing, services marketing, tourism marketing and urban planning. It extends the concept of a place brand beyond the narrow focus of a perceptual entity or image to include behavioural and economic dimensions. In the context of destinations, the model implies that successful branding requires:

investment in buildings and brand infrastructure sufcient to make the promised brand experience a reality a strong network of stakeholder relationships which all share a common vision of the core brand the selection of target markets which are consistent both with each other and with the character of the local community a service-oriented approach to the delivery of quality. Further research will clearly be necessary to test these propositions and dene the exact nature of the relationships between the variables identied and brand success, however it is dened. Further empirical work is essential. While there has recently been considerable work on the perceptual aspects of destination brands, there is a general paucity of research relating to the role of stakeholder relationships and networking in the development of destination brands. Moreover, a key area of particular concern to local authorities is the role which relationships with local communities and employees play in the building of successful destination brands. While studies have examined the congruity between potential tourists self-image and their perceptions of a destinations clientele, there appears to be little research into tourists perceptions of the residents of a destination. Similarly, there has been little work on the relationships between residents and

other stakeholders perceptions of their own town or city. Indeed, the need for the development and renement of a comprehensive model of the place brand has never been greater. The increasing levels of competition between destinations to attract visitors and events combined with an environment which is becoming increasingly risk-averse and security-conscious, make the development of successful brands and the trust which they engender of vital social and economic importance. But future branding activity must be based upon the creation of brand reality rather than solely the communication of destination images. Further broadly based empirical work would greatly assist destination marketers in achieving this.

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