DESTINATION BRANDING: THE COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF GUAM AND VIETNAM

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1 Page 95 DESTINATION BRANDING: THE COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY OF GUAM AND VIETNAM Thi Lan Huong Bui, University of Guam Gerald S. A. Perez, Guam Visitors Bureau ABSTRACT In the context of a global recession, the tourism industry has struggled hard to battle declines in sales turnover, particularly in countries where inbound tourism is a major economic contributor to national output. To improve their competitiveness, many countries not only promote their natural attractions but differentiate their destinations with branding strategies that establish their unique positions to attract more international visitors and boost sales. This paper is a comparative study of Japanese visitors and their behavior in Guam and Vietnam, both destinations possessing many similarities in climate, culture, and beautiful beaches. Implications for the tourism industry and branding are examined and justified by the high spending potential of the Japanese market segment. Findings from this research can suggest successful paths to a country s branding strategy and tourism development. INTRODUCTION In the context of a global recession, the tourism industry has struggled hard to battle declines in sales turnover, particularly in countries where inbound tourism is a major economic contributor to national output. To improve their competitiveness, many countries not only promote their natural attractions but also differentiate their destinations with branding strategies that establish their unique position to attract more international visitors and to boost sales. The challenge for destination marketers is how to differentiate their offering from competitors in a growing competitive tourism market place. In the tourism literature, many authors suggest that tourism destination branding represents the most obvious means by which destinations can distinguish themselves from the mass of commodity destinations around the world (Folyey, Fahy, 2004, cited by Fyall, Laesk, 2007). However, the need to attract visitors requires conscious branding strategies for the different target visitor groups (Kotler, Gertner, 2002; Freire, 2002). Several countries were very successful in applying the country branding concept, particularly New Zealand (Lodge, 2002), Spain (Gilmore, 2002), France, Scotland (Olins, 2002), and the re-imaging of former Yugoslavia

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5 Page 110 Pike S. (2008), Destination marketing: an integrated marketing communication approach, Elsevier Inc., First Edition. Ritchie R. & J. Ritchie (2002). A Framework for an Industry supported destination marketing Information System. Tourism Management, 23, Supphellen, M. & I. Nyaardsvik (2002). Academic paper: Testing brand slogan, conceptual development and empirical illustration of a simple normative model. Journal of Brand Management, 9(4-5), Tran Binh (2009). Du lich Viet Nam, cong nghiep khong khoi Viet Nam, Phan 1: Boi canh phat trien va vi the kinh te. 08, 2009, Dien Dan Forum, BP 50, Bour-la-Reine, France World Economic Forum (2009). The Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report World Trade Organization (2009). Handbook on Tourism destination Branding ENDNOTES Stakeholders identified by the World Tourism Organization are political, commercial, travel businesses and residents (WTO, 2009). Between 1995 and 2007, the Asia-Pacific region s share of total international arrivals increased from 18.7% to 25.7% ( Statistical yearbook for Asia and the Pacific, 2009) Source: GSO (2009), Statistical Yearbook for Asia and the pacific 2009, Calculations by the author A random quantitative survey sample of 1,985 departing Japanese visitors at Guam International airport with a margin of error of 95 confidence level. Hakuhodo s survey of brand strengths of international tourist destinations with Tourist Destination Brand Analyzer, January 31, 2005 To measure customer satisfaction for Guam, Qmark Research use Likert 7 point rating scale where 7= very satisfied and 1= very dissatisfied. Survey and analysis of the brand strength of 51 tourist destinations around the world with the sample of 1000 respondents: 600 in the metropolitan Tokyo and 400 in the Kansai region. Three elements of tourist brand equity are captured as experience value (related to the experiences the destination offer), infrastructure value (related to the location and the accommodations) and information value (related to reputation and the accessibility of information).