Compass: Insights into Tourism Branding

• #34 Gaming: Rolling the Dice on Destination Image

  • Over the past decade, the gaming sector has become a powerful spark in the growth, and even recovery, of global destinations. Needing to attract new markets and generate new revenues, many destinations are betting on gaming to increase their fortunes. At a tactical level, the benefits are clear but for any destination, introducing gaming into the mix is a gamble.

• #33 Travel Visas - Keeping the Destination's Front Door Open

  • The 21st Century has seen our world lose its borders. With dramatic changes occurring in the global mobility of citizens, increased checks on travellers became required and visas were introduced. At its essence, the role of a visa is clear, and its need clearly understood. The process of attaining a visa, however, is where clarity diminishes and where excitement of travel can be extinguished.

• #32 Capturing Invaluable Learnings Through Crisis (PDF)

  • 2011 has been a year of dramatic changes and challenges. Where crisis has occurred, travellers across the globe have become acutely aware of the impact their presence can have on destination recovery.

• #31 Future Ready? Gearing Up For Two Decades of Growth (PDF)

  • The travel and tourism sector takes great pride in its statistics. 940 million International Arrivals in 2010- a staggering increase compared to 687 million just a decade earlier. Significant contributions to trade, investment, national competitiveness and 1 in 12 jobs worldwide. Growth in traveler activity appears to be unrelenting. The future is ready for Travel and Tourism. The question, however: Is Travel and Tourism ready for the future?

• #30 Transformation Through Tourism: Bringing the Rhetoric to Life, and Lives (PDF)

  • The power of tourism can best be described by one word: transformational. Transformation has, in fact, become one of the overtly stated, strategic goals of nations participating in the tourism sector. And at a global level, the United Nations looks to tourism as a way of fuelling the world’s ability to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), transforming the lives of those most desperately in need.

• #29 Pausing to Appreciate the Power of Tourism as World Tourism Day Nears (PDF)

  • The occasion of UNWTO World Tourism Day (September 27th), a day of global focus on, and celebration of, the travel and tourism industry as a tool for economic growth and job creation, sustainability and poverty alleviation, will take place under the theme: "Tourism- Linking Cultures." While a global theme, for the 940 million tourists travelling internationally in 2010, each and every individual would undoubtedly be able to attest to the truism of its spirit. 

• #28 The Priceless Power of Rituals in Travel Experiences (PDF)

  • Rituals. We all have them. We all perform them in one way or another, whether we actively recognise them or not. They are more than just habits, rituals are moments that add heightened meaning and memory to what could otherwise be a series of seconds that pass unacknowledged. For travellers, people constantly on the move and constantly entering places of change, rituals provide an important rhythm to life in transit. They create a sense of control, of balance, or of connection to a time and place. 

• #27 Domestic Tourism: Home-Grown Growth (PDF)

  • The concept of international travel is highly appealing and motivating to travelers for all of its benefits.  Sadly, the A-list profile and appeal of the International in-bound segment of the tourism sector has meant that Domestic tourism has, for many destinations, been relegated to the B-list.  However, the impact of domestic tourism clearly illustrates the segment's rightful place on the A-list.  Domestic tourism offers destinations an exceptional platform for year-round tourism economy growth and development. 

• #26 Customs & Codes: The Importance of Knowing Before Going (PDF)

  • With each new day, a new part of the world is opening up. Travelers across the globe, be they on journeys of business or pleasure, now enjoy a remarkable ability to gain access. Places that inspire curiosity, opportunity, learning and growing are just a train ride, flight, cruise or drive away. The ability to cross borders and enter into new countries, with cultures and codes profoundly different to those of one’s own world, has become a wonderful reality. The blessing of travel has become a means for people across the globe to come closer in thought, understanding, appreciation and cooperation.

• #25 The Airline Experience: So Much More Than 35k (PDF)

  • Air travel has become one of the defining features of the 21st Century. It defines a person's status, a business's courage, a nation's ambitions, and it defines just how far the vision of the future can reach. In these borderless, fearless, limitless times in which we live, air travel has evolved from being a luxury to a necessity.

• #24 The Power of Pomp & Ceremony for Tourism (PDF)

  • Pomp and ceremony. For many travellers around the world it is reason enough to make the trip. Just to have the chance to see it, to feel it, to be swallowed up by all of the fuss and festivity, and to be able to proudly say “I was there!” And as the royal wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton nears, an event promising not to disappoint in wonderfully elaborate show of classic British pomp and ceremony, there is no question that all the fuss is still very much in fashion.

• #23 Museums: Must-See Centres of Meaning in a Destination (PDF)

  • For many visitors to a new place a museum is a magnet, a ‘must do’ that hits the wish list long before even arriving in the destination. Seen as a promise of an experience of creativity and insight, museums are valued by such travellers for all that they have always been meant to be – a window to a new world.

• #22 Voluntourism: Making a Difference Through Tourism (PDF)

  • A heightened sense of collective conscience is having an impact on the way travellers view the world. Increasingly, people are seeking experiences which allow them to get closer to the places they visit. As a result the quest to discover new places and people, becoming a participant in their world and not simply a passer-by, has given life to a powerful new Tourism niche: Voluntourism.

• #21 Destination '365': Managing Tourism Seasonality (PDF)

  • For any destination to operate as a solid, sustainable tourism economy the fundamentals of good business practice must be in place. This requires creating a year-round destination proposition which creates year-round visitation. Engineering of a year-round destination, one which is relatively immune to changes in tourism flow, demands careful definition of the tourism segments which make up the total destination proposition.

• #20 PPP - Building Business Success Through Business Travel (PDF)

  • The global recession has been a painful time for businesses and business travellers. Qualitatively, the end of business travel meant the end of business growth. But with a new year dawning there is a natural sense of optimism, confidence and energy in the air. Though much caution has been exercised when it comes to businesses getting back to business, the end of the recession is seeing increased momentum in turn-around in business travel behaviour.

• #19 PPP - Parterning for Tourism Growth (PDF)

  • PPPs – Public Private Partnerships – have become a globally utilized term and template for the establishment and execution of projects which call upon cooperation between the public and private sectors. Effectively a contract between government and private business, a PPP makes it possible for two traditionally opposing forces to come together and leverage their respective areas of expertise.

• #18 Conservation Tourism - Leaving a Living Legacy (PDF)

  • Natural environments, natural eco-systems and natural habitats become unnaturally exposed when they become accessible to travellers. For this reason, building a tourism destination responsibly, being actively conscious of the impact which the tourism industry has on the place, people and promise of the destination is critical to the long-term health and well being of that destination.

• #17 Global Tourists: International Diplomats (PDF)

  • Through Tourism, the world has developed a platform for people of exceptionally different locations and viewpoints to come together. Be it business travel or leisure, nations meet, cultures connect, people share, and understanding is formed. Tourists become unofficial diplomats for the place they call 'home', and as a result, they become national representatives for their nations.

• #16 Going Green: Conscience, not Campaigns (PDF)

  • Today the colour green has soaked into hearts and minds of people across all countries, all cultures, and all sensibilities. This is especially true for the Travel & Tourism community, which is committed to showcasing the beauty of the world through all that nature, culture and spirit has to offer. But it is critical for Tourism government bodies and businesses to take a close look at what exactly ‘Going Green’ means for their destination, and how genuine are their intentions and commitment to its long-term growth.

• #15 Taking Care of Tourists: Beyond Safety & Security (PDF)

  • To be a member of the international destination community is to accept the responsibility of taking care of travellers. As growing concerns around the safety and security of Tourism destinations has caused travellers to rethink their travel plans, destination marketing and development experts across the globe need to apply their efforts to attracting travellers, as well as protecting them.

• #14 Tourism Investment: Credit Where Its Due (PDF)

  • With the global financial community having declared the recession statistically over, availability of credit and opportunity for investment is starting to return. With this comes the return of opportunity for the T&T sector to resume its efforts to build a stronger, more solid destination proposition, and in so doing, provide critical strengthening of the wider economy of the destination.

• #13 A New Global Language for Growth (PDF)

  • Within the Travel & Tourism sector, an industry which has gained massive awareness, appreciation and participation across the globe over the past decade, words have become a vital source of energy for the sector's success. They have the power to ignite simple ideas into sophisticated innovations, and passing thoughts into powerful actions.

• #12 Major Sporting Events: Major Drivers for Tourism (PDF)

  • For athletes of the world, major sporting events represent the highest point of achievement on the international sporting stage.  But winning a place in the Games in not the only competition involved; To be awarded the title and honour of ‘host city’ of a major international sporting event can have as profound an effect on a city, region and nation as on an athlete. It can change the profile of the place, and lives of the people, forever.

• #11 The Six Senses of Travel (PDF)

  • For the millions of people who board planes, trains, ships and automobiles each and every day, so often the visas stamped in their passports feel undeserved as the place visited was not really ‘touched’ at all. People often seek to take home mementos as touchstones of being there, yet they would find that the most precious moments of travel are taken home not through their luggage, not through their purchases, not through their cameras…but through their senses.

• #10 The Romance of the Brand (PDF)

  • Romance is, and will undoubtedly remain one of the most compelling promises of leisure travel. From holiday getaways to couples massages to special occasion meals, the range of romantic options is endless. Ultimately, there is one dimension of the traveller experience which holds at its heart the essence of true romance.

• #9 Festivals - A Tourism Invitation to the World (PDF)

  • As destinations all fight to stand out among a fiercely competitive tourism landscape, there is one edge that every destination has at its disposal - its festivals.  Across the globe, thousands of festivals take place each year, bringing people together to celebrate the traditions and beliefs of a culture. Extending a unique form of invitation to the world's travellers, festivals bring to life the energy, engagement, and emotion of a destination like few other experiences can.

• #8 The Role of Film in National Identity (PDF)

  • Over the past decade the film industry has become a highly sought after vehicle for destination development. Feature films can be a powerful way of building destination awareness but of key importance is managing the impact on destination identity.

• #7 Destination Advertising - Fuel for Crisis Recovery (PDF)

  • The ability for a destination to recover and rebuild its infrastructure and its image becomes heavily dependent on the destination’s ability to communicate to the world that it is ‘open for business’.  Destination advertising is, therefore, vital to national profiling and perception change – shifts in mindset critical to attracting travellers and investors and thereby creating a sustainable, equitable tourism industry.

• #6 Travel & Tourism in a Turbulent 2009 (PDF)

  • The recession has forced many to cancel travel plans. The stress and emotional fatigue of the economic crisis has increased the need to go on holiday to escape/recover from the burdens of reality. Even just the thought offers some relief. And so, as 2009 unfolds, more and more travellers will be asking not IF they should travel, but where, when, and for how long.

• #5 The Role of Government in Tourism (PDF)

  • The excitement of growth in the tourism sector is not purely about travel and travellers. It is about the underlying impact which it is having on our world socially, philosophically, economically and in many ways spiritually. It is impossible for a region or nation, for any destination, to open its doors to the world and not be ‘touched’. Simply put, in buying into the Tourism phenomena, a destination can face the risk of selling its soul.

• #4 Silver Linings Around Dark Economic Clouds (PDF)

  • In 2009, the business models of Travel and Tourism sectors across the globe are being tested, which is why it is important for all companies to reconnect with the market.

• #3 Sustainable Tourism: Protecting the Principle (PDF)

  • The term Sustainable Tourism has become so widely used today that, sadly, it has become a cliché. Before we move on to the next fashionable, soon-to-be clichéd terminology we owe it to ourselves and to the Tourism industry to pause, look closer at those words and understand what is meant when we speak of sustainable tourism.

• #2 Tourism Branding: Using your Voice (PDF)

  • Destination Branding has become one of the most exciting and competitive aspects of today’s tourism industry. This article provides a valuable framework for creating or examining your own Destination Brand, ensuring that it is truly ‘working’ as a powerful, effective asset and driver of your Tourism identity and aspirations.

• #1 Tourism: Unwrapping the Gift (PDF)

  • The Travel and Tourism sector is generating unprecedented levels of excitement, activity and wealth for nations. Tourism provides nations with a proven, solid source of revenue.