Competitive Identity

Ever since Simon Anholt coined the phrase 'Nation Branding, there has been more and more interest in the idea that countries, cities and regions can build their brand images. This authoritative book considers how commercial brand management can really be applied to places and shows how places can build and sustain their competitive identity.

Tourism Management, Marketing, and Development revolves around the implementation of ICT applications in the tourism sector: technology is engendering a major shift both in the performance of individuals and companies involved in the tourism sector and having an impact on the way individuals consume services and enjoy experiences in space and time.

“Not only does Anholt explain the challenges facing the world with unique clarity, he also provides genuinely new, informative, practical, innovative solutions. . . . The book is a must-read for anyone who cares about humanity's shared future.” —H. E. Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed (Farmaajo), President of the Federal Republic of Somalia Simon Anholt has spent decades helping countries from Austria to Zambia to improve their international standing. Using colorful descriptions of his experiences—dining with Vladimir Putin at his country home, taking a group of Felipe Calderon's advisors on their first Mexico City subway ride, touring a beautiful new government hospital in Afghanistan that nobody would use because it was in Taliban-controlled territory—he tells how he began finding answers to that question. Ultimately, Anholt hit on the Good Country Equation, a formula for encouraging international cooperation and reinventing education for a globalized era. Anholt even offers a “selfish” argument for cooperation: he shows that it generates goodwill, which in turn translates into increased trade, foreign investment, tourism, talent attraction, and even domestic electoral success. Anholt insists we can change the way countries behave and the way people are educated in a single generation—because that's all the time we have.

Drawing the attention of tourists to different destinations around the world assists in the overall economic health of the targeted region by increasing revenue and attracting investment opportunities, as well as increasing cultural awareness of the area’s population. Strategic Branding Methodologies and Theory for Tourist Attraction investigates international perspectives and promotional strategies in the topic area of place branding. Highlighting theoretical concepts and marketing techniques being utilized in the endorsement of various destinations, regions, and cities around the world, this publication is a pivotal reference source for researchers, practitioners, policy makers, students, and professionals.

Place branding is happening. A new field of practice and study is in existence and whatever we choose to call it there can no longer be any doubt that it is with us. This collection of intuitive and well-reserached articles examines how places and regions see themselves, and how they reflect this in their branding.

New Understandings of Twin Relationships takes an experience-based approach to exploring how twin attachment and estrangement are critical to understanding the push and pull of closely entwined personal relationships. Based on the research expertise of each of the authors (all identical twins in their own right), and vignettes from twins across the globe, this book describes the inner workings of the twin-world, showing how the twin-world creates experiences that are often more intense and intricately textured than those in the singleton-world. Chapters debunk myths surrounding twinship and analyze the developmental stages of the twin relationship as well as the effect of being a twin on one’s mental health from different perspectives. The authors articulate how attachment, separation anxiety, loneliness, estrangement, and the subjective experience of the twin and non-twin "other" impact behavior, thinking, and feeling. Through its careful study of the many psychological challenges that twins face throughout their lifetime, this text will help psychologists, scholars, clinicians, and twins themselves attain a deeper understanding of all interpersonal relationships.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- List of illustrations -- Acknowledgements -- 1. Introduction -- Foundations -- 2. Building brands: meaning, value, creation and clothing -- Understanding brand value -- Defining the brand -- Brand constituents -- Being the brand -- Clothing the brand -- 3. Developing the brand: focus, consistency and alignment -- Focus -- Consistency and the delivered promise -- Organizational consistency -- The frontline -- Organizing talent for brand consistency -- Frames for alignment: the VCI model -- 4. Marketing the brand: image extension and cross-border development -- Brand marketing -- Brand extensions: leverage and synergy -- Auditing the brand: the KUBE diagnostic -- Horizontal extensions -- Vertical brand extensions -- Unintended extensions -- Brand architecture -- Branding across borders -- International market entry -- International marketing adaptation -- 5. Understanding Asia: from the inside and out -- Asian hardware -- Asian software -- Asian socio-cultural norms: from the 'outside-in' -- Asian culture from the inside-out -- Corruption: elephants in the living room -- Illustrations -- 6. Brand expressions I: consumer products -- Building and competing -- Frontlining -- Marketing the brand -- CSR, ethics and (re-)gaining trust -- 7. Brand expressions II: services -- The hotel -- The hospital -- The airline -- IFM (integrated facilities management) -- AOS (any other service) -- 8. Postscript: destination Asia -- Revealing -- Building -- Communication -- Delivery -- References -- Index.

At a time of increasing city competition, national capitals are at the forefront of efforts to gain competitive advantage for themselves and their nation, to project a distinctive and positive image and to score well in global city league tables. They are frequently their country’s main tourist gateway, and their success in attracting visitors is inextricably linked with that of the nation. They attract not just leisure visitors; they are especially important in other growing tourism markets, for example, as centres of power they feature strongly in business tourism, as academic centres they are important for educational tourism, and they frequently host global events such as the Olympic Games. And there are more of them: first, the number of capitals has grown as the number of nation-states has increased and, secondly, pressures for devolution mean more cities are seeking national capital status, even when they are not at the head of independent states. We need to understand tourism in capitals better – but there has been little research in the past. This book develops new insights as it explores the phenomenon of capital city tourism, and uses recent research to examine the appeal of ‘capitalness’ to tourists, and explore developments in capitals across the world. This book was published as a special issue of Current Issues in Tourism.