Three Critical Factors for the New Era of Destination Branding

Early 2020 halted the travel industry and closed borders, throwing one of the world's largest industries into a crisis. Here we cover some of the key factors that will help destination branding to have successful recovery soon.

Factor #1: The critical Role of Trust

The travel and tourism industry must transform from being all about adventure, exploring  the unexpected to now being a place customer can turn to for trust, responsibility and safety. This is the best way brands can recover the fastest.

Factor #2: Destination brands need to flex for the future

Rebranding with a focus on the future shows a destination's unlimited potential and its resiliency when confronted with change. Your brand must have the ability to transform and innovate with changing times. This is essential for all aspects of the travel industry from a country to its national brands, regional destinations - not limited to hotel chains and airlines.

Factor #3: Place brands need to create experiences

If brands evoke a sense of experience, they will be better able to connect with customers and their senses. Brands must play close attention to all customer touch points. Destination brands have the growing opportunity to differentiate and innovate the customer experience through a blend of physical, human and digital interactions.

The overlying theme here is that destination brands need to understand the new consumer expectations and evoke trust while flexing their identities and becoming more immersive when connecting places and consumers.

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