Application of country brand for tourism product promotion: Russian evidence
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INTRODUCTION 6
CHAPTER 1. NATIONAL TOURISM BRANDING: BACKGROUND AND PECULIARITIES 9
1.1. Tourism product definition, components and players 9
1.2. Tourism product choice peculiarities 10
1.3. Country brand and motivations for its development 12
1.4. Categories of the country brand stakeholders 14
1.5. Country brand DMOs functions for tourism product promotion 16
1.6. Russian country brand development 19
1.7. Analysis of the type Russia brand concept 21
1.8. Summary of the Chapter 1 23
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH DESIGN, CONTENT ANALYSIS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS
REULTS 24
2.1. Identifying research goal and research questions 24
2.2. Research hypothesis 25
2.3. Choice and justification of the research design 27
2.4. Data collection technique 28
2.5. Survey structure, distribution and analysis approach 29
2.6. Assessment of the associations about country 31
4.7.In-depth interview results 36
2.8. Summary of the Chapter 2 38
CHAPTER 3. INTERPRETATION OF THE SURVEY RESULTS 40
3.1. Descriptive statistics 40
3.2. Evaluation of the Russian national branding concept 40
3.3. Influence of the concept on the cognitive, affective and behavioral components 40
3.4. Influence of the concept on knowledge of the tourism activities in Russia 42
3.5. Influence of the concept on the associations towards the country 43
3.6. Hypothesis testing and results interpretation 45
3.7. Discussion of the obtained results 46
CHAPTER 4. EXPERT INTERVIEWS RESULTS AND TOURISM PRODUCT PROMOTION
MODEL 48
4.1. Tourism agencies expert interview results 48
4.2. Country brand implication for the tourism product promotion 50
4.3. Summary of the Chapter 4 52
REFERENCES 57
APPENDICES 64
Appendix
CHAPTER 1. NATIONAL TOURISM BRANDING: BACKGROUND AND PECULIARITIES 9
1.1. Tourism product definition, components and players 9
1.2. Tourism product choice peculiarities 10
1.3. Country brand and motivations for its development 12
1.4. Categories of the country brand stakeholders 14
1.5. Country brand DMOs functions for tourism product promotion 16
1.6. Russian country brand development 19
1.7. Analysis of the type Russia brand concept 21
1.8. Summary of the Chapter 1 23
CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH DESIGN, CONTENT ANALYSIS AND IN-DEPTH INTERVIEWS
REULTS 24
2.1. Identifying research goal and research questions 24
2.2. Research hypothesis 25
2.3. Choice and justification of the research design 27
2.4. Data collection technique 28
2.5. Survey structure, distribution and analysis approach 29
2.6. Assessment of the associations about country 31
4.7.In-depth interview results 36
2.8. Summary of the Chapter 2 38
CHAPTER 3. INTERPRETATION OF THE SURVEY RESULTS 40
3.1. Descriptive statistics 40
3.2. Evaluation of the Russian national branding concept 40
3.3. Influence of the concept on the cognitive, affective and behavioral components 40
3.4. Influence of the concept on knowledge of the tourism activities in Russia 42
3.5. Influence of the concept on the associations towards the country 43
3.6. Hypothesis testing and results interpretation 45
3.7. Discussion of the obtained results 46
CHAPTER 4. EXPERT INTERVIEWS RESULTS AND TOURISM PRODUCT PROMOTION
MODEL 48
4.1. Tourism agencies expert interview results 48
4.2. Country brand implication for the tourism product promotion 50
4.3. Summary of the Chapter 4 52
REFERENCES 57
APPENDICES 64
Appendix
Tourism product concept has long roots and still there are various opinions concerning it.
Figni (2016) offers to recognize the tourism product as a complex bundle which includes both complementary (accommodation, transport, attractions etc.) and substitute goods and services (different lodging structures, alternative museums or leisure parks etc.). Moreover, it was found out that various players are involved in managing tourism product: tourism enterprises, governments, public organizations (museums, parks, etc.), accommodation, infrastructure and hospitality organizations, travelers and other.
Additionally, it was found out that marketing stimulus can affect the choice of the tourism product of the travelers (Woodside and Lysonski 1989) and that falling cost of international travel and the rising spending power of a growing international middle class and its constant search for new experiences make the implementation of country brand widely used on the global tourism arena. Anholt (2003) defines country branding as using strategic marketing to promote destination image, products, and attractiveness for tourism and foreign direct investment. Though the term country or nation brand has various definitions by different authors, it could be seen that the idea of development country brand stands for the strengthening image, differentiation, connection interests and competitive capabilities of a country and involves the adaptation to the particular stakeholders.
In response to this in Russia the competition aimed to develop Russian country brand for tourism was launched between 2015 and 2017. According to the technical inquiry of the competition the strategic goal of the proposed concept should be to maintain the tourists’ flow towards the direction of Russia. However, even though the competition was finished and the main attributes of the concept were developed, the launch of the concept is still delayed due to debates whether this concept is appropriate.
The assessment of the country brands of top ranked countries according to the Nation brand GFK index gave an opportunity to find out the set of functions of country brands and compare their representation in Russia. It was found out that those functions are partly present in Russia and are distributed through several organizations. Additionally it was found out that an unaided attitude could be recognized as an “excellent intermediate criteria” for evaluation the helpfulness of marketing stimulus (Axelrod 1968). Therefore, all things considered, based on the assessment of literature review about the country brand and tourism product concepts the research gap was identified, which could be represented as the lack of investigation whether the country brand is able to change perception towards the country, attain more tourists and develop tourism product.
In response to this, the goal of this study is to explore the influence of the Russian tourism brand concept on the travelers’ destination choice and for the country’s tourism product promotion. In order to reach stated goal, on the example of the Russian tourism brand concept the study is aiming to answer the following research questions:
• Whether the country brand can influence perception, intention to visit and emotional attitude towards the country among foreign tourists?
• What should be the content of the message about country to be delivered to the travelers?
• How the country brand can contribute to the tourism product promotion?
From the goal and questions of the study it could be seen that there are two major dimensions of the research:
1. To investigate how country brand precisely is expected to contribute to the work of destination management organizations and tourism product promotion on the example of the winning Russian tourism brand concept.
2. To find out whether the country brand is a strong enough as marketing tool to change the perception positively and can support to attain new customers (travelers) on the example of the winning Russian tourism brand concept.
Thus, the answer to the stated questions provide useful guidelines for brand and tourism managers in targeting foreign audience (tourists) and understanding the necessity for adoption of the country brand for the tourism product promotion.
In order to ensure the quality and efficiency the study was organized in a following way:
• Literature review in order to investigate tourism product concept, destination choice factors, country brand peculiarities, approaches of the development of the country tourism brand as well as examine Russian national tourism brand concept.
• Content analysis of the associations about the country as the preliminary stage for further investigation of the international tourist attitude toward the country.
• In-depth interviews with foreign travelers to Investigate tourism destination choice motivations, identify perception towards country as a tourism destination and examine country tourism brand concept
• Questionnaire development, which supports the study, tests the country tourism brand concept and its ability to influence consumers (travelers).
• Expert interviews with representatives of the travel agencies to investigate the expected role of the country brand and find out possible impact of the country brand on tourism product promotion
Figni (2016) offers to recognize the tourism product as a complex bundle which includes both complementary (accommodation, transport, attractions etc.) and substitute goods and services (different lodging structures, alternative museums or leisure parks etc.). Moreover, it was found out that various players are involved in managing tourism product: tourism enterprises, governments, public organizations (museums, parks, etc.), accommodation, infrastructure and hospitality organizations, travelers and other.
Additionally, it was found out that marketing stimulus can affect the choice of the tourism product of the travelers (Woodside and Lysonski 1989) and that falling cost of international travel and the rising spending power of a growing international middle class and its constant search for new experiences make the implementation of country brand widely used on the global tourism arena. Anholt (2003) defines country branding as using strategic marketing to promote destination image, products, and attractiveness for tourism and foreign direct investment. Though the term country or nation brand has various definitions by different authors, it could be seen that the idea of development country brand stands for the strengthening image, differentiation, connection interests and competitive capabilities of a country and involves the adaptation to the particular stakeholders.
In response to this in Russia the competition aimed to develop Russian country brand for tourism was launched between 2015 and 2017. According to the technical inquiry of the competition the strategic goal of the proposed concept should be to maintain the tourists’ flow towards the direction of Russia. However, even though the competition was finished and the main attributes of the concept were developed, the launch of the concept is still delayed due to debates whether this concept is appropriate.
The assessment of the country brands of top ranked countries according to the Nation brand GFK index gave an opportunity to find out the set of functions of country brands and compare their representation in Russia. It was found out that those functions are partly present in Russia and are distributed through several organizations. Additionally it was found out that an unaided attitude could be recognized as an “excellent intermediate criteria” for evaluation the helpfulness of marketing stimulus (Axelrod 1968). Therefore, all things considered, based on the assessment of literature review about the country brand and tourism product concepts the research gap was identified, which could be represented as the lack of investigation whether the country brand is able to change perception towards the country, attain more tourists and develop tourism product.
In response to this, the goal of this study is to explore the influence of the Russian tourism brand concept on the travelers’ destination choice and for the country’s tourism product promotion. In order to reach stated goal, on the example of the Russian tourism brand concept the study is aiming to answer the following research questions:
• Whether the country brand can influence perception, intention to visit and emotional attitude towards the country among foreign tourists?
• What should be the content of the message about country to be delivered to the travelers?
• How the country brand can contribute to the tourism product promotion?
From the goal and questions of the study it could be seen that there are two major dimensions of the research:
1. To investigate how country brand precisely is expected to contribute to the work of destination management organizations and tourism product promotion on the example of the winning Russian tourism brand concept.
2. To find out whether the country brand is a strong enough as marketing tool to change the perception positively and can support to attain new customers (travelers) on the example of the winning Russian tourism brand concept.
Thus, the answer to the stated questions provide useful guidelines for brand and tourism managers in targeting foreign audience (tourists) and understanding the necessity for adoption of the country brand for the tourism product promotion.
In order to ensure the quality and efficiency the study was organized in a following way:
• Literature review in order to investigate tourism product concept, destination choice factors, country brand peculiarities, approaches of the development of the country tourism brand as well as examine Russian national tourism brand concept.
• Content analysis of the associations about the country as the preliminary stage for further investigation of the international tourist attitude toward the country.
• In-depth interviews with foreign travelers to Investigate tourism destination choice motivations, identify perception towards country as a tourism destination and examine country tourism brand concept
• Questionnaire development, which supports the study, tests the country tourism brand concept and its ability to influence consumers (travelers).
• Expert interviews with representatives of the travel agencies to investigate the expected role of the country brand and find out possible impact of the country brand on tourism product promotion
The thesis contributes to studies of country branding for the promotion of tourism product, revealing the role of proposed Russian brand for tourism business in the context of international environment. The study represented what is the role of country brand for the tourism industry, how country tourism brand can contribute to the needs of destination management organizations on different levels, the role and functions of proposed Russian tourism brand. Additionally, the research also gave an opportunity to test the concept of Russian tourism brand within identified demands of the technical inquiry.
Implications in promotion of tourism product for destination management organizations
Conducted research gave an opportunity to understand the relationship between country brand and destination management organizations. It is possible to state that the country brand is able not only to present country on international arena, but also be the guide and support for the destination management organizations in terms of offer development and promotional activities.
It was found out that country brand might be a supportive tool for tourism product on the stage of consideration and preparation of the visit Russia as a tourism destination. In this case on the consideration stage it should represent tourism activities in Russia, while on the preparation stage it would be useful in connection of the possible tourists with travel organizations. Therefore, for the preparation stage it is recommended suggested to involve or represent tourism agencies directly for the Russian national tourism portal, which could on behalf of the country brand support the process of visiting the country.
Additionally, it was found out that the country brand could help destination management organizations (particular travel agencies) to attain additional credibility by being presented on behalf or with cooperation with country brand. In this case it is suggested to implement the opportunity for partner travel agencies to use the statement “proved by country brand” or similar one.
Furthermore, it was found out that country brand can support the partnerships between local and international tourism agencies. Hence, it is recommended to enhance these partnerships through creating international and local pool of destination management organizations and support their cooperation.
What is more it was found out that advertising materials of the country brand could help travel agencies and their international partners to represent country properly, in this case it is recommended to offer such materials for travel agencies, which have foreign offices and international partners (international travel agencies).
Indirectly the wish of being presented by the country brand and participation in the partnership or associations on the bases of the brand can be filtered by the certification of the quality of the services of those organizations, which could substantially motivate them to develop their offer.
Finally, for the private hospitality organizations and public touristic bureau it is essential to put attention to the questions of the safety, convenience and hospitality of their services as by the European tourists those features are perceived relatively low for the country.
Implications in promotion of tourism product for destination management organizations
Conducted research gave an opportunity to understand the relationship between country brand and destination management organizations. It is possible to state that the country brand is able not only to present country on international arena, but also be the guide and support for the destination management organizations in terms of offer development and promotional activities.
It was found out that country brand might be a supportive tool for tourism product on the stage of consideration and preparation of the visit Russia as a tourism destination. In this case on the consideration stage it should represent tourism activities in Russia, while on the preparation stage it would be useful in connection of the possible tourists with travel organizations. Therefore, for the preparation stage it is recommended suggested to involve or represent tourism agencies directly for the Russian national tourism portal, which could on behalf of the country brand support the process of visiting the country.
Additionally, it was found out that the country brand could help destination management organizations (particular travel agencies) to attain additional credibility by being presented on behalf or with cooperation with country brand. In this case it is suggested to implement the opportunity for partner travel agencies to use the statement “proved by country brand” or similar one.
Furthermore, it was found out that country brand can support the partnerships between local and international tourism agencies. Hence, it is recommended to enhance these partnerships through creating international and local pool of destination management organizations and support their cooperation.
What is more it was found out that advertising materials of the country brand could help travel agencies and their international partners to represent country properly, in this case it is recommended to offer such materials for travel agencies, which have foreign offices and international partners (international travel agencies).
Indirectly the wish of being presented by the country brand and participation in the partnership or associations on the bases of the brand can be filtered by the certification of the quality of the services of those organizations, which could substantially motivate them to develop their offer.
Finally, for the private hospitality organizations and public touristic bureau it is essential to put attention to the questions of the safety, convenience and hospitality of their services as by the European tourists those features are perceived relatively low for the country.