Researching research on destination branding in pandemic crises
Resumo: The pandemic affected the tourism industry, causing revenue decline and job losses. Before the pandemic, travel and tourism accounted for 10% of global GDP and more than 320 million jobs worldwide. COVID-19 affected tourism-dependent economies adversely as well, and probably for a longer period than other economies. The pandemic also influenced the hospitality and tourism industry, as well as the cities’ trends (Gicić et al., 2021; Yurcu, 2021). According to Confetto et al. (2023), the current state of the tourism industry is intricate, characterised by profound crises and changes resulting from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Post-pandemic, tourist destinations need, more than ever, to reaffirm their brand in the global market. The global tourism industry must adopt alternative destination branding practices to achieve this objective. However, urban territories and destinations can no longer be conceived, planned, and managed as they were in the years prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (Almeida & Almeida, 2021).
Cities have been formulating strategies that can address tourist destinations and their management (Alramadan & Kasim, 2022). The COVID-19 outbreak has instigated new behaviours in people (Alsetoohy et al., 2021) and influenced emerging trends in tourist destinations (Cardoso et al., 2022; Nunna & Banerjee, 2022). It is important to emphasise that the tourism sector offers a promise based on credibility, security, and the overall visitor experience (Almeyda-Ibáñez & George, 2017). Tourism was one of the sectors most severely impacted by the ongoing pandemic, especially during its peak in 2020. However, the field of tourism is equally dynamic, adapting to local realities (Ngwira et al., 2022).
The problem issue encompasses: What is the impact of COVID-19 on articles published about destination branding in the context of regional tourism development?
This study aims to analyse the articles published on destination branding between 2020 and 2022 and correlate them with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For this, discussions on the theme of destination branding were sought in the literature found on the Scopus and Web of Science platforms, dated 2020–2022, highlighting the central themes of these publications and their relationship with pandemic crises and the development of regional tourism.
The research justifications highlight the support of destination branding strategies in the long-term sustainability of a tourist destination (Kovačić et al., 2022), differentiating it from other destinations. Destination branding can also improve a negative image (Currie, 2020), generating multiple perspectives (Kotler et al., 2006), as there are relationships between destination branding and competitive advantages (Rop, 2022). One of these negative images is related to unsafe tourist destinations, such as those with a large influx of people. During COVID-19, tourists sought destinations with fewer visitors, allowing other areas to be discovered, such as rural, natural, and nautical destinations.
Destination branding strategies include enhancing the city’s image (Liang et al., 2021). Utilising branding tactics helps destinations highlight their distinctiveness (Nowacki, 2019), and an effectively implemented destination branding process enhances competitiveness (Miličević et al., 2016). Furthermore, adapting policies and implementing sustainable urban tourism planning is crucial to reviving tourism in the post-COVID-19 era (Nientied & Toto, 2022). One of these strategies involved the adoption of health certification for countries (Cardoso et al., 2022).
The article follows this structure: first, it offers a literature overview on destination branding and tourism destinations to establish the foundation for this study. Next, it outlines the research methods employed for the investigation, followed by analysis of the gathered data. Finally, the article presents and discusses the results.