Perception of Destination Branding Measures

Perception of Destination Branding Measures: A Case Study of Alexandria Destination Marketing Organizations suzan bakri hassan mohamed soliman abdel hamid Fayoum University, Egypt h o s n y a l b o h a i ry Authority Office, Alexandria, Egypt s u p p l i e r s a n d o r g a n i z e r s in the tourism sector seek to attract tourists by differentiating and marketing their products and services. While developing their marketing and sale methods they are now more and more using branding as one of their major tools, especially in the current intense global competition. Destination branding is not yet fully used in the tourism business sector of various countries such as Egypt. This study aims to investigate the branding perspective of destination marketing organizations (d m o’s) in Alexandria. To achieve a high result, a survey approach was used to collect data from 100 respondents, official and public sectors using a completed questionnaire technique, a Likert scale and statistical models to test and interpret the research outcomes. The research findings explained that marketing organizations in Alexandria have not enough awareness of any destination branding’s concept and that they are only implementing parts of a branding process.

i n t ro d u c t i o n As tourism is one of the largest sources of economic activity in the world, travel and tourism generates economic activity worldwide representing over 12% of total global g d p (u n w t o 2006). The industry also accounts for over 200 million jobs direct and indirect. Tourism is not only one of the world’s largest, but also one of its fastest growing industries. The importance of tourism and the entry of many new vo lu me 3 | number 2

S. Bakri Hassan, M. Soliman Abdel Hamid, and H. Al Bohairy

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destinations into the market have forced all to emulate and compete in the battle at a global level (Riege et al. 2001) to win many tourist markets (Konecnik 2002). This intense global competition in the tourism