Anette Therkelsen

Contemplating Place Branding Umbrellas. The Case of Coordinated National Tourism and Business Promotion in Denmark

This paper examines the area of cross‐sectoral branding where tourism is combined with other international economic activities in order to construct a common national umbrella brand. From a theoretical perspective the article contributes to the study of cross‐sectoral place branding by developing a coherent analytical framework, drawing on recent contributions to the study of Other images and inter‐organizational relations. On the basis of this, an empirical case study of the prospects for establishing a cross‐sectoral umbrella brand is undertaken, focusing on Danish national tourism and inward investment promotion bodies. Having analysed both the rationales behind and the image profiles of current branding efforts, it is concluded that while disagreement exists at the strategic level with regard to the potentials of umbrella branding, the differences between the current image profiles are of a more manageable character. In the case of Danish tourism and investment promotion, barriers to interorganizational cooperation, in other words, seem to be founded on unfavourable assumptions about potential alliance partners in view of own future aspirations rather than the present branding actions of the actors involved.

Imagining Places: Image Formation of Tourists and its Consequences for Destination Promotion

Taking as its starting point different approaches to international market communication, this paper discusses the limitations of working within a simple standardization–differentiation framework in relation to tourism promotion. It argues that tourism destinations are culture-bound products which generate associations and meanings that are influenced by the cultural background of the potential tourist. Moreover, some associations and meanings are shared by a locally delimited community whereas others are shared by a number of cultural communities. Hence a tourism destination may generate certain internationally shared meanings which can constitute a standardized platform from which a culturally differentiated market communication can take its point of departure. The advantage of this so-called glocal approach to market communication is, partly that the core elements of the image are recognizable world-wide leading potentially to a consistent and strong image, partly that the core image can be combined with additional meaning structures that are specific to the individual markets way of imagining the given tourism destination. The drawback of this approach may be that the common denominators constituting the image platform, are few and with limited signifying potential. By means of the Danish Tourist Boards national branding strategy, this paper illustrates empirically some of the possibilities as well as the difficulties involved in a glocal approach.

Deciding on Family Holidays—Role Distribution and Strategies in Use

ABSTRACT The article discusses holiday-related decision making in families by exploring the role distribution and strategies employed by family members, with particular attention given to the influence of children. Based on the theoretical discussion, a model is developed that highlights the influence of a number of contextual factors on role distribution and decision-making strategies, and which is found useful in the analysis of qualitative interviews with German and Danish families. The empirical analysis demonstrates patterns in the role distribution of family members in line with the existing literature; however, diversions from established knowledge also appear as children occupy a multitude of roles, and the role of the mother to some extent differs across the German and Danish data. Contextual factors like parental perceptions of children and societal structures are useful in explaining this complexity in role distribution. Likewise in relation to decision-making strategies, contextual factors are helpful in explaining the strategies used, in particular the convention that holidays are an extraordinary “free space” which allows for more negotiation power being bestowed on children than in everyday life.

10‐year Anniversary Editorial

Taylor and Francis SJHT_A_502364. gm 10.1080/1 2250.2010.502364 candinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 502-2250 (pri t)/15 2-2269 (online) Original Article 2 10 & Francis 0 00201 Jan Vid rH uk land jvh@toi. o It is with great pride and pleasure that the Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism (SJHT) presents, as part of its 10-year anniversary celebration, this jubilee issue devoted to nature-based tourism. This topic has also been the most published one in the 10 years that the SJHT has informed the world about a substantial part of Nordic hospitality and tourism research. From a strictly empirical point of view we may say that in hindsight, nature-based and rural tourism are compelling characteristics defining the tourism and hospitality sector in the North. The SJHT was launched with champagne and speeches at the 9th Nordic Symposium in Tourism and Hospitality Research on Bornholm in the year 2000. It was initiated by the Norwegian School of Hotel Management as a contribution to the transition of the regional university college in Stavanger into the University of Stavanger. Hence, from the outset the Norwegian School of Hotel Management became the owner of the journal, and has subsidised its work up until now. Since 2007 and upon evaluation, a significant contribution has also been provided by the Nordic Board for Publication in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NOH-PS), and from Aalborg University since 2008. One of the aims of the journal was to publish Nordic tourism research from Nordic researchers. However, at the outset it was not clear what Nordic tourism issues were, and attempts were made to define what could possibly be the unique features of Nordic tourism and hence the context of our research agenda. We then thought of tourism and hospitality as phenomena and businesses based upon the natural, cultural, social, political and economic resources that an area can provide, but also as being restricted by the same factors. A strong advocate of the uniqueness issue was Associate Professor Øystein Jensen who argued that:

Exploring tourism destination path plasticity

Abstract Path dependency is an acknowledged characteristic of tourism due to a majority of small and micro-sized firms and with that limited resourceful actors who can engage actively in path creation through development of new services and experiences. The aim of this paper is to analyse the socio-economic institutions that have facilitated the rise of coastal tourism, and on the basis of this to gauge the scope for incremental change, or plasticity, within the prevailing development path. The paper can be seen as an explorative study of the micro-dynamics of path plasticity, adopting a casestudy-based approach, exploring two coastal-rural destinations in North Jutland, Denmark. First a review of the literature on destination development and innovation is undertaken in order to identify key issues concerning continuity and change in tourism as a spatially embedded socio-economic activity. Then a conceptual framework for the analysis is outlined, inspired by traditions within institutionalism. Thirdly, the empirical analysis begins by identifying the key institutions supporting the rise of North Jutland as a successful international tourist destination in the 1980s and 1990s, and finally we discuss the extent to which scope for path plasticity can be found within this framework in the current climate of crisis, focusing especially on the role of combinatorial knowledge and policy agency. It is concluded that coastal tourism despite resemblances of an institutional ‘iron triangle’ actually is a more flexible structure which allows for a considerable degree of incremental change, provided that the actors involved are willing to engage in innovative development activities within the existing institutional framework.

Branding Europe – Between Nations, Regions and Continents

Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore a common European tourism marketing initiative orchestrated by the organisation European Travel Commission (ETC) and communicated via www.visiteurope.com. Particular focus is given to the position of the Nordic countries – how they are depicted and which imagery is used to represent these countries. The paper raises the question whether it makes sense to name the initiative a “Brand Europe” as suggested by the president of ETC and whether common denominators are sought thereby facilitating the creation of a European brand profile, or whether the website is just a collection of links to national websites thereby functioning as a medium for national tourism destination promotion. Theoretically the point of departure is taken in place‐branding theory, and scrutinising this literature it appears that attention has centred on branding the city and the nation whereas little attention has been paid to branding supra‐national entities. In this article focus is on stakeholder interests and consumer images and their implications on communicative choices in place‐branding efforts. The analysis shows that www.visiteurope.com, on the one hand, is a shared European platform which thematically sketches experiences to be had in Europe, and which constitutes more than just the marketing from national destinations in Europe. On the other hand, it is hardly possible to term this initiative “a brand” as it lacks a holistic approach not only to promotion but also product development. Keywords in the shared profile are diversity, history, culture and nature that, taken together, stand out as quite a generic catch‐all presentation of Europe, however, there seems to be potential in the place‐branding concept that can be exploited more extensively in future, also at the supra‐national level of Europe as a destination. The Nordic countries appear as a region “in the far corner of Europe” presented as primarily a location with extreme nature conditions and exotic cultural habits combined with peaceful, sunny café environments which only links up marginally with the overall European profile. Still, for a relatively unknown region in the global tourist market, it is deemed relevant for the Nordic countries to be part of a European brand in future, but the integration of a regional profile into a future European brand needs substantial development.

Being together at the zoo: zoo experiences among families with children

This study focuses on family-based zoo experiences and how individual and social factors affect the experiences of parents as well as children. Limited knowledge exists of zoo experiences; in particular children’s perspective on zoo visits is missing, just as parents–children interchanges and their effects on zoo experiences have been offered scant attention. Based on theories on family experiences as well as relevant studies on zoo visits, a theoretical framework is established. This considers both the perspective of parents and children and that zoo experiences are of a multiple nature and may hence consist of both central and peripheral experiences. By means of qualitative interviews with families visiting Aalborg Zoo, Denmark, it is discovered that the experiences children and parents gain from visiting a zoo differ. It is not, however, so much the nature of the experiences as it is the priority given to experiences that vary, and so zoo experiences of parents and children are to a high degree, mutually supportive. This, furthermore, means that family zoo visits appear relatively harmonious as both children and parents have their needs fulfilled.

Food and tourism synergies: perspectives on consumption, production and destination development

Food and tourism are, and have always been, closely integrated. However, the experiential potential that food entails has stimulated a growing interest in food tourism among producers of tourism se...

‘I am very straight in my gay life’ Approaching an understanding of lesbian tourists’ identity construction

Studies of gay tourists predominantly focus on gay men. On the basis of an exploratory qualitative study, this article offers knowledge on lesbian tourists and how they differ from more traditional conceptions of gay tourists. Although a very heterogeneous group, the lesbian tourists partaking in the study are less likely than gay men to visit gay destinations and gay spaces and have in many ways more in common with other female tourists than with gay male tourists. ‘Reasons to go’ for the studied lesbian tourists are constituted by a diversity of cultural, nature-based and hedonistic experiences, and lesbian bars, events and communities appear only to be a supplement to the other more central holiday experiences. This contributes with new knowledge to the existing literature. The article discusses these issues and how the multiple identities of these lesbian tourists, for example, being a woman; a mother; a partner; a particular type of tourist; and gay, are all important for their holidaying.

Catering for yourself: Food experiences of self-catering tourists

The self-catering aspects of tourism-related food consumption have not been given much research attention so far, and hence, the purpose of this article is to expand our understanding of self-catering tourists’ food experiences. Tourists’ food relations are argued to be influenced by several forces: the multi-faceted nature of the individual tourist’s demands, the group dynamics within the travelling unit and the place-specific context of the tourism activity. Qualitative interviews with a diverse group of self-catering tourists enable an explorative discussion of food experiences of self-catering tourists. The analysis demonstrates that food has an experiential potential for a broad cross-section of self-catering tourists, but also that food is considered a non-experiences by some. Tourists’ relations to food is often a combination of two or more experiences, and may equally be concerned with the consumer object (pleasure and health) and the consumer context (social bonding and sense of place).