The value of tourism as a driver of economic and social development in Africa cannot be overstated. Tourism is regarded as a source of foreign currency, employment creation and more importantly, a means of achieving the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Notwithstanding its contributions, many African countries are yet to reap the full benefits of the industry. While the current pandemic has adversely affected tourism across the continent, it has also created opportunities for rural tourism. Rural destinations in Southern Africa could tap from this new trend as local and international visitors seek to experience open spaces and rural settings. Succeeding in these highly competitive tourist markets, however, requires effective destination promotion which can be achieved by ensuring that the projected image of a destination reflects its identity. By focusing on Nyanga, a typical rural tourist destination in Zimbabwe, Southern Africa, this study sought to analyse the projected destination image against its identity as perceived by the local community. To establish the projected image, a content analysis was done for Nyanga’s images as portrayed on the online platforms of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), the official destination promoter. A total of 44 pictures were analysed from the ZTA website, Facebook page, Instagram, and Twitter handle. The destination identity was evaluated through semi-structured interviews with seven residents who were purposively selected through snowball sampling. Participants were also asked to give their opinion on the images of Nyanga that were showcased on the online platforms of the ZTA. This was done to ascertain whether the images were reflecting the true identity of Nyanga, from the perspective of the local community. The findings of the study reveal that there is a gap between the projected image and Nyanga’s identity. While the projected image emphasises on the natural environment and the portrayal of humans interacting with nature and each other, the identity is hinged on culture and religion. Elements relating to history, authenticity, and knowledge also shape the identity of Nyanga even though these aspects are not incorporated in the projected image. The study provides important insights for enhancing the promotion of Nyanga and creating opportunities for sustainable development.

Digitala redskap är nu för tiden en vanlig strategi inom marknadskommunikation och destinationsutveckling. Trots detta är litteratur i ämnet begränsad. Därför har denna studie strävat mot en fördjupad förståelse för Göteborg & Co:s digitala redskap Evenemangskalendern. Det är en digital förteckning där turister kan hitta de aktuella evenemang som erbjuds i Göteborg. Frågorna som har tagits fram rör relevanta styrmedel förkalendern och Göteborg & Co:s syn på användningen av kalendern som ett redskap förmarknadskommunikation. Med bakgrund i destinationsmarknadsföring har en induktiv fallstudie tagit form medintervjuer, observationer och dokumentanalys. Studien är begränsad till fyra kvalitativa intervjuer, fyra observationsobjekt och sex dokument. Alla med fokus på Göteborg & Co:s egna material och anställda. Resultatet från dessa källor har sedan i en diskussion kopplats samman med teori inom destinationsutveckling, marknadskommunikation och organisationsteori. Studien visar att Evenemangskalendern inte är inbegripen i den gedigna marknadskommunikations-analys som resten av goteborg.com undergår. Kalendern har inga fasta processer gällande omvärldsbevakning eller besöksstatistik. Detta kan bero på att det operativa arbetet utförs på annan fysisk plats än det strategiska arbetet. Det ligger även en begränsning i hur Göteborg & Co definierar en turist. / Digital devices are nowadays a common strategy in marketing communication and destination development. Despite this, we find the literature on the subject limited. Therefore, this study has strived towards an immersed understanding of Göteborg & Co:s digital device Evenemangskalendern (Event Calendar). It is a digital listing where tourists can find the current events offered in Gothenburg. The questions produced revolves around relevant control documents for the calendar and Göteborg & Co:s view at the use of the calendar as a device for marketing communication. With a background in destination marketing, an inductive case study has taken form with interviews, observations and document analysis. The study is limited to four qualitative interviews, four observation objects and six documents. All with focus on Göteborg & Co:s own material and employees. The result from these sources has in a discussion been merged with theory within destination development, marketing communication, and organization theory. The study shows that the Event Calendar is not included in the solid marketing communication analysis that the rest of goteborg.com go through. The calendar has no fixed processes regarding benchmarking or visitor statistics. This could be due to the fact that the operative work is being executed at another physical place than the strategic work. There is also a limitation in how Göteborg & Co defines a tourist.

In this study, the authors researched how destinations are affected by sport events such as Swedish premier division soccer matches from a tourism perspective. Representatives from Norrköping, Halmstad, Falkenberg, Åtvidaberg and Kalmar shared information through interviews which along with previous research and theories contributed to the results of this study. The authors have used three theories in this research, Leiper’s tourist attraction system, stakeholder’s theory and the schema theory. Five of the interviews that was conducted for this research was performed at the respondent's workplace while the remaining two were conducted by telephone. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed. Among other things, it has emerged that sport events like Swedish premier division soccer games can be seen as a tourist attraction. It has also emerged that there are two groups of effects that this kind of attraction can generate. One of those is the marketing effect which includes the destination's Swedish premier division soccer team and its matches helps to put the destination on the map, but also to create a positive image of the destination. The second effect is about consumption associated with sport events such as Swedish premier division games, including traveling soccer fans that generate benefits for the local community and therefore contribute to its economic development. With the support of previous research and theories, it has emerged that effort to increase marketing impact, for example, visibility, service and create reasons to travel can generate an increased consumption. The marketing effects can influence current and potential visitor's view of the destination, which is considered to be able to change the stakeholders' behavior. Finally, there are signs that it is very important that there is good cooperation between local actors to boost the various effects that sport events such as Swedish premier division soccer matches can generate. / I den här uppsatsen har skribenterna undersökt hur destinationer påverkas av sportevenemang likt allsvenska fotbollsmatcher ur ett turistiskt perspektiv. Representanter från Norrköping, Halmstad, Falkenberg, Åtvidaberg samt Kalmar bidrog med information som gavs via intervjuer som tillsammans med tidigare forskning och teorier bidragit till uppsatsens resultat. De teorier som författarna använde i denna uppsats är Leipers turistattraktionssystem, Intressentteorin samt schema teorin. Fem av intervjuerna genomfördes på respondenternas arbetsplats medan de resterande två genomfördes per telefon. Samtliga intervjuer spelades in samt transkriberades. Bland annat har det framkommit att sportevenemang såsom allsvenska matcher kan ses som en turistattraktion. Det har även framkommit att det finns två grupper av effekter som denna attraktion genererar. En av dessa handlar om marknadsföringseffekten som bland annat innebär att sportevenemang och dess arrangörer exempelvis destinationens allsvenska fotbollslag och dess matcher bidrar till att sätta destinationen på kartan, men också till att skapa en positivare bild av destinationen. Den andra effekten handlar om konsumtion i samband med sportevenemang såsom allsvenska matcher, exempelvis från de tillresta fotbollsfansen något som kan gynna det lokala samhället på destinationen och bidra till dess ekonomiska utveckling. Med stöd av tidigare forskning och teorier så har det framkommit att arbetet med att öka marknadsföringseffekterna exempelvis genom synlighet, service samt skapa reseanledningar kan generera ökade konsumtionseffekter. Tillexempel genom att marknadsföringseffekterna kan påverka nuvarande och potentiella besökares syn på destinationen något som anses kunna förändra dessa intressenters beteenden. Avslutningsvis finns det tecken på att det är av stor vikt att det finns goda samarbeten mellan lokala aktörer för att öka de olika effekterna som sportevenemang exempelvis allsvenska fotbollsmatcher kan generera.

Vid Åsnen pågår just nu arbetet att etablera en nationalpark för att bevara och presentera den unika naturen. Parallellt med detta arbete pågår ett projekt för att marknadsföra hela regionen som en destination. Denna uppsats behandlar turistföretagares åsikter av den pågående destinationsutvecklingen i Destination Åsnen. En kvalitativ undersökningsmetod med semi-strukturerade intervjuer har gjorts på ett urval av turistföretagarna i Åsnen. Denna metod har gett en kartläggning av turistföretagarnas åsikter och representerar den enskilda turistföretagaren i en stor destination. Dessa åsikter analyseras via jämförelser med tidigare forskning och därefter dras slutsatser om vilka följder åsikterna kan leda till för Destination Åsnen. Vår studie kommer fram till att turistföretagarnas åsikter kan få följder för destinationen. Turistföretagarnas uttryckta åsikter har identifierat brister i samarbetet som berör olika aspekter av Destination Åsnen. De identifierade bristerna som finns i destinationsutvecklingen kan innebära utmaningar för Destination Åsnens framtid. / A process has been started in order to establish a national park in the area of lake Åsnen in Småland in order to present and preserve the unique nature. Simultaneously there is another project focusing on marketing the whole region as one destination. This thesis deals with the opinions of tourism entrepreneurs of the ongoing development in Destinaion Åsnen. A qualitative research method with semi-structured interviews were conducted on a sample of the tourist companies in Åsnen. This method has identified opinions that represent individual tourism entrepreneurs in a big destination. These opinions are analyzed through comparisons with earlier research and then draws conclusions on the consequences that the opinions might lead to regarding Destination Åsnens future. Our study concludes that the opinions of the tourism entrepreneurs may have consequences for the destination. The expressed opinions have identified deficiencies in cooperation that affects various aspects of Destination Åsnen. The identified deficiencies in the present destination development may result in future challenges for Destination Åsnen.

The thesis looks into the under-researched phenomenon of ‘stasis’ that can be observed in many emerging tourist destinations in the world. Stasis—defined here as non-growth—has been essentially addressed in the tourism literature from the perspective of operational constraints. However, in this thesis it is argued that such an approach neglects to consider these constraints as outcomes of deeply sedimented and chronically reproduced structural properties. In other words, the study attempts to gain an understanding of why operational constraints fail to receive response in destinations experiencing stasis. With its focus on stasis rather than on change, the study adopts an innovative approach to tourism development, intending in this way to add to destination development theories.Accordingly, the examination of the research problem is integrated into the general reflection on the development of tourist areas, composing the theoretical background of the study. Moreover, two important methodological decisions are made with the aim to better grasp the dynamics of tourism development within stasis. A first decision is to dissociate the quantitative aspects of destination development from the qualitative ones, introducing two distinctive constructs named destination growth and destination shaping. A second decision is to address the research question from a strategic relational approach to structure and agency. The use of a structure-agency approach is decisive in appraising the extent to which structural constraints affect tourism stakeholders’ actions. The phenomenon is explored empirically from a critical theory perspective and a qualitative approach based on a single case study. The case under scrutiny is Gabon, a politically stable destination with acknowledged tourism assets and a tourism strategy adopted in the past decade. Gabon is examined essentially for its function as internal leisure travel destination. The analysis thus includes both domestic and international tourism, but limits itself to leisure travel. The study results indicate that, in the case of Gabon, structural properties and their rigidity explained a great deal of operational constraints and their continuity over time. However, and while structural properties adversely affect destination development, including growth, tourism initiatives are still able to emerge. These tourism initiatives are varied in that they are undertaken by different types of actors, they have different goals and take different forms. Yet, very few of these tourism stakeholders are in a position to modify the country’s structural properties due to a high centrality of social control. In such context, destination growth is primarily determined by the vested interest of a small circle of agents with social power. In conclusion, a country’s structural properties need to be regarded as spatialized and temporalized tendencies having a selective effect on actors but cannot fully explain action, hence destination development. In turn, action is intended—and strategic—but results do not necessarily match initial intentions. This implies that tourism development cannot be apprehended through the sole actions of tourism stakeholders, but need a combined analysis of the interrelationships between structure and agency. / Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

What makes a small village grow fast to a large city in just a few decades? Could it be some sort of new industry that makes those villages proliferate? Maybe a natural resource has been found in the local area that creates a lot of job opportunities in a short span of time? Sometimes it is that people and entrepreneurs see the potential of the area to create a tourism industry in that place. The area might have the right conditions for maybe historical or nature sights - ski slopes, mountain hiking, fishing or other outdoor activities. The opportunities might be many, and just in a few years this location becomes the most popular tourist destination in the country. Business is flourishing, but what are the consequences when a place rapidly grows from being a small village to a big tourist destination? There are of course opportunities, but also a lot of challenges. This paper will examine what precisely those opportunities or challenges may be for a rapid growing tourist destination. To observe this phenomenon, this study has been conducted in Sälen in Sweden, the biggest skiing resort in all of Scandinavia. Sälen is a seasonal tourist destination, which gives this study a broader perspective on the topic of rapid growing destinations. The seasonal aspect has its own challenges and opportunities. To get a better understanding of this phenomenon, several big actors from Sälen have been interviewed. The empirical statements from these respondents will explain how the destination operates and what difficulties they see with Sälen and rapid growing destinations. This will then be mirrored and compared towards the collected theoretical studies. What do these previous studies that directly or indirectly say about this phenomenon? In conclusion, we have found that seasonal and rapid growing tourist destinations make balancing infrastructures, finding and hiring labor, maintaining a good image, meeting the demand with a range of activities and sustaining the environment a challenge. We have also found that if the different actors collectively work together towards a common goal, handling the change of rapid growing destinations becomes a lot easier. Working together with each other and the public sector gives opportunity for both social, economic and environmental sustainability.

Destination governance has emerged as a very important issue in local and regional development in Sweden. The article investigates the pattern in which local tourism governance operates based on a single case study of the ski resort of Hemavan and Tärnaby, and evaluates the effectiveness of this governance pattern on local tourism development according to a six-measurement criteria scale. A semi-structured interview approach with open-ended questions was used in this paper. Ten respondents were interviewed in Hemavan and Tärnaby, and they are representatives from both private and public sector. In the concluding section, the results are developed into an evaluation and analysis concerning how the characteristics of the local DMO matter in terms of its governance effectiveness. The results indicate that overall the DMO is an effective form by organizing various actors with mutual resource dependencies. However, the uneven balance of power between Tärnaby and Hemavan, as well as between various network participants, is hard to reconcile, which may strongly influence their governance effectiveness. / Managing Heritage Assets as Tourism Products - The case of the World Heritage of the Falun Copper Mine

Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs) are using Social Media (SM) to promote their destinations, attract tourists and communicate with the destination stakeholders. This study sought to understand how DMOs use SM, how DMOs adopt SM, what the desired outcomes from SM use are and how SM outcomes are evaluated. Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) theory guided this study and a mixed-methods research design was used to address the research questions. The two major research questions were; Firstly, how do DMOs use SM? Secondly, what outcomes do DMOs hope will result from SM use? / May 2016

This thesis analyzes the level of utilization of on-line communication mix in marketing of Czech Republic as a tourist destination at foreign markets executed by CzechTourism, particularly concerning the current project Confirmation of the status and competitive advantage of Czech Republic at the European tourism market. Resources for the main analysis are a detailed study of on-line communication mix in general terms as well as in tourism both globally and in the Czech Republic. The analysis revealed major deficiences in the approach towards the communication implementation, mainly in social media communication, and also deficiencies in web design which toghether caused the project to fail. Finall conclusion contains improvement suggestions and recommendations of some foreign best practice examples.

The aim of this study is to examine how Belgrade as a tourist destination was affected by previous political disorder during the 1990’s on the query of destination image, destination branding and destination development. The research also discussed how different actors in the public and private sectors work on the issue and how international tourists’ perspectives look like in relation to this topic. A qualitative method was applied through semi-structured and structured interviews with three actors within tourism sector, one from the public sector, and further 15 interviews with international tourists. The study's results show that Belgrade, as a tourist destination, was mainly affected by the civil war in the 1990’s. The war created a negative destination image, undefined destination branding and a non-sustainable destination development. The following led to, reduced number of incoming tourists and economic stagnation, which resulted in a lack of resources to invest in destination development. It created a negative destination image in a global aspect, and in addition to that international tourists usually associated Belgrade with insecurity and political instability. However, tourism started to increase following the new political regime approximately 10 years ago, when major efforts were made by both international and national investors. Accordingly, actors within various private and public sectors are involved in expanding tourism products, increasing marketing efforts and placing the destination on an international tourism market. / Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur Belgrad som en turistdestination påverkades av tidigare oroligheter under 1990-talet i frågan om destinationsimage, branding samt utveckling. Undersökningen berörde även hur olika aktörer inom den offentliga och privata sektorn arbetar i frågan samt hur internationella turisters perspektiv ser ut i relation till detta. En kvalitativ metod tillämpades genom semistrukturerade och strukturerade intervjuer med tre aktörer inom turismsektorn och en från den offentliga sektorn samt 15 intervjuer med internationella turister. Studiens resultat visar att Belgrad som en turistdestination påverkades i en stor utsträckning till följd av krigshändelserna under 1990-talet. Detta skapade en negativ destinationsimage, odefinierad destination branding samt att destinationsutvecklingen som var icke hållbar. Därmed minskade antal inkommande turister, ekonomin stagnerade samt att det resulterade i brist på resurser för investeringar i att återuppbygga destinationen. Detta skapade en negativ destinationsimage för omvärlden då potentiella turister associerade staden med osäkerhet och politisk instabilitet. Dock konstaterades det att turismen började öka i och med den nya politiska regimen, då ca 10 år sedan började det ske stora insatser från både internationella och nationella investerare. Därmed arbetar olika aktörer inom den privata och offentliga sektorn med att utöka sina turistprodukter och marknadsföringsinsatser samt placera Belgrad på den internationella turistmarknaden.