The intent of this research was to identify the effectiveness of a destination brand as determined by international tourists visiting the destination. The Caribbean can be viewed as a homogeneous region to many individuals seeking sun, sand, and sea; therefore, product differentiation is essential. Destination branding represents and distinguishes a country among competing nations. This concurrent mixed methods study set forth to investigate the effectiveness of the Saint Lucia destination brand. The following objectives underlie this research: i) to explore how the current destination brand was chosen, ii) to evaluate tourists’ perceptions and images of the destination, iii) to explore the relationship between tourists’ perceptions and destination choice, and iv) to evaluate the extent to which the destination brand influenced destination choice. The research findings indicate a lack of awareness concerning the new destination brand. A lack of brand communication and insufficient exposure has been detrimental to the overall success of the destination brand. A conceptual model for the development process of a destination brand was suggested to enhance destination brand effectiveness. The six essential stages include market research, destination image, targeting and positioning, brand identity, communication of the brand, and continuous monitoring and evaluation throughout. It is recommended to engage in monitoring and improvement initiatives of the brand to better gauge its effectiveness; to enhance exposure of the brand through effective niche marketing initiatives that showcase the diversity and unique attributes of Saint Lucia; and finally, to work towards transforming the destination brand into a national brand.

In this thesis, I contemplate the ecotourism in theory and in practice. I use the case study of a solid waste crisis (2002-2004) in Tortuguero, Costa Rica, a turtle tourism destination, to explore: the consumptive nature of ecotourism, tourist perceptions of the environment, ecotourism aesthetics, local resistance to ecotourism development, local perceptions of ecotourism's environmental impacts, and the future of ecotourism. I used mixed methods including participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and on-site surveys to collect data. I conducted mainly qualitative analysis (thematic coding; adapted grounded theory) influenced by political ecology, environmental justice, resistance studies, tourism studies, and the geography of tourism. My use of environmental justice concepts to frame the solid waste crisis in Tortuguero, and the application of key concepts from Scott's (1981) Weapons of the Weak to local behavior and narratives both represent fairly novel applications in an ecotourism context. I attempted to move beyond a restricted case study by emphasizing characteristics shared between Tortuguero and other sites, in the hopes of contributing towards efforts to inject new theoretical applications into tourism studies. This case study reveals the consumptive side of ecotourism, and the analysis of tourist survey responses highlights the central role of aesthetics in ecotourism. This project challenges simplistic portrayals of ecotourism as 'benevolent and benign' (e.g. by highlighting its consumptive impacts and related injustices), and of ecotourists as more aware and altruistic than mass tourists (e.g. by presenting a heterogeneous group of respondents who none the less, stress aesthetics). It updates existing literature on Tortuguero by presenting data on tourist and local perceptions of Tortuguero, and by suggesting explanations for divergent perceptions of the park's role in ecotourism, for example. The evidence that I present of local resistance and waste-related injustices suggest that despite its high profile reputation, multimillion dollar annual revenues, improved local standards of living, and green turtle conservation successes, critical details and key voices have largely been 'left out of the story of ecotourism in Tortuguero'. I hope that his study contributes to encouraging the culture of 'greater ecotourism realism' that is needed in order to move forward. / Dissertation

The intent of this research was to identify the effectiveness of a destination brand as determined by international tourists visiting the destination. The Caribbean can be viewed as a homogeneous region to many individuals seeking sun, sand, and sea; therefore, product differentiation is essential. Destination branding represents and distinguishes a country among competing nations. This concurrent mixed methods study set forth to investigate the effectiveness of the Saint Lucia destination brand. The following objectives underlie this research: i) to explore how the current destination brand was chosen, ii) to evaluate tourists’ perceptions and images of the destination, iii) to explore the relationship between tourists’ perceptions and destination choice, and iv) to evaluate the extent to which the destination brand influenced destination choice. The research findings indicate a lack of awareness concerning the new destination brand. A lack of brand communication and insufficient exposure has been detrimental to the overall success of the destination brand. A conceptual model for the development process of a destination brand was suggested to enhance destination brand effectiveness. The six essential stages include market research, destination image, targeting and positioning, brand identity, communication of the brand, and continuous monitoring and evaluation throughout. It is recommended to engage in monitoring and improvement initiatives of the brand to better gauge its effectiveness; to enhance exposure of the brand through effective niche marketing initiatives that showcase the diversity and unique attributes of Saint Lucia; and finally, to work towards transforming the destination brand into a national brand.

In the pursuit of attracting more tourists in a market where competition is growing on a global scale, place branding has become increasingly more common. An underexplored alternative within the place branding literature is place brand ecosystems, and how they can create value for both the place brand itself as well as the tourists that travel there. This thesis aimed to research how a place brand ecosystem can be conceptualised as well as how tourists derive value from viewing a place brand as a place brand ecosystem. The conceptualisation of the place brand ecosystem was conducted through a literature review, leading up to the construction of a conceptual framework. The constructed framework showed that a place brand ecosystem could be conceptualised through interactions between stakeholders, place brand perception, and value co-creation. This framework also set the basis for an interview guide to understand tourist value perception of place brand ecosystems. The data collection was conducted through a set of semi-structured interviews consisting of 11 respondents holding a degree of interest of Arjeplog as a tourist destination.  The results of the data collection showed that tourists saw value in functional attributes being more easily accessible to each other, meaning a place brand ecosystem where stakeholders co-operate will be able to construct their functional attributes more easily. The attributes themselves will differ between places, and the place brand ecosystem must identify their strengths and weaknesses among the stakeholders and adjust accordingly. Furthermore, the place brand ecosystem must manage the brand positioning in relation to the brand image, meaning they must meet the expectations they have set out to market, or the tourists would leave discontent as opposed to if they had travelled there without expectations.

This study sought to analyze tourist perceptions of cultural heritage tourism on Easter Island, more specifically, how they perceived and valued the concept of ‘authenticity’ in representations of local Rapanui culture. By analyzing and categorizing trends found in Trip Advisor reviews left for 6 tourism businesses on the island (3 traditional performance venues and 3 guided tour companies), this primary research question was further broken down to assess 1) what factors in particular render an experience valuable and authentic to the tourist, 2) how tourists perceive indigenous Rapanui’s relationship to their own culture in the context of cultural tourism, and 3) if they perceive the industry as exploiting or empowering the Rapanui people. Ultimately the study uncovered the tendency for tourists to look to the transmitters of culture themselves (i.e. local performers, guides, company owners) when assessing the value and authenticity of their cultural experience, taking into account the transmitter’s indigenous heritage, cultural pride, knowledgeability, and openness and eagerness to share their culture with visitors (evident by the perceived passion with which they performed, or the personal storytelling and friendship evident in the guide-guest relationship). In addition to constructing value and authenticity, these qualities left visitors with the impression that local Rapanui are empowered by the industry and have agency over the manner in which their culture is showcased. The tourist’s search for meaning was also an important finding, as the majority either appreciated direct explanations about island culture and history, or created their own meaning when none was provided. While the scope of this study was limited to Easter Island, it has implications that may be applied to other destinations with indigenous, cultural tourism, as it very much speaks to the value that tourists place on cultural pride and preservation, community-based grassroots tourism, a desire for meaning and explanation, and consideration for the tourist’s own impact on the destination.

Biodiversity loss is one of the major environmental threats facing the planet. Incentive-based conservation is one means to reduce human pressure on wildlife by providing economic incentives for resource-dependent people to protect the environment. Marine wildlife tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors globally and is viewed as an important incentive-based approach for achieving marine conservation goals. However, few studies have linked participation in the provisioning of marine wildlife tourism activities with positive social and ecological conservation outcomes. The goal of this dissertation is to provide greater understanding of the conservation value of marine wildlife tourism using whale shark tourism as a case study with a main focus on social conservation outcomes amongst tourism providers. Positive changes in perceptions, attitudes and values towards target species and their environments can be an important element of incentive-based conservation. The study has the following objectives: (1) to assess the status of the global whale shark tourism industry, including types (e.g., captive, non-captive), real and potential impacts, conservation value and management challenges and best practices; (2) to examine the ethics of provisioning whale sharks in Oslob, Philippines, the largest, non-captive viewing site in the world; (3) to determine if working in ecotourism changed the attitudes and behaviours of locals towards whale sharks and the ocean, and if tourism type affects those outcomes; (4) to assess the marine wildlife value orientations of locals working in whale shark tourism to achieve greater understanding of the factors influencing their conservation attitudes and behaviours; (5) to explore the potential long-term impacts of poorly conceived incentive-based conservation projects on social and ecological conservation outcomes; and (6) to re-examine and update the conceptual and theoretical background for wildlife tourism in light of the findings of this study. Methods include a comprehensive literature review, tourist surveys, social media content analysis, and interviews with locals working in whale shark tourism at four sites in the Philippines. Results suggest that marine wildlife tourism can play an important role in changing locals’ attitudes and behaviours towards the focal species and habitat; however, smaller-scale, more established sites had greater conservation value than the mass tourism or failed sites suggesting that small-scale, community-based ecotourism is the best approach to meeting conservation goals of marine wildlife tourism. Yet, few tourism sites meet these standards. Global standards are needed to ensure whale shark tourism activities meet desired conservation goals. Such standards should include management requirements (e.g., licensing, mandatory education program) and interaction guidelines (e.g. minimum viewing distances, limits on the number of swimmers/boats, etc.). The findings also emphasise that economics should not be the only or primary metric used to measure conservation success; rather, the focus should be on assessing a more comprehensive range of social and ecological conservation outcomes of these activities. / Graduate / 2020-04-16