Introduction
More than 300 delegates from the private and government tourism sectors in Asia discussed about a common brand for Asia. Travel executives believe that it will be difficult to market Asia as one tourist destination, due to its diversity and issues like health and safety. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations does not believe that it would be difficult to form one tourism brand and has already a plan to start with the issuance of one ASEAN visa to make it easier to access all the member-countries.
Essay by Renske Bijl
Master in Tourism Destination Management student 2008/2009
Constantly increasing global tourism competition has improved the importance of destination branding and marketing. Delegates from private and government tourism sectors in Asia gathered in The Philippines to agree on a common brand in marketing Asia as a tourism, convention and exhibition destination.
The manager of airline company Silkair said that each country in Asia has a different appeal to different markets. He believes that the creation of a regional brand will link for example The Philippines to negative issues such as safety, security, health and environment. CEI magazine’s editor stated that it is the best for individual economies to grow by their own brands; ‘Amazing Thailand’, ‘Uniquely Singapore’, ‘Incredible India’, ‘Naturally Nepal’. The Tourism Secretary of The Philippines thinks that Asia would be too big to form one tourism brand.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) does not agree with the arguments mentioned above. The Association has already a plan to integrate tourism in the ASEAN, starting with the issuance of one ASEAN visa. In the opinion of the Tourism Secretary of The Philippines is this proposal not feasible regarding health and security issues. With one ASEAN visa, tourists from all over the world could easily have access to all ASEAN member countries.
The main architect and urban planner of Palafox Associates, involved in environmental and urban planning in 24 countries, believes that Asia’s diversity in itself can still form part of the region’s tourism brand. The president of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce states that it is not possible to brand Asia because a brand speaks of what is important to a country, but it is possible to market one country together with one or two other countries.
Congresses and meetings are organized to discuss current tourism issues affecting Asian countries and to come up with recommendations on how to market Asia as a tourism and meeting center.
Tourism is one of the major industries for many Asian countries, stimulating economic development. With the inbound tourism market increasing annually, positioning and brand image is becoming more and more essential to successful branding of an Asian tourist destination. Every tourist destination in the world has a brand image which serves to differentiate a destination from competing destinations. The image of a place should be linked to the identity of the place and is composed of elements such as location, history, culture, physical aspects of a place, slogans, promotion, etc. In my opinion it is important that Asian countries develop their own brand to differentiate themselves from competing destinations and to keep their own identity.
Reference:
Guest lecture Robert Goovers, Place branding
I think it is a nice idea from the ASEAN to introduce one visa. However, is it feasible? Many tourists who visit Asia, only visit one destination at a time. These destinations have so much to offer considering culture and nature, they run out of time in only 1 country. How does one want to promote Asia as one destinations, when those countries are so different. It is difficult enough for Indonesia to promote itself as 1 destination, as all islands have something else to offer. As Renske mentioned: it is important that the countries develop their own brand and keep their own identity.
I agree with that might be nice to have one Visa for the whole Asian area, as it might stimulate tourists to go to more countries for various reasons: the cost won’t increase and it is no hassle at all to cross the borders.
However, who ever has been to Thailand, Vietnam and e.g. China will agree that these are completely different countries and very hard to brand together. I would say that branding and visa requirements should be separate things. After all, looking at e.g. Europe – there is no common European tourism brand and I guess that has its reasons.
I agree with the arguments above that a country/ destination should keep its own branding strategy, but that does not mean that they cannot be a part of a larger brand: Asia. Highlighting the enourmous variety of tourism products and different cultures but also the (mostly) common aspects such as exotic natural sights, tropical climate, friendly locals and a safe travel environment will only strenghten the region as a travel destination, benefiting all countries within it.