The role of brand elements in destination branding by using heritage (A critical study on Sri Lankan tourism taglines and logos)

Abstract

This research study evaluates the contribution of commonly used symbolic brand elements namely destination name, logo and tagline in organized tourism industry in Sri Lanka by using heritage as soft power to the establishment of the destination brand. The name and the taglines are directed to travelers during peak seasons to take a vacation and get away to some of top tourist spots around the world that covers research field.

The conceptual framework is developed combining suggestions on the role and significance of symbolic brand elements for commercial brands with the literature on destination and place branding, drawing particularly on the recent identity-based approach to place brands. The history of last 52 years of organized tourism in Sri Lanka is used as primary sources of this research. By using secondary sources, the research paper reports on field research that operationalized the theoretical framework to examine the perceptions of visitors to Sri Lanka. Although the name and the tagline are more influential, the overall contribution of the symbolic elements to the brand is proven to be limited and specially heritage. This implies that the destinations need to prioritize taglines of the branding effort.