ABSTRACT
One industry that has embraced the branding craze is tourism bureaux and destination marketers. Once known for advertising that was considered ‘wallpaper’ (the same pretty scenery), the tourism industry is using branding as a means of emphasizing the feel of the place, developing a personality of the location. This differentiates the destination from the typical travelogue attraction because the branded destination is an experience, not just a place to go (Anon, 1999b). This branding mentality has been observed in recent campaigns for Australia (‘Come and say G’day’), New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure New Zealand’, Montana’s ‘Big sky country’campaign and ‘It’s a whole other country’ for Texas. In fact, it is estimated that state governments in the USA will spend US$554.2 million in 2002-2003 to promote tourism in the fifty states (Travel Industry Association of America, 2003).
