ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a practical approach to, and a solution for, marketing and branding tourism in urban areas. It starts by introducing key definitions and concepts, providing a theoretical base on which to brand the city. The Port Elizabeth case study is used to explore the realities faced by tourism cities and determine how to manage this activity. A SWOT analysis illustrates the city's current position, some lessons learnt and several future focus opportunities. Port Elizabeth, the case study for this chapter, belongs to a coastal and marine area. World tourism cities within the African context have not received much attention, which opens up areas of future research on the continent being the rationale for this chapter. Comparative case studies implementing smart tourism are rare and called upon in future research. Many studies of the image, branding, marketing or competitiveness of destinations are reported as initial research on destinations.
