ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concepts of positioning, image and branding (PIB) and how these elements work together in a good tourism marketing strategy. It discusses positioning and branding approaches that have worked in tourism and find out why these have been successful. The chapter discusses the reasons for failures in tourism marketing strategies with suggestions given on why they did work. An approach for identifying and communicating a unique image to target markets. Positioning is how an organisation decides to be unique among competitors from the consumer perspective. The steps taken by tourism marketers to develop and communicate an identity and personality for their destinations or businesses, which is different from those of all competitors. With PIB, tourism marketers try to match their chosen positioning (desired image) with the consumer image (actual perceived image).
