Albania (Go Your Own Way!) to Zimbabwe (A World of Wonders): A rhetorical analysis of the world’s country tourism slogans

Abstract

Despite a large focus on polysemy and rhetorical figures in brands and logos, there is much less research on slogans in marketing literature in general and virtually no studies that relate slogans to tourism destinations using a similar methodology. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the tourism slogans of the countries in the world using a combination of semantic evaluation methods, including rhetorical analysis, semiotics, and thematic reviews. Results suggest dominant themes of comparing and contrasting with other regions and countries, heavy use of metaphors and dramatic portrayals, anthropomorphized country traits, and individuality along with overarching concepts of the self. Implications for destination marketing practitioners and future research are also discussed.