The paper demonstrates a method for analysing destination brochure images as a means to asking evaluative questions. First, it discusses the match, or mismatch, between product images and the separate findings of consumer attribute research. Secondly, it questions the efficacy of marketing practices that are liable to over-arching political influences and finally, it considers the extent of integration of destination image promotion across comparable tiers of a geopolitical system and between levels of local and national government.
The empirical data are drawn from Wales in the United Kingdom. Local authority vacation brochures are examined using a content analysis and a methodology for examining brochure images is developed which categorises images into six major groups: scenery; activities ; people; heritage; urban and rural; and iconic destination images. Categorising images in this may reveals some interesting findings that have implications for tourism marketing planners both in the case study area and in other destinations which may be attempting to establish an identity as a vacation destination.
Middleton, V. (1994) 'Marketing in Travel and Tourism', 2nd edn, Butterworth-Heinemann , Oxford, p. 189.
2.
Local authorities are responsible for providing a wide range of services at a local government level. These services range from education and social service provision to economic development and tourism marketing and promotion. They parallel the work of destination promotion agencies in North America.
3.
The descriptor 'tourism' is used throughout this paper instead of the term 'vacation'. This reflects the overwhelming usage of tourism as the main descriptor for all aspects of the holiday-taking phenomenon in the UK, from which the case study is drawn.
4.
Holloway, J.C. and Plant, R.V. (1992) 'Marketing for Tourism' , 2nd edn, Pitman Publishing , London, p. 148.
5.
Wicks, B.E. and Schutt, M.A. (1991) 'Examining the Role of Tourism Promotion Through the Use of Brochures', Tourism Management, December, pp. 301-312; ref. 4 above, pp. 148-157; ref. 2 above, pp. 189-199.
6.
See ref. 2, p. 193.
7.
English Tourist Board, Northern Ireland Tourist Board, Scottish Tourist Board and Wales Tourist Board (1994) 'The UK Tourist Statistics, 1993', July.
8.
Coltman, M.M. (1989) 'Tourism Marketing', Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.
9.
Gilbert, D.C. (1991) 'An Examination of the Consumer Behaviours Process Related to Tourism', in Cooper, C. P. (ed.), 'Progress in Tourism, Recreation and Hospitality', Vol. III, Belhaven Press, London, pp. 78-105.
10.
Wales Tourist Board (1993 ) 'Marketing Areas Study', Wales Tourist Board, Cardiff. The study involved both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The quantitative survey involved a total of 851 face-to-face in-house interviews in Wales's key market regions within the UK: the North-West, Midlands and South of England; together with Wales itself. These regions generate 83 per cent of all holiday trips to Wales. Quota controls were set in terms of age, sex and socio-economic group, based on United Kingdom Tourism Survey figures for people taking commercial accommodation holidays in the UK. Respondents needed to have holidayed in the British Isles within the past five years and did not reject Wales as a potential future holiday destination.
11.
See ref. 10.
12.
Ward, S.V. and Gold, J.R. (1994) 'Introduction', in 'Place Promotion. The Use of Publicity and Marketing to Sell Towns and Regions', Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp. 1-17, esp. p. 2.
13.
See ref. 12, p. 11.
14.
For example, a Welsh flag was included on the 1993 Vale of Glamorgan brochure cover following comments made by a councillor representing Plaid Cymru, the Welsh Nationalist Party, that more specific Welsh images should be incorporated.
15.
For instance, there was considerable controversy surrounding the 1960 brochure cover for the seaside resort of Torquay in South West England. Such was the criticism of the slightly risqué photograph of a couple on a beach, that the resort quickly returned to its cover illustration of palm trees and yachts in subsequent years. Morgan, N.J. (1991) 'Perceptions, Patterns and Policies of Tourism: The Development of the Devon Seaside Resorts During the Twentieth Century with Special Reference to Torquay and Ilfracombe' , unpublished PhD, University of Exeter.
16.
Wales Tourist Board (1994 ) 'Tourism 2000: A Strategy for Wales', Wales Tourist Board, Cardiff, pp. 20-21.
17.
Kotler, P., Haider, D.H. and Rein, I. (1993) 'Marketing Places: Attracting Investment, Industry, and Tourism to Cities, States and Nations', The Free Press , New York, p. 10.
18.
See ref. 16.
19.
See ref. 10 and (1994) 'Promotional Literature — Towards a More Rational Approach', A Wales Tourist Board Consultation Paper, Wales Tourist Board, Cardiff, March.
20.
Gold, J.R. (1994) 'Locating the Message: Place Promotion as Image Communication', in Gold and Ward (eds), 'Place Promotion. The Use of Publicity and Marketing to Sell Towns and Regions', Wiley & Sons, Chichester, pp. 19-37, esp. p. 20.
21.
It is interesting to note that one such authority which does not produce an overall, free, promotional brochure is Cardiff, capital of Wales.
22.
Eisteddfodau are a number of annual festivals in Wales in which competitions are held in music, poetry, drama and the fine arts. A coracle is a small, roundish boat made of waterproofed hides and stretched over a wicker frame. Its use and construction are Welsh in origin.
23.
See ref. 16, p. 55.
24.
See ref. 4, p. 150.
25.
Maas, J. (1980) 'Better Brochures for the Money', Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 20, No. 4, quoted in ref. 1, p. 195.
26.
Wales Tourist Board (1985 ) 'Attitudes to Wales as a Tourist Destination', Wales Tourist Board, Cardiff.
27.
Wales Tourist Board, 'Annual Report, 1993/94', pp. 15 and 33; and 'Selling Wales with Castles and Coracles', Western Mail, 3rd May, 1995.
28.
See ref. 16, p. 26.
29.
See ref. 16, p. 143.
30.
See ref. 27, p. 15.
31.
See ref. 16, p. 50.
32.
See ref. 16, pp. 7-8 and 142-143.
33.
The Wales Tourist Board launched its first United States advertising campaign in partnership with American Airlines in May 1995. The campaign tries to create an identity for Wales by aligning it with England, but also points out that Wales has its own language, culture and history. 'Selling Wales with Castles and Coracles', Western Mail, 3rd May, 1995.
