Awareness of the Tourism Brand Name of Plateau State Among Tourists

Abstract

Brand naming is a potent marketing strategy/mechanism. Its awareness precedes consideration and trial which are all quite central to the success of any marketing outfit. They follow each other sequentially: awareness leads to consideration and consideration is later followed by trial or purchase/patronage. The goal of the study was to assess the awareness of tourists about the tourism brand name of Plateau State. The tourism slogan of Plateau State is ‘Home of Peace and Tourism.’ The study was undertaken in nine purposively selected tourist sites in the state in which 1,023 tourists were sampled and interviewed using both convenience and availability procedures. The study confirmed that Plateau State is very rich in tourist attractions, which if adequately planned, developed, managed and promoted will make her one of the leading tourist destinations in Nigeria. The state in her marketing strategy has coined an enchanting brand name as her tourism brand name. The result shows that the brand name is popular among tourists who saw meaning and sense in it from their experiences. They applauded the brand name, but a good number pointed to the fact that peace is too fragile and elusive in Plateau State. This should be addressed holistically to ensure that the brand name and its input are sustainable. It was surprisingly pointed out that the phenomenon of logo or symbol design and development which altogether goes with brand naming is completely ignored and there is need to do just that to make the branding of Plateau State as tourism destination holistic and complete.