Business process management applicability to destination country-brand management

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to analyze the business process management (BPM) applicability to a destination country-brand of a Latin American developing country and present a new process model for it.Design/methodology/approachThis is a qualitative exploratory study whose unit of analysis is the BPM applicability to the destination country-brand of a Latin American developing country. Primary data were obtained through in-depth interview with the developing country's tourism international promotion agency. The secondary data were government reports and research papers on country-brand studies. Data analysis was carried out using stakeholder business context model, architecture processes, pain/gain matrix and BPMN for modelling.FindingsThe results present a new process model for country-brand management to reduce existing barriers. Three steps were carried out: analysis and modelling of the current processes of country-brand management; presentation of the current processes' problems and analysis and modelling of future processes country-brand management.Research limitations/implicationsA theoretical contribution is provided in the literature on processes and country-brands since no previous studies relate these concepts and present a process-oriented management analysis for country-brands.Practical implicationsThe main practical contribution was to identify the country-brand management problems, propose solutions to them and generate a new process model for country-brands that can be used as a managerial tool for national tourism organizations to improve their brands.Originality/valueThe present study is original as it approaches the first analysis of country-brand development with an emphasis on its process management.