Exploring the Needed Marketing Content and Strategies to Combat the Negative Global Conditions and Promote Nation Branding for the Post COVID-19 Pandemic Period

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The global outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic impacted nations and enterprises in the tourism industry. This paper explored how nations can use nation branding during the COVID-19 pandemic to promote optimism in order to stimulate tourism when the peak of the crisis is over. The research pursued to answer the research question: what nation-branding strategies can be used to aid nations in promoting future tourism demand? The research conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 potential tourists from different nations until saturation level was met (people who enjoy to travel and seek to travel once the COVID-19 crisis passes). According to the interviews, nine main themes emerged: citizens are living, buying, and thinking differently; citizens are striving to adapt to a new normal; the COVID-19 pandemic reduced-contact channels to get goods/ services; the “endless layover” feeling is stirred by the COVID-19 pandemic; consumers want extra reassurance to resume traveling activities; citizens are waiting for indicators beyond lifted restrictions before regularly engaging in traveling to a specific destination; domestic tourism is expected in the coming period; hit the brakes on marketing and promote values of humanity; the virus changed the way people use the Internet, rising in-home media consumption. With these findings, this study provided recommended plans for nation branding to help take the necessary actions to ensure and prepare for the future recovery of the tourism market. Like this, this study contributed practically. In addition, this study developed empirical evidence that contributes knowledge, filling in the academic gap found in literature. Prior scholars and researchers had called for empirically-based papers that focus on the impacts of COVID-19 on markets, destinations, businesses, consumers, destination communities, transit zones and tourism transport (Hall and Cooper, 2020).