Tourism and Destination Branding: The Case of Greek Islands

Abstract

Tourism is undoubtedly one of the most important areas of the Greek economy as Greece as a country has the chance to have many and special beauty tourism resources. The challenge for the future of Greek tourism is to understand the needs and wants of tourists and always with respect to the natural and social environment of the place to acquire competitive advantage. The key to success is the Greek tourism to focus in developing an effective brand strategy which will make Greece an attractive destination. Marketing is what makes tourists to buy a service and branding but also it is what it connects them with the destination, which creates confidence and security for them a promise of an unforgettable experience that brings to mind memories of her experience they have experienced. The purpose of this paper is to study marketing strategies, brand, branding initiate as part of the destination marketing and branding of Greek islands. Based on the results of the literature review made for the purpose of this paper, we see that while there have been some remarkable branding initiatives in Greek islands, they have already developed as key brands where they have their own identity and value standing for the quality of the services offered to their tourists. This means that one of the basic principles of tourism marketing and destination branding that is the knowledge and satisfaction of tourists’ needs in the case of Greek islands is overlooked. This is expected in the long run to reduce the level of experience experienced by tourists and consequently to reduce both the perceived brand quality of the tourists and their attachment to what are the elements of the value of the brand. Additionally, word-of-mouth advertising will decrease and consequently need more time to expose and promote the island in the long run. However, there is a need for more research on this field by using primary data.