dubai-a start in the east

Dubai – a star in the eastA case study in strategic destination branding

Melodena Stephens BalakrishnanUniversity of Wollongong in Dubai, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Purpose – Worldwide approximately 200 national economies are competing in the destinationmarket. In 2006, global government and capital expenditure exceeded US$1,480 billion makingdestination branding an important concept that still remains fragmented and unplanned. Dubai, anemirate of the UAE in the Middle East has been chosen as a case study to explain some elements ofsuccessful destination branding. This paper aims to apply a framework developed by Balakrishnan toexplain areas of caution when competing in an international market where success is also partiallydependent on the macro-environment.

Design/methodology/approach – The framework was developed by reviewing literature ondestination, place, corporate, product portfolio and service branding. The framework was tested usingcase study methodology. Secondary research was primarily used to develop the case.

Findings – There is a strong fit with the model suggesting that destinations can use this as a basisfor continuity in strategy even as governments change. Based on the analysis and review; a checklistfor destination branding strategy was recommended.

Research limitations/implications – Since, this study depends on secondary research there issome limitations as data in this region is not easily available.

Originality/value – Destination branding differs in challenges vis-a-vis product and servicebranding. This paper depicts steps essential for creating a successful branding strategy which can beapplied in a real world context to maximize returns for the destination.

Keywords Brand management, Dubai, Marketing, Tourism, Brand image

Paper type Case study

IntroductionTourism and destination branding: a symbiotic relationshipWorldwide destinations are spending an estimated US$1,480 billion on attractingtourism through both capital and government expenditures (WTTC, 2007a), makingthis a lucrative product where very little organized academic research exists (Pike,2005). According to Blain et al. (2005), execution of destination branding is oftenconfined to logo design and development. It is estimated that more than US$2 billion isearned per day through international tourism. What makes this a complex topic is thatthe success of a destination is not always dependent on controllable factors in themicroenvironment but that it is also dependent on uncontrollable macro-environmentalfactors. Earthquakes, tsunamis, disease other competing government policies andterrorist attacks can disrupt tourism earnings (WTTC, 2007b). As information andtravel becomes more accessible, customers have a greater variety of destinations tochoose from. As a tourist, there is a choice of approximately 200 nations and 2 milliondestinations to visit. How does a destination stand out, attract its target customer andgenerate sufficient earnings to ensure its economy grows? Classical marketing pointsto successful branding strategies (Fan, 2006; Matear et al., 2004). This paper discusseshow those strategies can be adopted in a “destination” context.

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Journal of Place Management andDevelopmentVol. 1 No. 1, 2008pp. 62-91q Emerald Group Publishing Limited1753-8335DOI 10.1108/17538330810865345

Destination branding: academic foundation for framework developmentPlaces are products but existing branding frameworks cannot be directly applied to thedestination context (Hosany et al., 2007; Hankinson, 2005). Some of the reasons why are:

. past history;

. geographical constraints (location, weather, resources, infrastructure andpeople);

. inherited names;

. stakeholders – destinations are run by governing bodies which often report totheir citizens and are influenced by other stakeholders limiting the decisions theycan take (Stokes, 2006; Hankinson, 2005); and

. personal, consumer, business and government service dependency (McDougalland Levesque, 2000).

The destination branding framework can be developed looking at place and destinationmarketing theories, services, product, portfolio and corporate branding strategies. Someof the frameworks and theories reviewed to develop the destination branding frameworkwere the HEADS2 framework (Balmer, 2001) which looks at corporate branding; theBAM strategy for increasing brand value (Davis, 2002), the Double Vortex brand modelthat looks at brand components (de Chernatony and Riley, 1998); brand portfoliostrategy (Aaker, 2004); product and service brand dimensions (O’Cass and Grace, 2003)and the service branding model (Berry, 2000). Destination cases like Bradford, UK(Trueman et al., 2004), Scotland (Donnelly, 2004), Singapore (Wong et al., 2006), Kerala,India (WTTC, 2003), Sydney Olympics, Australia (Woodside et al., 2002) and New York(Rangan et al., 2006) were used to increase the fit of the destination branding frameworkin the international context. Academic work by Lee-Kelly et al. (2007), Assiri et al. (2006),Koch and Nieuwenhuizen (2006), Box and Platts (2005), Øvretveit (2005) and LaBonte(2003) were extrapolated from the business context to the destination context.

Dubai, a star in the Middle EastThis paper focuses on Dubai, an emirate of the UAE. UAE lies in the heart of theMiddle East (ME) and is one of the world’s fastest growing economies with a per capitaincome of US$31,000 (IMD, 2005). Worldwide, in 2006, the ME Travel and Tourismeconomy was ranked number nine in terms of absolute size (US$150 billion) and isexpected to grow to US$280 billion by 2020 (WTTC, 2007a; Husain, 2007a). UAE ranks18th in the world and number one in the Arab world, according to the global tourismcompetitiveness report by the World Economic Forum (Rahman, 2007a, b). GlobalFutures and Foresight, a British think tank expects the investment in tourism andinfrastructure for the ME to be about US$3 trillion by 2020, with current investmentsstanding at US$1 trillion which is much higher than what is considered current globalexpenditure (Husain, 2007a).

As a country brand, UAE is known as the 4th best for conventions and 3rd best forbusiness, but, it still does not feature in the top ten country brands (Future Brands,2006). Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the main economic contributors out of the sevenemirates (formally known as the Trucial States) that make up the UAE. Non-oilrevenues contribute 63 percent to the GDP (UAE Interact, 2007a). Abu Dhabicontributes 59 percent to the GDP of UAE (56 percent which is oil dependent) while

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Dubai contributes 29 percent (5 percent is oil dependent). Dubai contributes over80 percent of the non-oil assets (Middle East Monitor, 2007).

Dubai is very strategically placed. It lies at the confluence of the ME, Asia,Western Africa and Central/Eastern Europe. It is in a bed of ancient civilizations, abirthplace of three major religions and a transit point for onward journeys. See Figure 1to see Dubai’s location. Dubai, an emirate of UAE, is spearheading the destinationbranding revolution in this area which is why it was chosen as the focus of thisresearch. This paper applies a strategic destination branding framework developed byBalakrishnan (2007) to Dubai (Figure 2).

A brief literature review: discussion of key elementsBranding of a destination can take some cues from corporate and service branding.The branding of a destination begins with the strategic vision of that place as a strongvision results in performance (LaBonte, 2003). Vision, as a driver should facilitate tradeand investments (Hankinson, 2005). Strategic vision of any destination can look at fivedrivers for their branding strategy: economics, tourism, retail, services and transit hubdrivers. These drivers are derived from destination case studies and research work byJamrozy (2007), Eraqi (2006), Wong et al. (2006), Hankinson (2005), Gonzalez and Bello(2002) and Warnaby and Davies, (1997, see city servuction model p. 207).

Vision must be focused, yet consider the diversity of stakeholder needs (Pike, 2005)often looking for commitment from inhabitants to get performance (Hwang et al., 2005).Stakeholders can be internal like people/citizens (Aaker, 2004), business/governingbodies and influencers like media or they can be external governments, NGOs,businesses, or influencers. When looking at internal stakeholders; heritage, citizenvalues and priorities, level of citizenship and ethnocentric tendencies need to be

Figure 1.Strategic location of Dubai

Source: http://www.ssqq.com/archive/images/map.jpg

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considered (Aaker, 2004; Javalgi and White, 2002). With respect to external stakeholderswhich might influence or contribute to the destination branding, factors like the countryof origin (COO) effect, destination product portfolio performance, ability tomatch/contribute to international quality and delivery of services, and informationare some of the factors that must be considered (Aaker, 2004; Javalgi and White, 2002).Governing bodies can exploit existing networks or forge dynamic alliances andpartnerships between key stakeholders and influencers to add value to the brand(Ferguson and Hlavinka, 2006; Wallis et al., 2004; Knox, 2004; Morgan et al., 2003).

With respect to a destination, often a portfolio of products is developed and thenoffered to a targeted segment. Product portfolios must take advantage of naturalassets, past history, culture, developed infrastructure and facilities (Future Brands,2006; Hankinson, 2004). What is most easy to exploit is past history and the naturaladvantage of a strategically placed location. Hence, a destination can act as a transitpoint for trade, logistics and even people.

When segmenting the target customer, a destination brand must be able to matchcustomer needs. The needs for visiting can be business travel, family or friend visits,trips based on health, education, rest, recreation or retail (Gonzalez and Bello, 2002;Gamage and King, 1999); exploring regions, experiencing culture, history, lifestyle,nightlife, and enjoying natural geographical assets, infrastructure and entertainment(Future Brands, 2006; Hankinson, 2004). A study by Chen and Gursoy (2001) found thatdestination loyalty (level of tourist perceptions of a destination as a recommendableplace) was significantly dependent on safety, perceived cultural differences andperceived convenience of transportation. These were augmented product servicesrequired by the target customer.

Figure 2.Strategic branding of a

destination: successdrivers

VISION

Customer Targeting

Positioning /Differentiation

COO

CRM

Image

Networking

IngredientBranding

Emotions

Tangibilizing EvidenceQuality

People/Population

CommunicationStrategy

Successful BrandingStrategy

Source: Balakrishnan (2007)

Product Portfolio

DELIGHTEDCUSTOMER

WOM


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When positioning and differentiating the destination, COO effect or heritage must beconsidered as both residents’ and customers’ perceptions and attitudes can be changedonly after the negative COO effect is corrected (Aaker, 2004; Thakor and Lavack, 2003;Piasecka, 2001). The image of the brand must be carefully designed as it must take intoaccount:

. past associations of the place;

. alignment and consistency of brand image and attitude with customerperceptions of themselves and with other users; and

. the usage occasions (Grace and O’Cass, 2003; de Chernatony and Segal-Horn, 2003).

An interesting study by Carpenter et al. (1994) found that irrelevant attributes can beused to differentiate brands and even create value but its impact is dependent oncompetition. Destinations are products with a heavy dependency on services which actas a destination differentiator, increasing brand value (Kalafut and Low, 2001;McDougall and Levesque, 2000).

Vision, which needs to be translated into the brand promise, needs to be clearlycommunicated to all stakeholders to gain a competitive advantage (Trueman et al., 2004;Sohal, 1994). The value of a brand can be increased by using any ingredient brand ofgreater value (McCarthy and Norris, 1999; Javalgi and Moberg, 1997). Hence, governmentscan use consumption at FMCG, luxury, infrastructure, macro-environmental and businesslevels to increase perceived brand value of the destination (Balakrishnan, 2007). Theconsumer trust and comfort level increases when they see brands familiar to them in aplace. Though destinations use the entire range of media vehicles, there is still a significantamount of dependency on word of mouth (WOM) generated through friends, family andtravel agents (Future Brands, 2006). Also when using advertising, it has been found thatemotional advertising helps in the initial brand contact and influences the decision to visitagain (Grace and O’Cass, 2003; Mattila, 1999). The destination experience itself, whichleads to positive WOM must be a sensory delight, using sights, sounds, smells and taste(Roberts, 2005; Trueman et al., 2004) that ideally must reinforce the “flavor” of the place.

Making services tangible affects impressions of the brand (Bang et al., 2005).However, services are people dependent (de Pablos, 2002; Spithoven, 2000; Eastgate,2000). Though various communication tools can be used to convey destinationpositioning, one of the most important methods is the people of the destination. Theyare involved in the service process, affect brand associations and help customers formemotional attachments with the brand (Grace and O’Cass, 2003; Katzenbach, 2003).According to Simon Anholt, the Founder of the Anholt-GMI City Brand Index,immigration as a strategy does affect the nations branding strategy (Shikoh, 2006).Immigrants are more likely to invest than transient labor who are perceived as“outsiders” (Timberlake, 2005; Bontis, 2004). Transient labor will repatriate assets outof the destination which means loss of potential financial investments.

Branding must often start with the people of that destination – the feeling of pride,the essence of the place and maybe even sufficient knowledge to create a positiveassociation for visitors with the destination. Pride is considered one of the greatestmotivational factors (Katzenbach, 2003). The positive associations with the destinationexperience and its people will contribute to positive WOM which will increase the brandimage of the destination (Wangenheim and Bayon, 2004; Grace and O’Cass, 2002).

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A simplified version of the destination branding framework is shown in Figure 3 asa simplified seven step process.

MethodologyA case study research methodology was used. The case was Dubai. The objective of theresearch was to apply the branding strategy framework developed by Balakrishnan(2007) – see Figures 2 and 3, and test its fit to the case. Most of the historic backgroundand reports were obtained through secondary research using government reports,published international research and books, newspaper press releases and articles.Confidential interviews with organizations like Emirates Airlines, JAFZA and DubaiTourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) were used as a basis to collect additionalsecondary research and information. Primary research based on conversations withresidents, looking at the reasons why they came to Dubai and their recollections wereused as a basis for further secondary research. The information was categorized by theauthor into the relevant subheadings for analysis. This study is an exploratory studywhere case study analysis depends largely on secondary sources of information.

Analysis: a case study: branding of Dubai as a destinationA historical perspectiveDubai was a sleepy fishing and pearl diving village that had over the years survived onthe bounty of the sea. Through visionary leadership, it used its strategic location togrow into a trading centre, and overnight transformed into an economic beacon for theME. Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Al Maktoum (1958-1990), facilitated this change. In 1958,

Figure 3.Key components for

destination branding

1. VISION

2. Stakeholders

3. Portfolio of products

4. Target Customer

6. Communica

tion

5. Image/ Differentiation

7. Response

Source: Adapted from Balakrishnan (2007)


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he borrowed millions of dollars from Kuwait to have the creek (the original tradingsouk) dredged. The chance discovery of black gold (1966) further financed his vision: in1970 he began the Jebel Ali port project which today is the world’s largest man-madeport (Figure 4).

In 1971 when the British left, the warring tribes of the Trucial States were broughtunder one banner by the creation of UAE. It enabled synergistic pooling of theresources. The rapid pace of development in Dubai was initially fueled by oil but todaythis forms less than 6 percent of the overall GDP. Sheikh Rashid’s mantle waseventually succeeded by his youngest son, the current ruler of the emirate, HE SheikhMohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Prime Minister and Vice President andRuler of Dubai. HE Sheikh Mohammed (2007) is known to be a perfectionistand reviews key projects personally. He plans surprise visits – to reprimand, rewardand identify new talent for key projects (Molavi, 2007).

Dubai has some unique advantages. First and foremost its leadership has beenstrong and endowed with great vision. They have constantly taken advantage of thestrategic location and been proactive to global change. Historically and geographically,Dubai is a transit point, but the refocus is to make it much more. To forget the barrendesert, Dubai has encouraged trade, business, shopping, lifestyle and tourism. Projectshave been completed at a rapid pace. For example, the city metro was conceptualizedfrom a survey in 1997 and by 2009 will carry 1.86 million passengers daily. TheAirport which was created in 1961 today has 25 million passengers transiting perannum. A new airport being built in Jebel Ali will handle 120 million passengers and12 million tonnes of cargo. Nakheel (a part of Dubai Worlde), is one of the world’slargest privately held real estate developers. It takes credit for planning over 1,000 kmof coastline through its Palm Trilogy, World and Waterfront projects and will developover 2 billion sq.ft. of land (see Figure 4 for dramatic cityscape changes).

But there are some inherent disadvantages Dubai has to work with. History of thisregion has always been distorted and September 9-11, 2001 made things worse with theME region being clubbed as one area of political instability and terrorism. The averageglobal citizen viewed his Middle Eastern counterparts as backward or threatening.Arab leaders said in a survey that the two largest external factors affectingleaders were the political situation (35.56 percent) and international perception of ME(26.77 percent) (Survey of Arab Leaders, 2005). The negative COO impacted the DPWorld (a part of Dubai Worlde) takeover of the 6 P&O managed USA ports. Americanpublic pressure was strongly against having a company from the ME managing theirports though the US Government including President George Bush vouched for DPWorld. Another potential disadvantage is that 82 percent of Dubai’s population isexpatriates. With a service dependent economy, people play a very important role inthe perception of service satisfaction. A majority of the cheap labor is male and theylive without their families; this makes for very skewed demographics. Sheikh ZayedRoad, the main feeder road that runs the length of Dubai in the 1990s, had very littlebuilding construction along it, but that no longer remains true (see Figure 5 – figurecircled is the World Trade Centre, which in the 1990s, was the tallest building inDubai). Parking, the huge number of apartments and villas that will hit the market by2010, and maintaining security when tourists will outnumber residents by 4: 1 areareas of worry.

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Strategic visionVision must take destination limitations into consideration. Besides, perceptions aboutthe place, Dubai needs to look at future revenue. It lies in the heart of the desert and oilwhich is a critical economic contributor to most GCC countries is less than 6 percent ofDubai’s GDP. It is estimated that oil will exhaust itself in 20 years (Middle East Monitor,

Figure 4.Changing face of Dubai

JAFZA

Dubai – 1990s*Dubai – 1970s*

Original Creek Settlement

Dubai – 2000s*

City starts expanding

Dubai – 2007*

Redefining the coastline: Palm Trilogy, The World

Dubai – The Future

Sources: *Photos courtesy of the US Geological Survey; photo: Dubai – The Future, courtesy of Nakheel


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2007). Hence, there is an overwhelming need to diversify Dubai’s assets (see Figure 6 for2005 GDP breakup). This fact is realized in the government’s vision as outlined in the2015 Strategic Plan, which is to make Dubai a “globally leading Arab city” and a “GlobalCity” (HE Sheikh Mohammed, 2007) with services being a key contributor to its growth.Dubai has identified tourism, transport, trade, construction and financial services as thekey drivers of its economy in its 2015 Strategic Plan.

Vision – economic driversEconomic drivers look at welfare of its citizens and investors. Dubai as of 2005 had aGDP of US$37 billion with a per capita income of US$31,000. The 2015 vision is toincrease GDP to US$108 billion and GDP per capita to US$44,000. However, the

Figure 5.Dubai cityscape changes(1990-2005)

Dubai in 1990

Dubai in 2005

Sources: www.skidubai.com; www.businessfacilities.com

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economic welfare of residents need not equate to nationals who form a shrinkingminority. The median income of its average expatriate citizen is less than US$700 andin response to recommendations of UN experts, the Ministry of Economy has begunUAE’s first household income and expenditure survey to form a consumer price index(Gulf News, 2007a).

Looking at businesses, Dubai has been able to attract foreign direct investments(FDI) through incentives like no tax, free zones and the revised property ownershiplaws. The World Competitive Yearbook ranks Dubai 5th in terms of positive imageabroad with respect to encouraging business development (IMD, 2005). There is still along way to go though UAE has joined WTO in 1996. International laws as of yet donot apply uniformly across the entire Emirate – only in free trade zones. There isnepotism when you look at national companies which makes real businessperformance harder to evaluate. Information is not very easy to obtain in Dubaiespecially from business organizations as there is no need to disclose financials.

With the booming economy, inflation is an issue as the Dirham is pegged to thedollar. As of May 2007, the US dollar was devaluing compared to the Euro.For residents this was a problem but for European investors it was a boon. Cost ofliving within the city is high with rents comparable to Singapore (IMD, 2005).There is disparity between official figures of inflation (7 percent) and banking reports(12-15 percent) (Baik, 2007). Another issue Dubai faces due to its populationcomposition is the remittance of money (12.5 percent of global remittance) where theflow of money is outwards (Gulf News, 2006). Currently imports are higher than exportsso this is one area of refocus. Small- and medium-sized enterprises have been identifiedas engines for economic growth, but this region has a deficit of venture capitalists.Programs like Bedaya funds new ventures but target only Emiratis (Elewa, 2007).

Figure 6.Dubai GDP sector

contributions (2005)

Wholesale / Retail21%

Manufacturing15%

Utlities / logistics14%

Construction11%

Source: Ministry of Economy (2006)

Real Estate10%

Finance10%

Services9%

Oil6%

Rest / Hotel4%


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Vision – encouraging tourismTourism in the ME region is booming post 9-11. The World Travel and TourismCouncil (WTTC) predicts the UAE travel and tourism industry will grow at 5 percent(2007-2016), which is higher than the ME average of 4.4 percent and the world averageof 4 percent. UAE T&T industry attracts one in every 8.5 jobs whereas the worldaverage is one in every 11.5 jobs (Rahman, 2007b). A lot of the UAE activity isprimarily due to Dubai. As of 2006, 6.5 million people visited the emirates excludingvisitors staying with friends and family (Rahman, 2007b).

Tourism according to DTCM’s Director, Mohammad Khamis Bin Hareb, currentlycontributes 18 percent to Dubai’s GDP directly and 29 percent indirectly (Al Hakeem,2007). Current destination focus seems to be on individuals: the lifestyle, businessconferencing, sports (17 golf courses, dhow racing, horse racing, and tennis),entertainment and shopping. Future sports attractions range from cricket, football,formula one racing and the development of the “Sports City” make it an ideal venue forfuture Olympics. Dubailand will also host the Bawadi – a hotel strip similar to LasVegas and the world’s largest Ski Dome which will attract an additional 200,000visitors per day (Husain, 2007b). The “family” is partly the focus with Dubailand’sUniversal theme park however these are expensive options. Dubai should look atculture and historical exploration as other areas for development. By becoming a cruiseterminal, it could do just that.

Medical tourism exceeds US$56 billion worldwide in 2006 and is growing at15 percent pa according to a report by the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (Al Deen, 2007). Within the UAE it is expected to generate AED 7 billion(US$1.9 billion) by 2010. The focus is to attract 6 million of the 600 million tourists withspecial needs and get residents to use medical facilities within the emirate rather thangoing abroad. Education is another potential area for tourism. HE Sheikh Mohammadannounced an AED 37 billion fund (US$10.8 billion) for education andknowledge-development in the region (Zawya, 2007).

Vision – retail spendingAccording to the 2006 Global Retailer Development Index, UAE ranks 16th withrespect to Gross Leasable Area (GLA) (see Table I for GLA per capita estimates). TheGCC itself will be home to five out the eight largest malls in the world by 2012(Thompson, 2006; Retail ME, 2006a). Average daily private consumption spending inUAE is at US$26.80 making it the highest in the Arab world where others spendan average of US$3.50 on consumer items (Kawach, 2004). People spend overUS$700 million per annum in the Dubai Duty Free alone, which is the third largest in

YearEstimated mall

GLA (m2)Estimated total

GLA (m2)

GLA per capita(Dubai population)

(m2)

GLA per capita(population including tourists)

(m2)

2005 1,103,463 1,379,463 0.98 0.512010 4,820,320 5,670,964 2.73 1.252015 11,630,347 12,922,608 4.23 1.66

Note: A healthy GLA per capita is below 2.5 m2

Source: GRMC retail services Ditcham (2007)

Table I.Dubai retail marketestimates (2005-2015)

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term of turnover next to Heathrow (London) and Incheon (Korea) (Retail ME, 2006a, b).In 2006, the average spend of Dubai visitors amounted to AED 6,429 (US$1,785.8) perday (Ditcham, 2007). In order to support the retail industry successfully, spending percapita has to rise from US$3,000 to 7,000 by 2010 (this will decrease by 40 percent withtourist influx), which means retail will contribute 50 percent to GDP (PRZoom, 2007;Davis, 2006).

Dubai has positioned itself as a home of luxury brands. Damac Properties, thelargest private master developer in the ME has a tag line “Live the Luxury”. Butbesides the rich and super-rich, resident consumption must increase. Dubai has beenable to do that also. For example, summer is a low-retail month due to harsh weatherconditions and the fact that most expatriates leave for annual vacations. For the lastten years, Dubai has tried to revive this period through the Dubai Summer Surprise – aten week shopping, child-focused extravaganza. In 2006, 1.87 million tourists cameduring that period (Gulf News, 2007b). During every winter, The Dubai ShoppingFestival takes place and in 2006 attracted over 3.6 million tourist contributing 8 percentto the overall GDP (Gulf News, 2007c). The Dubai shopping festival, Dubai summersurprises and Ramadan initiatives account for nearly two-thirds of annual gold anddiamond jewelry sales (Dubai Gold and Jewelry Group, 2007). This marks a change intourist attitude: in survey conducted during 1998-1999 by the DTCM, it was found thatthe main reason people came to Dubai was primarily leisure (44 percent) and business(39 percent), with shopping being a low priority (4 percent) (DTCM, 2007).

Vision – strengthening servicesServices contribute 74 percent to Dubai’s GDP and have a CAGR of 21 percent.Services must look at business government and consumer services; intellectual, socialand human capital; welfare; quality of life and security (Balakrishnan, 2007). One of theareas the Dubai strategic plan focuses on is people management. Dubai faces braindrain, has issues attracting competent skilled labor, and scores very low onremuneration, productive labor relations, worker motivation and employee training(IMD, 2005). Hence, intellectual capital is low. According to the World CompetitiveYearbook, the people of Dubai work the hardest of the 60 regions surveyed clocking2,298 h per year versus an average of 1,922 h per year (IMD, 2005).

Of a population of 1.4 million (growing at 7 percent pa), 85 percent is employed. Ofthe employed, 97 percent is foreign labor. This means over 82 percent of the populationis expatriate, mostly Asian with a majority working in the construction industry(Dubai Healthcare City, 2007). Services currently account for 85 percent of theemployment of nationals who are less than 2 percent of workforce. A key driver isEmiratisation where the emphasis is to balance demographics and responsibility(create greater ownership), reinforce culture and knowledge management through aquota system for nationals.

Services are not only people dependent but also on rules/policies and infrastructure.Dubai embraces the latest technology (UAE has one of the highest mobile penetrationsand internet usage in the Arab world) and is currently integrating eServices of all 24government offices. Not only does it allows electronic payment of bills but also allowsaccess to information on fines, utility bills and business queries. Hotlines like AlAmeen (a security hotline for suspicious activities not in the general purview of thepolice) have been launched to improve government services. The government


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constantly benchmarks itself against other cities and nations. The Department ofEconomic Development of the Government of Dubai partnered with the IMD WorldCompetitiveness Centre to identify a competitive framework. The 2005 WorldCompetitive report compares Dubai with 51 countries and nine regions on 314 criteria(IMD, 2005). USA, Hong Kong and Singapore led the survey in that order and Dubai isbenchmarking itself against the best (Table II).

Vision – facilitating the transit hubThe ME, which is strategically placed in terms of resources and location, is able tofacilitate trade (Siddiqi, 1999). When the UAE joined the Customs Union in 2003, ithelped Dubai become a major port of entry for the ME and Africa. In addition, it hasbecome both a sea and air transit point. In 2006, Dubai processed 1.5 million tons ofcargo and 28.7 million passengers through the Dubai International Airport accordingto the Airports Council’s International Report (Rahman, 2007c). The Jebel Ali port with67 berths is attached to JAFZA (Jebel Ali Free Trade Zone), which is home to 5,500companies from over 120 countries. Dubai’s seaport is currently the 9th busiest interms of container traffic (DMCC, 2007). The proximity of JAFZA and the new Jebel AliAirport (stated to be the largest in the world) will lead to an economic free zone withaccess to sea, road and air. Emirates, Dubai’s flagship airline files to 83 differentdestinations. Today Emirates is the 4th largest airline in the world (in terms ofpassenger traffic) with its 18th consecutive year of profit. Dubai’s open sky policies andfacilities have encouraged over 112 airlines to connect via Dubai to more than 165destinations (Emirates Airlines, 2007).

Dubai has historically been associated with trade. More than 80 percent of theUAE’s AED 510 billion (US$139 billion) merchandise trade is conducted through Dubai(Rahman, 2007b). Dubai is currently the third largest re-export centre in the worldserving a massive regional market (DMCC, 2007). Dubai’s strategic location is not onlygeographical but also in terms of time zones as it falls more comfortably betweenEurope and the Far East which makes it a potential financial centre.

To ensure the growth of trade and to become a trading hub, Dubai has initiatedbodies like the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre (formally known as Dubai Metal andCommodities Centre). It was set up in 2002 to facilitate trading of gold and preciousmetals, diamonds and coloured stones, energy and other commodities. It is rated “A”by Standard & Poor’s and has over 850 registered businesses (DMCC, 2007). Dubai’sconstruction boom has seen approximately 8.1 million tonnes of iron and steel tradedthrough Dubai (the world produced 1.8 billion metric tonnes of steel in 2006) and it isexpected that this demand will rise by 8.4 percent to 43.6 million tones (Dow Jones

Evaluation criteria No. of criteria Ranking

Overall ranking 314 17Economic performance 77 6Government efficiency 73 9Business efficiency 69 21Overall infrastructure 95 32

Source: IMD (2005)

Table II.Dubai ranking in theWorld CompetitiveYearbook 2005

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Report, 2007). Dubai has the highest per capita gold consumption in the region at 30grams (19 percent of world consumption) and in a survey conducted by AC Nielsen, itwas found that tourists account for 52 percent of the gold and jewelry sales in Dubai(Dubai Gold and Jewelry Group, 2007; Husain, 2007c). In terms of diamond trade, in2006, Dubai was the 5th largest trading centre in the world (Husain, 2007c). Dubai istrying to replicate its success in metals and commodities by trying to become aregional flower trading hub with the Dubai Flower Centre which was created in 2004.

The Dubai Urban Development Framework was created in August 2007 to look atboth the environmental and social aspects of urban development and to facilitateintegration between government, quasi government and private stakeholders. This isof importance as already 50 percent of the emirate’s land is under urban planning(Rahman, 2007d) and as more businesses move to this region, coordination betweenthem and government for smooth functioning is paramount. When looking at thestrategic vision of Dubai (Figure 7), you see a good fit with the model. Areas fordevelopment are highlighted with an asterix.

A big caution area for Dubai is the rapid pace of development which may not givesufficient time to learn from mistakes. The free trade zones and the multiple real estateprojects have put demands on existing basic infrastructure and transportation. Roadupgrades are happening at a frantic pace. Will it be sufficient? This is yet to be seenonce all real estate properties are occupied as parking and free space seems to be at ashrinking as vacant dunes disappear under concrete and glass. Water is at a premiumas 70 percent (about 24 million cu. Meters per day) of the UAE’s water comes from

Figure 7.Strategic vision of Dubai

– an analysis

Business – Yes (ranks high as convention/exhibition centre)

Economic

Tourism

Retail

Transit Hub

Services

Dubai Vision2015

Global Arab City

InvestmentsTax free, Investment zones,Real estate

Economic Returns for Stakeholders

*Implied as Finance is key area

Economic Prosperity per capita

GDP increase by 42%

TradeKey area

Travel – open skies; port; cruise

Logistics and Supply Management – trade

(JAZFA/ DAZFA)

Rest and Recreation – Beaches, Golf, Entertainment,

Health - Health City

Education – Academic city

*Exploration/Culture/Experience

Retail – Big brands, retailers, duty free, Shopping Festival

TouristsLocals

*Business

Government

*Consumer

*Social/Human Capital

*Intellectual Capital

*Welfare/Quality of Life/Security

*Immigration

*Family

* - Areas of Refocus


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desalination plants and UAE has the 3rd highest water consumption per capita withUSA and Canada ahead (ME Electricity, 2007).

Most higher education still focuses on business degrees though as an area thisregion can encourage archeological, geological, architecture, engineering, energy,science and medical education. Dubai is still seen by many as an “earning transitpoint.” To encourage intellectual and social capital, and balance demographics,immigration can be used as an alternative. Security though one of the strongest in thisregion will need to be strengthened as tourists numbers start increasing. Dubai has astrong vision but needs to integrate and balance the pace of progress of all componentsof its vision.

Vision: discussion and recommendationsVision should be the starting point of any destination strategy. Vision must bewell-rounded with all components integrated. The key questions practitioners mustask are:

. What benefit is there for the people of the location?

. Why should visitors come to the location and spend/invest their money?

. What policies/infrastructure/investments are required from the governing side toencourage the first two questions?

. Is there a mind-set change that needs to be facilitated among the residents toencourage tourism?

There are also several caution areas:. maintaining continuity with change of governing bodies;. integrating elements for better synergy;. keeping vision current with changing world expectations; and. moderating pace of development.

A strong vision takes advantage of its history and geographic areas and buildsinfrastructure to make it more accessible. It must balance all stakeholder needs to gainthe momentum needed to make the destination branding strategy a success.

StakeholdersDubai, the most liberal emirate of the UAE has to balance its culture with the moreconservative dictates of the ME and hence its ambition to be a “Global Arab City” hasto have a strong grounding in its heritage. This has to be balanced by integrating andeducating expatriates and residents to deliver best practices in services and products.Balancing the Arab traditional laws with international laws is not very easy. The greatdiplomacy and skill of the ruler of Dubai, who also holds the Vice President and PrimeMinister’s office for UAE has been recognized to this effect. As of 2007, he has beengiven overall responsibility for developing and implementing UAE’s strategy. Thisshould help facilitate change and bring some synergy into the regions plan. WithDubai’s success – each emirate has been replicating the real estate and free trade zoneformula which reduces differentiation and causes confusion as the distances betweenemirates is small. It is estimated that in this region over US$1,200 billion worth of real

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estate projects are under development with US$600 billion in UAE, 50 percent of whichis Dubai’s (Hussain, 2007a, b).

Nationals are a key area of focus as not only do they form a small percentage of thepopulation, they control sizeable assets and have a huge unemployment rate. Other keystakeholders are residents, individual investors from the ME, Europe and Asia;corporate investors and businesses (some details are covered in the section on targetcustomers); governments and other international bodies that can add to the credibilityof Dubai. Growing demand is coming from overseas expats including returningshort-stayers (tourism). This includes rich Muslims from the West, rich GCC andSouth Asian citizens, upper middle income groups from Western and Central Europewho want a home in Dubai for visits and/or investment.

Though expatriates are the majority and the economy depends on them, it was onlyin the last decade that they were allowed to own properties in designated areas and geta residency visa with it. Residency visas are normally employer-sponsored whichmeant in the past expatriates with children over 18 years had no way to keep theirchildren with them. Now with education visas and property ownership, the situation ischanging. The past policies encouraged illegal immigrants and led to violation ofhuman rights. To combat this, in 2007 under the government’s amnesty program, morethan 184,000 applications were received for repatriation without consequences (GulfNews, 2007d). Jeff Swystun, the Global Director of Interbrand says:

Place Branding is actually a misnomer, it’s actually about people branding. It’s aboutbranding the people that represent the region because there are actually very fewdifferentiators that you can hang your hat on from a geographic basis . . . .it’s the people whopopulate [the place] that [make] it unique. [Dubai]. . . should be a global center, but not atransient one – one that attracts and makes people loyal” (Shikoh, 2006).

There has been a change in the government’s outlook with respect to the averagecitizen. In the past, government programs like Tanmia focused on a quota systemwhere even private sectors companies like banks needed to hire Nationals, today thefocus is on development where Nationals will have to compete on equal footing withexpatriates which is a tremendously progressive step to take. Dubai has identified itskey stakeholders well and is actively pursuing them to influence and spearheadchange. An additional refocus on ALL residents will create a greater feeling of pride,loyalty and unity and encourage social, human and intelligence capital.

Stakeholders: discussion and recommendationsStakeholder identification is derived from the vision itself. Governing bodies need toask themselves the following key questions.

Who/which bodies will be responsible for:. Sanctioning?. Investing?. Implementing/coordinating?. Promoting/influencing vision?

Stakeholders need to be identified, convinced to participate and to influence otherstakeholders to make a vision succeed. Destinations should look at domestic, regionaland international stakeholders. These can be government, public and the private


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sector enterprises. At the micro-level, an important category of stakeholders are theresidents who help indirectly implement destination branding as we will see later in thecase study.

Portfolio of productsImmediately following the aftermath of September 9-11, investments that would havegone to the west were redirected back into the region after the negative impression andtreatment of people with Arabic profile. Taking advantage of its strategic locationDubai has started several free trade zones. The portfolio of products is diverse (thereare 23 free trade zones) ranging from IT/media; education; health; trade ofcommodities, gold, diamonds and gemstones; logistics; manufacturing and finance.

With the opening of the Dubai International Financial Centre in March 2000 morethan 250 players have come to Dubai. There are over 58 brokerages which mean thereis nearly one brokerage firm per company listed in the stock exchange. Still, there is along way to go. GCC’s share of global banking assets is less than 1 percent. However,there is some positive movement forward as more multi-national banks adopt Islamicfinancing to woo their Arab customers. Islamic finance assets are worth over US$250billion and even the British government is trying to woo this neglected cash-rich sourcewith its first Sharia-compliant bond (Reuters, 2007).

The hotel industry is growing with the real estate industry. There are 285 hotels and135 service apartment blocks according to DTCM in 2006 (Rahman, 2007a). Accordingto Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels, ME investment in hotel sector is to exceed US$7 billion in2007 and with UAE investors like Nakheel, Emaar and Tameer accounting for morethan 76 percent of MENA regional hotel investments (Shuey, 2007). Real Estate isbooming: Nakheel projects are expected to contribute 25 percent to Dubai’s tourismGDP (Nakheel Advertisement, 2007). Dubai Holding is developing the Bawadi projectwhich is a Las Vegas type hotel strip and a Universal Studio operating over 6.5 millionsq. ft. which will open by 2010.

Dubai has a well diversified portfolio targeted at the high-end customer. Being atransit destination and a purely expatriate dominated destination means it cannot caterto the lower-middle income groups which maybe a neglected sector. In business thereare some international systems (labour and legal laws) that need to still be put in placebut efforts are underway to that effect.

Portfolio of product: discussion and recommendationAs with brand portfolios, consistency is important. That means not only must theproducts have consistency across the range (if you offer world class hotels, otherservices must also match up) but also tourism does depend on the how clearly you cansegregate brand identities. Often destinations will attract the low-budget traveler, thebusiness traveler and the wealthy jet set. Each has different needs and requirements.Hence, the clearer the portfolio of products, the easier it is to identify the targetaudience. The advantage of diversifying the portfolio, is that you reduce theinvestment risk. The moment a destination becomes a transit hub, you must be able toprovide a range of destination products from middle income levels onwards.

When designing the destinations portfolio, there are two key perspectives:

(1) infrastructure; and

(2) revenues.

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Long term infrastructure investments that need to be funded with foreign capitalbecomes a destination product though often the initial capital outlay will be fundedfrom the destination itself. Revenue generating activities like hospitality, retail andbusiness are some activities that need to be supported by destination informationservices, banking, transportation, security and even cultural activities (museums,entertainment, etc).

Target customersWho are the customers that Dubai focuses on? An interesting fact is that over50 percent of the investment comes from the private sector. Within the MESubcontinent, North Africa to the Caspian region, there are more than 544 millionpeople with a GDP income of over US$1,000 (Gulf News, 2007e). It is estimatedaccording to the Hedge Fund Report that the value of the potential Middle Easterncapital available for investment (private wealth and institutional funds) isapproximately US$4.1 trillion (Rahman, 2007e), which makes this a lucrativesegment to focus on. Kuwaitis are the largest owners of land in Dubai (29 percent),followed by Saudis (27 percent), Omanis (19 percent), Qatar (13 percent) and Bahrainis(12 percent) which shows that FDI is mostly regional at this point (Zahid, 2006).

With the relaxation on property ownership, and increase in business investment, thepopulation has grown to 1.422 million, adding a total of 800 people daily in 2006(Ahmed, 2007). The challenge would be to make the composition of investors moreinternational. Key trading partners in terms of exports are also regional – India,Pakistan, Iran and Kuwait. In terms of re-exports, key countries were India and Iranand in terms of imports it was China then India. Dubai is looking at more countries toform strategic alliances as seen by the spate of foreign travels HE Sheikh Mohammadhas made in 2007 alone. The visitor composition has changed (Table III). The touristnumbers have more than doubled since 1999 and more Europeans are being wooedwith Dubai’s lifestyle, weather and facilities.

According to DTCM’s (2007) One Stop Information Centre, though hotel occupancyhas increased from 66.8 percent (in 1999) to 82 percent (in 2007); average guest nightshave not increased significantly (2.5 nights in 1999 to 2.7 nights in 2007), Hence, Dubaiis not considered a long-stop location, it is more a transit point. This raises aninteresting question as it is not a very economical transit point. These two opposingsides of the equation need to be balanced. Studies like the one conducted by Gonzalezand Bello (2002) should be conducted to offer insights on tourist consumer behaviour toincrease length of stay keeping in mind in 2010 many new hotels will be opened. Veryoften target customer segmentation is by geographic area or income but a study byWoodside and Ronkainen (1978) shows that though demographic profiles of touristscan be same across geographic areas, the psychographic profile will differ. Thishighlights the importance of matching the personality of the brand to the targetcustomer (Hosany et al., 2007), especially as brand “Dubai” moves westwards.

Year Total visitors Arabs (percent) Asian (percent) Europeans (percent)

1999 3,026,734 39 22 282006 6,441,670 30 22 31.7

Source: DTCM One Stop Information Centre (2007)

Table III.Visitor composition

(Dubai)


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Target customers: discussion and recommendationThough the target customers outside the destination are crucial to bring in revenue, itis the residents that will help make it happen. Somehow that part often gets lost inwooing customers. Dubai is no exception. The key questions destinations need toaddress are:

. Who is your target market (looking at psychographic profiles also)?

. What kind of revenues are you looking from them?

. Who are the influencers for this group of customers?

. Are these groups of customers homogeneous across regions or does the regionaldifferentiation need special services?

. How can you profile this group of customers yet have one common theme thatattracts all of them?

. What are these target groups of customers looking in terms of serviceinteractions from your residents?

Image, differentiation, communication and responseDubai actively pursues ingredient branding. There are over 400 international brands inDubai. Its no direct tax policy encourages investment. Its open skies policies allow anyairline to land, increasing transit traffic. It has been the promoter of the Dubai ShoppingFestival which has spurred retail sales and resulted in the world’s best brands beingfound here. Its free trade zones have many Fortune 500 companies setting up offices(Microsoft, Nokia, CNN, Pepsi), Banks (Credit Suisse; Merrill Lynch; Deutsche Bank,etc.) and Hotels (Sheraton, Hyatt, Meridian, Raffles, etc.). Home brands like the JumeiraInternational Group (hotels), Emaar, Nakheel and Dubai Holding (real estate), Dubal(Aluminum) Emirates Airlines and DP World (port management) are among its brandambassadors. Many of its home grown brands are superlatives (Table IV). It is

Media proclaimed 7 star hotel Burj Al ArabThe world’s highest hotel The Burj al AlumThe world’s largest hotel Asia-AsiaThe world’s first underwater hotel HydropolisWorld tallest building The BurjThe world’s tallest building built to be biggerthan The Burj

The Al Burj

The World’s richest horse race The Dubai CupThe self proclaimed 8th wonder of the world “The Palm –The World”The world’s largest waterfront development Dubai WaterfrontDubai Marina World’s largest man-made marinaWorld’s first purpose-built sports city Dubai Sports CityThe world’s largest mall Mall of Arabia, which will be bigger than

Dubai Mall which will become the world’slargest mall

World’s largest gold souk In Dubai MallThe world’s largest amusement park Dubailand of which Universal studios is a partThe world’s largest man-made port Jebel AliThe world’s largest airport Jebel Ali airport at Dubai World CentralRegions largest logistic hub Dubai World Central

Table IV.Some of Dubai’ssuperlatives

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estimated that in order to promote the “Dubai” brand, the Department of Tourism andCommerce’s unofficial marketing budgets are to exceed US$32 million. However, whenyou add the projected spend of quasi-government organizations like the above, theamount will exceed US$275 billion for the year 2010 (UAE Interact, 2007b).

Emirates Airline is a Brand Ambassador for Dubai like Singapore Airlines was forSingapore or Lord of the Rings was for New Zealand. It is the world’s youngest andfastest growing airline (it will accept delivery of an aircraft every month for the nexteight years) and the strongest brand in the UAE and the second strongest in the ME(Dore, 2007). Its association with FIFA as the principal sponsor has helped change theimage of Dubai. Emirates Airlines is perceived as a global carrier. During the 2005FIFA World Cup campaign, their emphasis was “We all speak the same language”(implying football) which helped negate the negative COO effect. Today, over 120,000UK citizens and 5,000 Germans have established residency in the UAE, plus over 1million UK visitors and 30,000 Germans come every year (Anastasiou, 2007; Zahid,2006). Their current campaign “Keep Discovering” encourages people to explorethrough emirates.

Dubai has used its international exhibitions and its “transit hub” status to facilitatetravel. It featured on the cover issue of the January, 2007 National Geographic issue. Itwas used as a movie backdrop for Academy Awards Winner Syrianna. It hasassociations with celebrities who have “homes” here like football legendDavid Beckham; actors like Michael Owen and Indian superstar Shah Rukh Khan(Nakheel, 2007). Dubai features in special documentaries on its mega constructionprojects to create a “Buzz”.

There are cautions. The “tallest, biggest, richest, unique” are all short-liveddifferentiators and when building destination images, it is better to build it on thepromise of something more tangible and concrete than a passing title. Though Dubai isassociated by so many images, not all images encompass the image of Dubai totally.There is no single logo or symbol representing Dubai. Singapore has the Merlion, theSingapore Airlines fabric, New York has its “I Lkve NY” logo, the Statue of Libertyand the “City that Never Sleeps” campaign, Egypt is associated with the pyramids butDubai has yet to decide what will be its key image differentiator. Most tourists buy acamel as a souvenir which is alright if that is a part of the branding strategy, but morelikely it is an entrepreneur’s interpretation of a destination. Image also needs to belinked to an emotion. What emotional experience does the Destination want toengineer? These are areas that Dubai needs to work on branding. Services are thedriver for the “Dubai brand.” The portfolio of products Dubai has to offer: real-estate,business investment, financial services, lifestyle, tourism, shopping, healthcare andeducation have a strong dependency on people and other auxiliary systems like laws,regulations, infrastructure and social support to ensure that the overall “image” isreinforced.

How can the response be managed? Though Dubai uses a variety of components ofthe communication mix as seen above, there still has to be:

. consistency; and

. feedback.

Dubai needs to synergize its media and branding strategy across government, quasigovernment and private sector companies. Also with respect to market information,


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there is lack of access of to data. Companies are reluctant to give information as aretheir employees (perhaps due to low job security). Another caution area is the promisesso heavily advertised on which the brand Dubai stands for are still being completed.This can cause disappointment in investors and tourists. One traveler said “I wassurprised to see so many buildings that were un-finished”.

If we look at the brand strategy framework, Dubai focuses on most of the keyelements but there are a few areas that can be strengthened. The vision is clear, but itneeds to be focused. Dubai is associated with too many images which makes itconfusing. City of Dreams is too vague. To build a brand image sometimes we need tofocus on a few key elements at least in the initials stages to get greater recall,association and usage.

Dubai is building a destination with the right brand equity blocks. What they do nothave in-house they are not afraid to ask for from outside. Since, people are the keydrivers, they all need to own the vision and this is a challenge given the size of theexpatriate population. At his historic speech in front of key influencers of the nation,Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister ofUAE and Ruler of Dubai said:

. . . It is common knowledge that it is far easier to build financial capital than it is to buildintellectual, psychological and moral capital. Building a road, or a bridge, may take a year ortwo, but building a person takes a lifetime. We live, today, in the ever changing era ofknowledge, requiring continuous learning which does not end at a certain level, or byattaining a . . . certain expertise.

Pride is a good way to start. The pride “of belonging” and “visiting” a destination. Allthis together will make Dubai a truly “global city.”

Image, differentiation, communication and response: discussion and recommendationsHow do you create a positive image? When looking at ingredient branding,international brands give the tourist and business investor some immediate sense ofaffiliation and trust. A study by James et al. (2006) finds that the more similaritybetween brand alliances (looking at functional and emotional aspects of the brand)exists, the greater likelihood of consumers purchasing that product. The destinationmust also export “home” grown brands as most tourists are looking for the “unique”destination experience. So the key question is how do you differentiate regions?Destinations need to identify which tangible and intangible components their targetcustomers’ value. For example, O’Cass and Grace (2004) and de Chernatony and Riley(1998) have identified a detailed list of brand dimensions important for customers.Images based on destination attributes (Correira et al., 2007; Hankinson, 2004, 2005;Pawitra and Tan, 2003; Leisen, 2001) need to be matched to the customers perceptionsand self image (Jamal and Goode, 2001). Destinations need to balancetangibles/functional attributes with emotional/ambience components (Hankinson,2005) and can use methods like “Mood” marketing (Pritchard and Morgan, 1998). Onthe other hand negative images of a destination need to be assessed as they affectoverall image. For example, a study by Pawitra and Tan (2003) found that negativeimages of Singapore arose from the expensive price of goods and unfriendly people.

In today’s technology based world, tourists still prefer traditional distributionchannels, especially for visiting new destinations though the net is used to supplementinformation (Law et al., 2004). Results of a survey conducted by Future Brands (2006),

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a Simon Anholt group found that tourists preferred to depend on friends and familyrecommendations prior to choosing a destination 29 percent of the time and then theyused the web 66 percent of the time post selection to get information. The net willbecome a formidable medium and it is important to keep track of its growingimportance. Studies like the one conducted by Martin et al. (2007) show netnography asa way of getting firsthand feedback on perceptions of travelers to destination. It also isa useful way to find ways of uncovering the real “flavor” of a place and positioning thebrand in a language they are comfortable with. The communication mix must look atthe target customer behavior patterns and also must be able to display consistency ofinformation and easy networking between various sites.

Findings and future recommendationsThe analysis of the case study found a strong fit with the model. Some recommendationswere also derived from the analysis. A key constraint of this study is the availability ofsufficient information which is still limited in the UAE. This would affect theinterpretation of the result. Dubai is truly a Star shining in the East with respect todestination marketing. They still need to continue focusing on new trends. They need tocontinue identifying new tourist segments, for example, China will become a key sourceof outbound tourism by 2020, supplying 100 million travelers (WTO, 2007). In additionDubai needs to focus on Stages 6 and 7 of the branding framework model (Figure 3)where they need a clearer unified brand promise and a few select representative images.Responses must be engineered, so positive WOM can increase.

This is a new area of research. This model can be applied to several destinations totest its fit. A survey tool on customer perceptions can be developed to further helpcities in their branding strategies. This means looking at internal and externalcustomers. External customers will be of two types – visitors and people who havenever visited. This can help remove the negative COO effect and reinforce positivebrand elements. Since, people are a key driver of services and destination marketingand brand perception, more research can be conducted about understanding how agovernment can take onus for its population and the impact they have on key driverslike tourism and business. National pride can be reinforced in service delivery to makemore positive experience outcomes.

The communication mix can be researched looking at well-established destinationsand emerging destinations. WOM is a strong influencer for shortlisting countries(29 percent dependency) hence reference generation must be an activity pursued(Future Brands, 2006). Research suggests that simplifying positioning based on thevisitors experience of features in a destination can improve the branding (Foley andFahy, 2004). Caldwell and Freire (2004) recommend that countries focus on emotiveparts of brand identity due to their diversity, while regions and cities can focus more onfunctional attributes.

This paper contributes to the overall body of academic knowledge and provides aconstructive guideline in the development of destination branding. As more economiesmove towards a service economy the distinction between one destination and anotherblurs. As one customer joked “Everything is made in China so what is unique about theplace?” Destinations must start focusing on the service experience and all customertouchpoints especially the people as they help deliver the experience. The checklist inTable V is developed looking at the literature review (destination and business context),


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Checklist Concept

Purpose What is the objective behind destination branding?What values will you hold?How will you share and create ownership of vision across various stakeholdersespecially residents?How will the vision also improve social and economic prosperities of residents?What are key factors on which vision hinges on (resources available, investments costs,revenue returns, intellectual/social/process capital)?

People Who will benefit (internal and external)?Who are the key internal stakeholders needed to be aligned for the strategy to succeed(government/(s), publics, media, influencer, private sector – domestic and international)?Who are potential external stakeholders that can facilitate the strategy (influencers likemedia, governments, NGOs, financial bodies, transportation companies, etc.)?Who is the strategy targeting?What resources and how much time is required to change mind-set?

Performance What is the current status (SWOT)?How do you wish to change that perception building on your strengths?What are the performance guidelines you will use to measure change?Who will monitor and be responsible for the change?How do you cascade, communicate and align the performance objectives acrossgovernment departments, private firms and publics?How will you keep performance expectations abreast with changing world situations?What other destination will you use as a benchmark and why?

Product What portfolio of products will you offer for which you need to create a brand strategy?Which products will bring revenues into your destination? Which products will be usedto increase prosperity of your residents?Which products will build your brand/image?How will investments in these products change in the future and how easily replicableare they?Which of these products take advantage of your core competencies – geographicallocation, history or people?How will be products be synergized across product types, customers, services andpolicies, infrastructure requirements, stakeholders and media?

Positioning What are your key attributes (physical, business, emotional, cultural, etc.)?What do your target customers value?Is it unique and not easily replicable?Are the brand components – name, slogan, color, trademark/logo, personality, image,service performance/benefits, representations (corporate/human), culture, messages, andemotions – reinforcing each other?How are you monitoring these components?

Process What system change do you need?How can you synergize information and processes (for speed, service, security,information and convenience)?Can you create one-stop information and process handling points for target customers?What technology/infrastructure do you need to keep your destination brand promise?Who will be accountable?Are your systems leading to intellectual capital generation in the case of extendedproduct ranges?Through what systems/channels/processes will you offer your destination productportfolio and how will you control and integrate these systems to reach your correcttarget?

Table V.Destination branding –the six Ps: a checklist

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the case studies and especially Dubai. It can be used to help develop a strong brandstrategy for the destination. It focuses on six Ps crucial to destination branding:

(1) purpose of the destination brand design and promise;

(2) people that will be affected, influencers and target of branding;

(3) performance expected after a realistic audit;

(4) products offered under the destination portfolio and their management;

(5) positioning expected and ways to reinforce it and finally; and

(6) process of ensuring the brand promises are delivered as effectively andefficiently as possible.

This is the start into the study of a topic that will continue to gain more importance asborders blur and revenue from destination branding continues to increase.

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Further reading

Menon, S. (2007), “Dubai-India trade rockets 336% in five years”, Gulf News, available at: http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/02/27/10107232.html (accessed February 27, 2007).

Corresponding authorMelodena Stephens Balakrishnan can be contacted at: [email protected]


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