According to author Simon Anholt (2007), national reputation is built through various channels including a country’s products, its citizens and personalities, local laws and international policies, culture, tourism promotion, major events and the personal experiences of tourists visiting the nation. Some countries enjoy a longstanding positive reputation, while others are unable to escape a lasting negative image. (p. 25-28)
There are countries that are famous and enjoy the benefits of their popularity such as Brazil, The Bahamas and Spain, others are virtually unknown to those outside its region including Lesotho, Moldova and Akrotiri, while the infamous such as Iraq, Zimbabwe and Sudan, due to their ongoing conflicts and political corruption, are unable to reap the benefits of tourism. (Anholt, 2007, p. 7-9)
Countries and cities are renowned for their technology and innovation, such as Japan, others for fashion including Paris and Milan, while some are closely associated with activities such as skiing in Sweden and surfing in Australia. (Anholt, 2007, p. 9-12)
Some countries are popular in one aspect and not so respected in another. You may think very highly of German car engineering, visions of Mercedes comes to mind, but you might be less inclined to think about its fashion sense, though to its credit it did produce Heidi Klum and Hugo Boss. (Anholt, 2007, p. 91)
Reputations are also heavily dependent on stereotypes. Sometimes people find it very difficult to let go of opinions they have cultivated of a particular region even when presented with evidence to the contrary. So all these years that you’ve convinced yourself that Nokia is Japanese, you’d be surprised to learn its actually Finnish, yes as in Finland.. no I’m not joking, and yes, I really did check it. Trust me, it wasn’t easy to find; apparently not even Nokia wants you to know where it was born. When you hear Finland you’re more likely to think of...ahm.. ah.. Ace of Base.. nah that’s Swedish.. ah.. something other than mobile technology. (Anholt, 2007, p. 92)
Governments must recognize the fragility of reputation and take a proactive approach to developing it to create a strong brand, amending it to reflect a changing nation and defending at the first sign of negative publicity.
Next post: the all too important image.
Reference
Anholt, S., (2007). Competitive Identity: The New Brand Management for Nations, Cities and Regions. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hi, Joni...I think u have some very important points...I found the Nokia discovery very funny...lol...like you said its all about stereotypes.
ReplyDeletelets talk about the international reputation of Jamaica and its tourism.
ReplyDeleteAs you mention reputation i find it truly amazing that warm weather and a few white sand beaches can attract thousands of tourists to a place deemed by (some)international media as the "crime capital of the world"
The question to Joni(minor in Travel & Tourism) is "why doesn't a negative reputation or stereotypes affect tourism in Jamaica?" Not that i'm complaining but isn't it interesting that only Hurricanes seem to deter internationals from visiting this tiny island?
Would you say that it's simply the beauty and culture of Jamaica that has a way of fixing any bad reputation or stereotype of the country?
You’d be amazed to know just how much our crime affects our tourism. Minister Bartlett shows up and says some really nice numbers: couple million visitors a year, we made a few bucks and everyone’s happy. The reality is we could undoubtedly have much more visitors. I wasn’t aware of just how much crime affected tourism until I attended the recently held World Travel Market in London, which is basically an excuse for tour operators and tourists board to converge on England and hobnob.
ReplyDeleteWhat I did learn from a few of the operators was how much of a struggle it was to convince tourists to visit Jamaica, some flat out refused to go because of fear of the crime. As word continues to spread of the violence in the island, we may see the numbers begin to suffer. Why go to Jamaica when you can go to Barbados, Bermuda or St. Lucia and walk virtually anywhere, at anytime without worrying.
We’ve been lucky because people seem to be very fascinated by our culture and natural beauty. But those two alone cannot stem the tide of negative publicity via the media and word of mouth.
Everyone’s ok with it now because we unfortunately don’t realize that we are not performing at our best capacity because of the crippling crime rate.
Wow. i knew that the worldwide perception of Jamaica was pretty bad due to the crime but i had no idea it was that much of a struggle to get people here.
ReplyDeleteSo if the Tourism Minister knows of this struggle, why not inform the Jamaican people? Your thoughts?
The sun, sea ,sand and reggae are all part of the allure of Jamaica plus being geographically close to North America has also facilitated Jamaica in sustaining its tourism industry.Passport requirements , opening up of emerging markets and of course the burgeoning crime problem will all retard the growth of the Jamaican tourism industry.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s being done for 2 reasons: keeping up the morale of the country and good PR for the Ministry of Tourism. Jamaicans are constantly subjected to hearing about rising crime rates, violence, political corruption, deteriorating infrastructure, as well as a slew of other problems. Tourism is the bright light at the end of the tunnel and exposing this information would take away from its allure.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, the JTB along with the Ministry are PR and marketing experts!! They are perfectly aware of what needs to be on the newspaper’s front page and what can be swept under the carpet. Minister Bartlett wants you to know he’s out their working hard for the country and he has the results to prove it! Releasing this information doesn’t exactly help to build his case.