Reputation and Image Recovery for the Tourism Industry

Citation

Croce, V. (2019), "Reputation and Image Recovery for the Tourism Industry", Journal of Tourism Futures, Vol. 5 No. 3, pp. 291-292. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-09-2019-086

Reputation and Image Recovery for the Tourism Industry is a book dealing with the complexity of place branding and strategies for managing the reputation and image of places in the event of shocks. Brand and reputation are relevant assets for tourism destinations and play a crucial role in the destination long-term development. Protecting this asset in times of crisis is a strategic competence of public and private organisations in tourism.

One of the most appreciable aspects of the book is its practical approach to a very complex subject. Place branding is a domain where the complexity of destination image and branding merges with the complexity of places. As the book highlights, places are filled with the meanings made by all representations created by a variety of stakeholders, from residents, to visitors, tourism and non-tourism industries, institutions, to mention the most frequent categories. Not only different stakeholders are engaged in constructing place elements, but such narratives evolve over time, adding layers of complexity to brand and image management over time. This book provides a streamlined approach to the analysis of reputation and image recovery strategies that helps focussing on macro-level factors and drawing general conclusions and recommendations.

The book consists of four sections, structured as follows:

1. Theoretical foundations – this first section is meant to provide the theoretical background relevant to the cases presented in the remainder of the book. This introductory section helps readers positioning cases within the relevant theoretical framework. The first chapter of this section deals with consumer behaviour psychology, with a focus on crisis situations. The second chapter deals with the influence media can have on tourists’ perceptions of destinations, followed by the role of marketing and branding strategies in changing such perceptions during the recovery phase. This chapter provides an opportunity to discuss the relationship between resilience and reputation, a largely overlooked aspect in this field. The third and last chapter focuses on image recovery in the accommodation sector.

2. Natural disasters – the second section of the book deals with tourism destinations’ vulnerability to natural disasters. Case examples cover extreme events like earthquakes (Kaikoura, New Zealand and Japan) and hurricanes (Haiti). Cases dealing with such critical events highlight the essential role cooperation with media plays for effective crisis management and image recovery after unexpected events. A distinction between communication actions delivering information (on the event and its impact) and managing reputation recover (through post-event storytelling) is herein drawn and addressed.

3. Man-made disasters – as devastating and sometimes as swift as natural disasters, man-made disasters are another type of crisis impacting heavily on destinations’ brand and reputation. Contributions in this section cover different types of man-made disasters, such as terrorism, waste management and large sport events. Empirical cases presented in this section use a vulnerability-resilience framework to isolate determinants of destination resilience. Factors identified as pivotal to build destinations’ resilience are external factors, such as political stability or overall state governance, as well as sector-related factors, such as cooperation among stakeholders, communication and measurement or monitoring tools. The complexity of reconciling the industrial and tourism vocation of places is also dealt with in this chapter.

4. Organisational crises – this section examines the reputation of private and public tourism organisations in the event of a crisis and the role of media in the recovery process. Contributions to this section cover the whole crisis management cycle. Chapter 10 deals with pre-crisis strategic approach and preparation, as the adoption of crisis communication plans. Chapter 11 focuses on success factors during the crisis and identifies proactivity as the enabling factor for effective crisis communication. Chapter 12 focuses on post-crisis investigations as source of media stories that can rebuild reputation. This last chapter also highlights the importance of maintaining a crisis management culture outside a critical period.

Overall, this book offers a practical overview of those toolkits available to destinations to recover their image after a critical event. Starting with an illustration of the tools needed to understand consumer psychology, each chapter adds concrete examples on how to use media, communication, marketing and branding activities to improve place reputation, build resilience and react to crises. Cases also shed light on which factors enable and facilitate the recovery process. The collection of industry case examples proves an effective way to deal with a complex theme. Selected cases offer the reader a 360° view of critical situations impacting on destinations’ reputation and image. All empirical cases are structured into two parts, one providing contextual information about a specific critical event, including links with the relevant theoretical framework, and a closing chapter with learning points and recommendations.

It is important to highlight that real-life cases are presented in a stylised way and provide a simplified view of strategies developed to deal with complex situations. In this view, this book is certainly a recommended reading for students and practitioners who need an entry-level book on place branding and image recovery. Those with prior experience with the topic might not find in this publication the depth of information sought to gain new insights or a guide to develop full crisis-management strategies. Effective place branding requires a synchronised approach that meaningfully combines representations, interests and individual perceptions across stakeholders. Such an approach is rarely seen, or even possible, in practice. Recommendations presented in the book at times overlook the complexity of implementing relevant changes, such as changes in governance or stakeholders’ alignment, in practice.

Bearing in mind the aim and scope of the Journal of Tourism Futures, it is regrettable that the book does not address the single crisis with long lasting impact on tourism reputation worldwide, which is Climate Change. As concerns about the environment rise, the tourism sector is increasingly put under societal pressure to deliver alternative, more sustainable growth patterns. In such a transition phase, mature destinations start developing new visions for tourism development to address tourism environmental impact and so-called “overtourism”, a phenomenon occurring at destinations where locals and visitors feel the quality of life and visits have deteriorated due to large tourism volumes. Chapter 8 can be considered as an exception, as it investigates environmental problems and their impact on destination image and reputation. The focus of the chapter on individual destinations yet does not fully address the complexity of such a transformation.

Future research and publications in the area of tourism reputation and image recovery are invited to address this large-scale issue and the profound transformation this is triggering for tourism marketing organisations.