Dissertation

Evaluate the Success of Destination
Branding as a Way of Attracting Visitors to
a Destination, Specifically Largs.
Honours Dissertation 2012/2013
Shona Kathryn Stewart
BA Hons Event Management and Tourism

“I certify that all material in this dissertation which is not my own
is duly acknowledged. I have read and understand the section in
the programme handbook dealing with plagiarism.”
HONOURS DISSERTATIONS
SESSION 2012/2013
Business School
Library Registration
This form must be bound in your dissertation (immediately after your title
page) before submission. Your dissertation cannot be accepted unless this
form OR the confidential dissertation form is bound into your dissertation.
Surname Stewart
Forenames Shona Kathryn
Banner ID B00171150
Degree Title
(e.g. BA Management)
BA Event Management and Tourism
Dissertation Supervisor Siobhan Drummond
Dissertation Title Evaluate the Success of Destination
Branding as a Way of Attracting
Visitors To a Destination, Specifically
Largs.
ii

Abstract
This dissertation is based around the use of destination branding as a way of
attracting visitors to destinations, specifically Largs.
The increase in competitiveness in the tourism industry has brought in a need
for more unique forms of destination marketing to increase the popularity of
destinations. Destination marketing is an interesting way to do so.
The aim of this dissertation was to consider the success of destination
branding and its effectiveness for tourism in Largs. This dissertation considers
the factors which affect destination branding, such as destination image and
personality.
It researches the tourists and tourism operators opinions on destination image
and branding and uses this research and secondary literature to evaluate how
successful branding could be to attract visitors to Largs.
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Acknowledgements
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my supervisor, Siobhan
Drummond, for all her help and guidance throughout my dissertation and for
pushing me to work to the best of my ability.
I would also like to thank the accommodation providers and focus group
participants for taking part in the research. Thank you for getting involved.
Finally, I would like to thank my friends and family for all their support and
encouragement throughout. I could not have done it without you.
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Copyright
“The copyright of this dissertation rests with the author. No quotation from it
should be published without his/her prior written consent and information
derived from it should be acknowledged.”
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Table Of Contents
1.0 Introduction 1
1.2 Destination Branding 1
1.3 Introduction to Largs 2
1.4 Aims and Objectives 3
2.0 Literature Review 5
2.1 Introduction 5
2.2 Tourism Destinations 5
2.3 Destination Marketing 6
2.4 Destination Branding 8
2.5 Destination Image 11
2.6 Destination Personality 12
2.7 Decline of Coastal Resorts 13
2.8 Summary 16
3.0 Research Methodology 17
3.1 Chapter Introduction 17
3.2 Research Philosophy 18
3.3 Research Approaches 19
3.4 Secondary Data 20
3.4.1 Sources of Secondary Data 21
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3.4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data 22
3.5 Primary Research 23
3.5.1 Process of Research 23
3.5.2 Interviews 24
3.5.3 Issues and Limitations of Interviews 25
3.5.4 Focus Groups 26
3.5.5 Issues and Limitations of Focus Groups 27
3.5.6 Design of Questions 28
3.6 Quantitative 30
3.6.1 Questionnaire 30
3.7 Ethical Considerations and Limitations 31
3.8 Summary of Research Methods 33
4.0 Findings 34
4.1 Introduction 34
4.1.1 Summary of Research Samples 35
4.2 Explore the Role of Branding in the Promotion of Tourism
Destinations 36
4.2.1 Do you think that a destinations image has a large
impact on people’s decisions to visit? 37
4.2.1.1 Interviews 37
4.2.1.2 Focus Group 37
4.2.2 Do you think that branding can be used to promote
destinations? 38
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4.2.3 Do you think there is a substantial link between a
destinations image and the particular branding of that
destination? 40
4.2.4 Can you tell me of any places that you think have been
promoted using branding, and has this had any influence on
your thoughts about visiting those destinations? 41
4.3 Analyse the success of branding as a way to promote
Largs as a destination 42
4.3.1 What were some of the reasons for your visits to
Largs? 43
4.3.2 What, in your opinions, is Largs’ destination image?
How would this affect your decision to visit Largs? 44
4.3.3 Do you think destination branding is a positive way to
promote Largs? 45
4.3.4 What, in your opinion, would be the best way to
promote Largs to potential visitors? 48
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4.4 Summary 49
5.0 Discussion of Findings 50
5.1 Objective - Explore the role of branding in the
promotion of tourism destinations 50
5.1.1. Do you think that a destinations image has a
large impact on people’s decision to visit? 51
5.1.2. Do you think that branding can be used to
promote destinations? 52
5.1.3 Do you think there is a substantial link between a
destinations image and the particular branding of that
destination? 55
5.1.4 Can you tell me of any places that you think have been
promoted using branding, and has this had any influence on
your thoughts about visiting those destinations? 57
5.1.5 Summary 59
5.2 Objective - Analyse the success of branding as a way to
promote Largs as a destination 59
5.2.1 What were some of the reasons for
your visits to Largs? 60
5.2.2 What, in your opinions, is Largs’
destination image? How would this
affect your reason to visit Largs? 62
5.2.3 Do you think destination branding is a positive
way to promote Largs? 63
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5.2.4 What, in your opinion, would be the best way to
promote Largs to potential visitors? 68
5.2.5 Summary 70
6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations 71
6.1 Chapter Introduction 71
6.2 Explore the role of branding in the promotion of tourism
destinations 71
6.3 Analyse the success of branding as a way to
promote Largs as a destination 72
6.4 Recommendation for Largs 74
6.4.1 Further Research 74
6.4.2 Destination Branding for Largs 74
6.5 Chapter Summary 75
References 76
Appendix 1 82
Appendix 2 83
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1.0 Introduction
The tourism industry is one of the largest industries in the world. It is a hugely
competitive marketplace and destination markets have got to do as much as
possible to create a unique selling point to attract visitors to their destination
over any other. This dissertation will evaluate the success of destination
branding as a way to attract visitors to destinations, specifically the sea side
town of Largs, which is on the Firth of Clyde in North Ayrshire, Scotland. The
project has been chosen as destination branding is a fairly new method of
destination marketing and there has not been much focus on how it will help
specific types of destinations with the attraction of visitors. It has also been
chosen as it is important to understand how destination marketers can utilise
these new methods to their advantage.
1.2 Destination Branding
Destination branding is a method used by destination marketers in which they
craft an identity which focuses on the uniqueness of their products, in this
case destinations (Chen & Phou, 2012). It is still relatively novel to apply
branding to places, particularly tourist destinations. Similar to those marketing
consumer products, destination marketers have turned to branding to help
distinguish their destinations to convey a positive message that will attract
tourists to visit them (Roodurman & Juwaheer, 2010). Applying branding to
destinations can be complex and it is not well understood. For destination
brand management the research up until now has been poor and only
explanatory, which can make the implementation of destination branding
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difficult for marketers who have not used the process before. This project will
take a closer look at how effective branding can be to promote destinations,
specifically Largs. To do this it is necessary to understand a small history of
Largs.
1.3 Introduction to Largs
Located on the River Clyde, Largs is famed for a battle in 1263 when the
Vikings, attempting to land from a fleet of longboats were driven back by the
army of Alexander III (Visit Scotland, 2013). Largs evolved in to a busy and
popular seaside resort in the nineteenth century when hotels were built to
accommodate the travellers and a pier was constructed. When the railway
was built in 1895 it sealed the popularity of Largs and it became a fashionable
place to live with many impressive mansion being built to accommodate new
settlers.
The tie to the Vikings is something that Largs has used to its advantage by
creating Vikingar!, an interactive look in to the history of Viking life. Largs also
hosts an annual Viking Festival, beginning with an opening day parade,
opening ceremony and various Viking activities. There is also a Viking village
for visitors to learn about and experience Viking life. The week finishes with
the burning of the longship and a Viking battle re-enactment (Visit Scotland,
2013).
Since the decline of British coastal resorts Largs status as a holiday resort
has been diminished (Agarwal, 2005), although much of the town is still
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geared towards tourism, like the aforementioned Vikingar! Centre, the Viking
Festival, Kelburn Castle and Country Centre, Largs Swimming Pool and
Inverclyde National Sports Training Centre. It is also well known for its famous
ice cream parlour, cafe and restaurant, ‘Nardini’s’, that dominates the
Esplanade.
The idea of destination branding is something that Largs has used effectively
in the past, as a typical sea side resort, but as tourists travel further afield the
image of a typical sea side resort changed, because of this Largs has almost
lost its identity and it was with this point that this dissertation idea was
conceived.
1.1 Aims and Objectives
This dissertation will consider the merits of destination branding and its
effectiveness for the tourism industry. More specifically, the aim of the work is
to evaluate the use of destination branding as a way of attracting visitors to
Largs.
The research will analyse destination branding as a marketing strategy,
specifically a brand that could be used to promote Largs to possible visitors. It
will then examine whether tourists have been drawn to the destination due to
these marketing strategies, or whether they even regarded that Largs had a
particular destination brand. It will then be possible to determine whether
branding will be an effective way to promote Largs. The research will
investigate how a brand could then be implemented effectively.
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The aim of this research is to evaluate the success of destination branding as
a way to attract visitors to a destination, specifically Largs.
The research objectives are as follows:
• Explore the role of branding in the promotion of tourism destinations.
• Analyse the success of branding as a way to promote Largs as a
destination.
• Evaluate the success and suggest ways to improve.
This dissertation topic will be chosen as there is a gap in the literature on the
subject of changing a destinations brand due to change in other tourism
factors such as cheap flights, climate, economic climate. Once a destination
has a particular image how easy is it to change that image to change the type
of tourism to that destination.
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2.0 Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
A literature review is essential as it is the ‘first preliminary search that helps
you to generate and refine your research ideas’ (Saunders, 2009, p. 58). The
tourism industry is frequently discussed in books, texts and journals. It is also
featured in news articles every day due to the changing nature of the industry.
In this section a critical review of the literature surrounding destination
marketing and destination branding will be undertaken to understand how
effective it has been in the past and to understand how much it has been
researched before now. It will also review literature on the decline of coastal
resorts in the U.K., to understand if that has any effect on the use of branding
for destinations.
2.2 Tourism Destinations
Tourism takes place in destinations, and individuals travel to destinations to
visit attractions, to participate in leisure activities and to form vacation
experiences resulting from their interactions in the places they visit (Wang &
Pizam, 2011). There are various discussions in the tourism literature about the
concept of destination, and a standard definition has proven to be elusive and
difficult to find owing to the different permutations and implications associated
with such an attempt (Wang & Pizam, 2011). Using a systems approach it can
be argued that a destination is a geographical space in which a cluster of
tourism resources exists (Pike, 2008). According to Rubies (2001) a tourism
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cluster is an accumulation of tourist resources and attraction, infrastructure,
equipment, service providers, other support sectors and administrative
organisations, whose integrated and coordinated activities provide customers
with the experiences they expect from the destination they choose to visit.
Following the same line of reasoning, Dredge and Jenkins (2007) define a
destination as a location that a person travels to, and that is distinct from their
usual place of residence.
2.3 Destination Marketing
Considering the above definitions of a destination, destination marketing can
be defined as a proactive, visitor-centred approach to the economic and
cultural development of a destination that balances and integrates the
interests of visitors, service providers and the community (DMAI, 2008). As
the tourism system is not an independent or closed system its development
relies on the support of external systems such as sociocultural, economic,
political and physical (Wang & Pizam, 2011). Destination marketing has been
and will continue to be affected by multiple external factors which serve as the
driving forces behind its development. Destinations must design, promote and
coordinate a satisfying total visitor experience that maximises the economic
contribution to the destination, by responding to the diversified sets of value
clusters that tourism customers seek such as combinations of experiences,
products and prices that suit their individual preferences and one that
encourages return visit intentions (Wang & Pizam, 2011). Destination
marketers should try to craft an ever richer palette of options to target their
destination more skilfully to various preference patterns.
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Destination marketers must become the most popular information source for
visitors and the businesses that sell services to them. This means becoming
more visible to them in all media and, especially, capturing a significant share
of the internet traffic that involves travel decisions. Therefore it is necessary to
market these destinations in the ways described above to best compete for
attention in a highly competitive marketplace (Wang & Pizam, 2011).
Those whose fame endures are endowed with evolving talent, limit their
exposure through reticence, reinvent themselves continually, or die
young. As it is with people, so it is with places” (Voase, 2012, p. 82)
Destination promotion needs to present the potential for experiential
exploration, rather than rely on reductionist images and over-familiar symbolic
associations to which they attach, (Voase, 2012). It is known that exploratory
tourists seek experiential authenticity. The evidence assembled in respect of
Scotland shows that the country’s destination marketing organisation has had
to learn how to deploy its brand assets - its familiar imagery - discretely, as
older marketing concepts relied heavily on the stereotypical imagery in the
mid-1990’s Scottish brochures whereas the newer brochures, in their stead,
have new images of lochs, mountains, castles and motifs of heather and
thistles (Smith, 2005). This suggests a deliberate distancing from the
traditional iconography, that of ‘Yesterday’s Destination‘ (Yeoman, Durie,
McMahon-Beattie & Palmer, 2005, p.80). Evolutionary progress has been
made in understanding how the ‘brand’ concept should be used in relation to
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destination marketing: the organisation has ‘learned to manage’ the brand
assets (Voase, 2012, p.81).
2.4 Destination Branding
Studies of brand image, brand personality, brand relationship and brand
loyalty can be found in the generic marketing literature focusing on consumer
products (Garbarino & Johnson, 1999). However, the application of branding
and relationship theory to places, particularly tourist destinations, is still
relatively novel (Chen & Phou, 2012).
Destination marketers are adopting branding techniques to craft an identity
which focuses on the uniqueness of their products, namely destinations (Chen
& Phou, 2012). Similar to those marketing consumer products, destination
marketers have had to turn to branding to distinguish their destinations to
convey a positive message that will motivate tourists to visit them
(Roodurmun & Juwaheer, 2010). Problems arise when branding is applied to
complex ‘products’ such as tourist destinations that already engender affective
attachment (Voase, 2012). ‘The relationship between branding and places is
not always straightforward, and it is certainly not well understood’ (Morgan,
Pritchard & Pride, 2010, p. 23). Places cannot be brands ‘in the traditional
sense’, rather it was the application of branding techniques in pursuit of
‘reputation management’ (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride, 2010, p.23) meaning, if
places are possessors of personalities, and have, like personalities,
reputations, then the task of ‘reputation management‘ needs to reconcile the
need for recognition with the need to generate interest. This seems to indicate
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an evolution of thinking: that to ‘brand’ a destination is not so much a transitive
matter, but a question of eliciting and interpreting qualities already inherent to
the place (Voase, 2012). Mundt (2002) and Park & Petrick (2006) think that
destination branding has been a misuse of a term; that it is place promotion
under another name. A destination brand is defined as,
‘a name, symbol, logo, word mark or other graphic that both identifies
and differentiates the destination; furthermore, it conveys the promise of
a memorable travel experience that is uniquely associated with the
destination; it also serves to consolidate and reinforce the recollection of
pleasurable memories of the destination experience’ (Ritchie & Ritchie,
1998, p. 103)
For destination-brand management, the research has been poor and only
explanatory (Blain et al., 2005; Ritchie & Ritchie, 1998), because of this there
is a gap in the understanding of the term destination brand, as is shown
above with all the different definitions published. It is likely to be due to an
absence in the literature around an explanation of what a brand actually is:
how it prompts recognition; how it connects with reputation; and how the
reader responds (Voase, 2012). It is useful to think of branding with a simple
product, for example a bar of chocolate as the essence, and the brand is the
set of symbolic associations that consumers have been taught to attribute to it
(Voase, 2012). The brand, as described by Voase (2012), is therefore an
abstraction that conceals the absence of essence.
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“It is a set of meanings generated in the human mind, projected by the
human reader, therefore brands, as external objects, do not exist, they
are all in the consumers head, for example, shoppers may gaze at a
garment with a designer label; they believe they behold a brand. They
are, in fact, gazing on a garment, which is a screen for their projection of
the brand” (Mosander, 2009, p. 338-339)
‘Branding’ requires the promotional exposure of a product to a target audience
so as the intended symbolic associations will be learned and remembered.
The concept of destination branding is critical for a destination to be identified
and differentiated from alternatives in the minds of the target market (Qu, Kim
& Im, 2010) therefore successful destination branding should involve
establishing a positive relationship between destinations and tourists by
satisfying their emotional needs (i.e., to visit places that are relaxing and
beautiful) and more basic ones (i.e., to be able to eat and drink) (Ekinci,
2003). A combination of destination image and destination personality has
been used as a strategy by destination marketers to differentiate their brands
from other competing ones (Ekinci & Hosanna, 2006; Usalki & Baloglu, 2011).
10

2.5 Destination Image
Most researches have been only focused on destination image (Boo, Busser
& Baloglu, 2009) but now the attention is turning to branding. Destination
image involves subjective knowledge of a destination (i.e., whether it is
expensive, exotic, cold, urban or developed). It is defined as the sum of
beliefs, ideas and impressions that a tourist holds about a destination
(Crompton, 1979). Destination image plays an important role in creating
tourist loyalty, and relationships with tourists must be handled proactively if
they are to become lasting ones (Binge, Sanchez & Sanchez, 2001). The
importance of analysing the relationships between images and tourism
destinations was originally introduced by Hunt (1975), and more recently there
have been numerous studies investigating the phenomenon. Tourism
destination image is one of the key challenges in contemporary tourism
research. It is broadly recognised that images affect tourists' behaviour, from
their mental constructions about destination attributes to the decision-making
process (Nicoletta & Servidio, 2012). Empirical studies show that images
induce emotions that attract tourists’ attention and motivates their decision
making process (Chen & Tsai, 2007; Ryan & Gu, 2007).
Images are used to promote tourist destinations, and tourism managers
should know which visual attributes that visitors perceive as interesting in
preference to others (Grosspietsch, 2006). Most of the images selected to
promote tourism destinations are often based on stereotypical symbols. Kotler
and Gertner (2002) affirm that stereotypical images are an extreme
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simplification of reality, they are not accurate and they often provide little
information about destinations. Positive images generate a good impression
of the perceived destination in the tourist’s mind, predisposing their
behavioural intentions and future activities. Due to the importance of
destination image as a behavioural component that affects tourist’s behaviour,
current research aims at identifying the main factors that define, modify and
reinforce the conceptual construct (Ryan & Cave, 2005; Yang, He & Gu,
2012). More efforts are needed to fill in the research gaps in the literature on
the links between destination image and destination personality regarding the
tourist-destination relationship (i.e., satisfaction, trust and attachment), which
plays a pivotal role in destination branding (Chen & Phou, 2012).
2.6 Destination Personality
Destination personality is defined as the set of human characteristics
associated with a brand (Chen & Phou, 2012). It refers to brand personality in
the tourism context, and uses human personality traits to describe a
destination (e.g., whether it is original, interesting, friendly or exciting).
Destination personality is becoming a more viable metaphor for building
destination brands, understanding tourist perceptions of places, and crafting a
unique destination personality (Capara, Barbaranelli & Guido, 2001; Ekinci &
Hosany, 2006). The concept of destination personality has been applied to
characterise tourism destinations (Hosany et al. 2006; Murphy, Benckendorff
& Moscardo, 2007; Park & Jung, 2010) and its effects on differentiating
among them (Murphy, Moscardo & Benckendorff, 2007). Research suggests
that tourist destinations possess distinctive personality characteristics, just like
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individuals, brands and stores do, and postulates that destination personality
is a potential predictor of tourists’ buying behaviours (Ekinci & Hosany, 2006;
Hosany, Ekinci & Usakli, 2006; Prayag, 2007; Usalki & Baloglu, 2011).
Tourists are believed to form strong emotional relationships with certain
places, given the human trait-like feature of destination personality (Ekinci &
Hosany, 2006; Hosany et al., 2006; Usakli & Baloglu, 2011). Delgado-
Ballester (2004) argues that consumers not only perceive brands, but can
also have relationships with them, as they can be personalised. In addition,
Fournier (1998) states that a well established brand personality can lead
consumers to develop strong emotional ties with it.
2.7 Decline of Coastal Resorts
There has been a decline of British coastal resorts since the late 1970s
(Agarwal, 2005) and it is associated with number of internal generic problems
such as diminishing share and volume of the domestic holiday market and
lack of investment and external threats for instance, increased international
competition. There is much academic literature on the social, economic and
environmental difficulties that many coastal resorts are experiencing, including
high unemployment (British Resorts Association, 2000; Beatty and Fothergill,
2003), high crime rates, economic and social deprivation, social exclusion and
a deteriorating environment (British Resorts Association, 2000; Agarwal &
Brunt, 2002). These problems may be interpreted as ‘symptoms of
decline’ (Agarwal, 2002) and the causes and consequences of resort decline
to processes associated with pro-Fordism is linked in the research. Agarwal
(2002) highlights how production related processes such as the search for
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expanded capital accumulation and consumption related processes for
example changing tourists needs, wants and motivations have adversely
affected British coastal resorts. With the introduction of mass produced and
standardised nature of many tourism products (Britton, 1991) the popularity of
coastal resorts has been reduced. Urry (1990) described consumption
changed toward preferences for more individual and specialised forms of
holidays which are demanded by the ‘post-modern’ tourist. Poon (1993)
considered how major technological advances, in particular at that time the
advent of Computer Reservation Systems (CRSs) and now the ability to book
holidays or flights online, and new trends in consumer behaviour are allowing
the production of more flexible forms of travel, emphasising individuality and
autonomy which are undermining the appeal of local, seaside resorts. At the
start of the nineteenth century, coastal resort towns were the preserve of the
upper classes according to Chapman & Duncan (2011). They offered an
experience base on the supposed medicinal value of sea bathing and sea air,
that is the brand that the seaside resorts used to promote themselves.
However, during the nineteenth century, the nature of the resorts changed
dramatically. The campaign for higher wages and greater holiday entitlement
among the working classes led to an increased demand for holiday
destinations out with the industrial towns and cities, and the rapidly expanding
railway network connected all the industrial cities to the coastal towns
(Walton, 1981) making it much more accessible as a holiday destination for all
classes. This resulted in a dramatic increase of coastal resorts, rising to
around 100 such places by the end of the nineteenth century, catering for
(and dominated by) the working class market. These places offered not only
accommodation to their visitors, but they also provided new forms of
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entertainment. A highly distinctive ‘architecture of pleasure appeared at the
seaside, including piers, promenades, towers, theatre’s and fairgrounds, They
became socially constructed as ‘different’ and ‘extraordinary.' The seaside
resorts reached their heyday in the 1950s according to Chapman & Duncan
(2011). However, visitors tastes were starting to change and the seaside
attractions were less popular than they had been before the Second World
War. Due to the crippling costs of the war many of the resorts also suffered
due to a lack of investment. The rise of the cheap oversea’s package holiday
certainly contributed to the ‘fall’ of the British seaside resort (Chapman &
Duncan, 2011) only it was not the only reason. Gale (2005) argued that the
rise of car ownership and the freedom to visit alternative destinations within
Britain also contributed to the decline.
There is a gap in the literature surrounding the decline of coastal resorts as
there is no real research on the role seaside towns play today. There are
many seaside resorts that are very popular, although maybe not for ‘summer
holidays’, yet there is no literature to back this up because there doesn’t seem
to be any recent literature on what the seaside resorts are doing now to attract
visitors to the destinations. The literature is all focused on the decline of the
coastal resort as a holiday destination and there is no research on the resorts
as possible short stay tourism destinations. Although all the seaside towns still
exist they are not all operating in the same ways that they used to but there is
no literature to back this up, all the literature found concentrated on the
decline of seaside tourism and did not focus on how to increase tourism in
these areas by trying different methods of marketing, for example branding.
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There was also little to no literature on the decline on coastal tourism
specifically in Scotland, the focus was on the U.K. as a whole. This made it
difficult to determine the impact that the decline has had on Scotland. It has
also made it difficult to see what kind of position these sea side resorts are in
now.
2.8 Summary
The literature discussed above is very important to the research project as it
will be used to form the basis of the research topic. The literature fails to
provide a standard definition of a tourism destination. It does suggest that
destination branding is in its early stages of development as a way of
promoting destinations. The literature makes it clear that branding can be a
positive way to promote anything, in particular a destination and that
destination image paved the way for marketing methods like destination
branding. There has been little research done on destination branding and it
has been only explanatory. Clearly there is not much literature focusing on
seaside resorts in the 21st century, the latest literature on seaside
destinations all focusses on the decline of coastal tourism, it gives little
information on sea side tourism since the decline and what the destinations
are doing now. From these conclusions the topic of the research project can
be formed and the methods used to conduct this research can be shaped.
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3.0 Research Methodology
3.1 Chapter Introduction
“Methodology refers to the philosophical basis on which the research is
founded” (White, 2000, p.20)
This chapter will set out to discuss the different research methods available
for collecting and analysing data. It will refer to the most appropriate methods
for examining information to achieve the objectives set at the beginning of the
research project. Choosing appropriate research methods is vital to any
research project, (Veal, 1997). Since secondary literature cannot answer
everything about why people visit a destination then primary research is
necessary. Saunders et al.2000, p. 84) illustrates the methodology process to
be like peeling the layers of the onion away to get to the piece good enough to
use. This is why the research project will use the research onion (Saunders et
al. 2007) to help develop the project for more effective data collection and
analysis. It is a useful tool to use when embarking on research as it gives an
outline of how to conduct research which will help develop knowledge in the
particular field. From this examination a method which is most suited to this
research project will be developed.
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3.2 Research Philosophy
The research philosophy which is adopted for a research project contains
important assumptions about the way a researcher views the world,
(Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2009). It is about defining the problem and
the research objectives. Once the objectives have been defined the type of
objectives need to be established. This is the classification according to the
purpose of the research.
Descriptive research-research to better describe marketing problems,
situations or markets, such as the market potential for a product of the
demographics and attitudes of consumers.
Exploratory research-research to gather preliminary information that will help
define problems and suggest hypotheses.
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Casual research-research to test hypotheses about cause and affect
relationships.
In all cases the researcher must choose to gather secondary and/or primary
data to meet their specific research objectives.
3.3 Research Approaches
There are two different types of research approaches which are use for
research projects. Every project must take on one of these approaches, either
a deductive or an inductive approach. When designing the research project it
is important to differentiate between a
“deductive approach, in which you develop a theory and hypothesis and
design a research strategy to test the hypothesis, or the inductive
approach, in which you would collect data and develop theory as a result
of your data analysis” (Saunders et al 2003, p. 85)
Deductive research can be seen as a scientific type of research and it
involves the development and testing of theories. Deductive research requires
a highly structured methodology in an operational way to allow results to be
measured quantitatively. The strict controls of testing and the large sample
sizes required should result in the crucial generalisation of findings. This
research project will not use a deductive research approach.
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The results of an inductive type of research would be the formulation of a
theory. It is the opposite of the deductive approach and the concepts are
established after the observation has been analysed,
“Concepts to emerge from the process of thinking about what has been
observed” (Schutt, 2006, p. 100)
The order of the inductive approach is observation, pattern, tentative
hypothesis and then theory. The researcher would collect data through
qualitative means and then analyse it to produce a theory. This research
project will use an inductive approach.
The aim of this dissertation is to evaluate the success of destination branding
as a way to attract visitors to a destination, specifically Largs and this requires
a fuller understanding of the relationship between the tourists and destination
branding therefore an inductive approach will be most fitting. This is because
this approach allows opposing explanations which are relevant when
considering consumers or visitors perceptions and satisfaction.
3.4 Secondary data
Secondary data is,
“research which has been carried out by someone else for another
purpose” (Webb, 1992, p.32)
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It has many advantages over primary data. A research study will almost
certainly be easier if it utilises secondary data as it can be beneficial to the
research project by eliminating the difficulties and discrepancies which may
be encountered whilst trying to collect independent primary data. It is not to
say that secondary data should be the only data used for research. It is more
beneficial for the research project to include both primary and secondary data.
3.4.1 Sources of secondary data
There are different forms of secondary data and it includes both qualitative
and quantitative forms of data. Studies published in journals and books are
popular forms of secondary data. Additionally,
“the government and other bodies publish a considerable amount of data
on various social and economical factors...” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p.
67),
which are free or relatively low cost to obtain. There are external forms of
secondary data.
Documentary forms of data include written documents such as; books, journal
articles, magazine and newspaper articles, transcripts, diaries and so on.
However, documentary data can also include non written data in the form of
television or video recordings, pictures and drawings. There is also survey
based secondary data, usually appearing as a questionnaire,
21

“censuses, continuous/regular surveys or ad hoc surveys,” (Saunders et
al. 2000, p.191).
3.4.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Secondary Data Analysis
The main advantage of secondary data is that it can save much time and
money because the data is already there; it just has to be looked for. There
is access to high quality data due to many companies conducting market
research and publishing reports. When looking at text books and journal
articles the data is most likely to be reliable.
However, there may be some bias or unreliability in all data, or it could be
out of date which may lead the reader down the wrong path. It is also a
problem that when using secondary data that the data has been collected
for a different purpose from which is needed. It could be data that is been
subject to some form of selection or summarising, or as raw data where
there has been very little processing. There is a need for the researcher to
completely familiarise themselves with the data to ensure its relevance and
suitability. This can be time consuming and presents a disadvantage in
secondary data. All data used in research projects must be accurate
therefore in the case of secondary data it often requires more research into
whom, how and why the data was conducted.
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3.5 Primary Research
Primary data is different from secondary data as it is collected specifically
for the purpose at hand. There are two types of primary research,
qualitative and quantitative. There are also different techniques within each
of these forms of collection.
3.5.1 Process of Research
The process of the research is the approach taken by the researcher. This
refers to the collection and analysis of the primary data. The two forms,
qualitative and quantitative can be described as,
“...a quantitative approach involves collecting and analysing numerical
data and applying statistical tests” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p.13)
in which the author suggests that some students prefer not to use this
approach of collecting data due to their lack of confidence with statistics,
therefore students tend to choose to undertake the qualitative approach of
data collection,
“...a qualitative approach, which is more subjective in nature and
involves examining and reflecting on perceptions in order to gain
understanding of social and human activities” (Collis & Hussey, 2003, p.
13)
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Although there are challenges with qualitative data analysis as there is no
clear and accepted set of conventions for analysis corresponding to those
observed with qualitative data.
This report will utilise qualitative data to realise different viewpoints and
alternative theories without the constraints of a highly structured design as
used in the deductive, quantitative approach. Most researchers that follow the
inductive approach tend to prefer qualitative data which could be down to the
fact that tourism activity can be seen as a qualitative experience.
3.5.2 Interviews
An interview is a technique for collecting qualitative data. They usually consist
of a purposeful conversation between two or more people in which one will
ask questions according to the research being conducted and the other will
expectantly respond.
“Interviews may be highly formalised and structured, using standardised
questions for each respondent, or they may be informal and unstructured
conversations” (Saunders et al. 2003, p. 243)
Highly structured and formalised interviews consist of set questions or
schedule, sometimes with precoded answers. Unstructured interviews can
also be identified as ‘in-depth’ interviews which can be very helpful to ‘find out
what is happening and to seek new insights’ (Robson, 1993, p.42). With this
24

form of interview the researcher must form a feeling of trust and rapport with
the interviewee to ensure a successful interview.
Due to the type of data appropriate for completion of this report being a
qualitative type, this research project will use interviews as a form of primary
research. Three providers were chosen at random from a group of 16. All the
accommodations have been open for 10 years. This factor was implemented
as it would give an impression of the changes in tourism over a longer period
of time. The interviews also determined the accommodation providers feelings
and opinions of destination branding as a way to attract visitors to Largs. The
accommodation providers were emailed detailing what the project is about
and how the information would be used, stating that all the results would be
kept anonymous and within the research project they would be referred to as
AP 1, 2 and 3. The AP’s were all asked to sign consent forms to give their
permission that their opinions could be used as part of the research for this
project.
3.5.3 Issues and Limitations of Interviews
The quality of the whole interview will determine the successfulness. The
quality of the interview refers to; the interviewer competence, the interviewees
commitment and data quality issues.
The interviewers listening and communication skills are very important, for
example, if the interviewer doesn’t perform well in any of these areas, opening
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the interview; using appropriate language; questioning; listening; testing and
summarising understanding; behavioural cues and recording data, then the
interview may be unsuccessful. The planning of the interview will also
contribute with the data quality gained for analysing.
Interviewer and interviewee bias is also an interview factor which could be an
issue.
3.5.4 Focus Groups
A focus group is another form of qualitative data analysis. This method is used
to gather information on opinions, values and attitudes, and unlike other forms
of research, participants in focus groups are encouraged to interact. A focus
group consists of a group of participants including a moderator, whose job is
to make group members feel relaxed and to facilitate the discussions on the
chosen topics.
A focus group gives the moderator the opportunity to interact with a group of
people at once which is quicker and more cost effective than interviews. It
also gives them the chance to observe the body language and expressions
made when respondents are voicing their opinions.
The second form of primary research which will be used is a focus group. As
mentioned, it allows people to project their feelings and opinions which may
not be easy to display using quantitative methods of research. The interviewer
will guide and observe a group discussion, consisting of 13 Scottish tourists in
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an 18-65 age bracket. This age bracket was chosen as there is a large
difference between them in how, where and why they chose a specific
destination to visit. The importance of the image of a destination and
destination branding will be discussed with the group to see how it affects
there decisions to visit destinations. It is hoped that the focus group will
determine the focus group respondents feelings and opinions of destination
branding as a way to attract tourists to Largs. The research could have been
conducted by survey however the focus group allows more freedom for
people to give a more thorough reason for their decisions. The restrictions of
the focus group are that it was all Scottish participants so there were no
opinions from other nationalities. All of the respondents were asked to sign a
consent form to give their permission that their opinions could be used as part
of the research for this project.
3.5.5 Issues and Limitations of Focus Groups
Despite the advantage of focus groups, like interviews there are essential
skills the researcher needs to be able to facilitate the research for the method
and results to be worthwhile. It is important the moderator listens to keep the
conversation for going off track and this takes specific skills as the moderator
needs to be,
“skilled in guiding the conversation to keep it on the topic while not
guiding the opinions being expressed” (Kolb, 2006, p. 169)
27

While respondents need to feel comfortable with the moderator, they also
need to feel comfortable with each other. Therefore a disadvantage could be
that a particular member may take the lead in the discussion, not giving others
the chance to speak or others may just agree with opinions instead of thinking
for themselves and giving their own opinions.
3.5.6 Design of Questions
The questions for the AP’s and the focus group respondents were similar so
that the opinions of both groups could be investigated.
Question 1 was used as an opening question to understand why the tourists
visit Largs and why the AP’s thought that people visited Largs. It was also
used as an opener because it got everyone discussing Largs from the
beginning so that no matter what questions they were asked later on they
would always have Largs in their mind.
Question 2 was asked because the literature identified a link between
destination image and destination branding, therefore it was necessary to
understand what the respondents thought about destination image.
Question 3 was worded slightly differently for the tourists and tourism
providers although the underlying message was the same. This question was
asked to understand whether destination image would affect Largs in the
opinions of both the tourists and AP’s.
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Question 4 was used to find out if the respondents thought that destination
branding could be used to promote destinations. This is important as the
research is focused on the use of branding for destinations.
Question 5 was asked to find out whether the primary research agreed with
the literature. Literature suggested there is a link between image and brand,
and this question was used to get the respondents opinions on this statement.
Question 6 was used to discover if the respondents felt that destination
branding would work when trying to promote Largs and why. This was
necessary to understand the opinions, of the respondents, on destination
branding for specific destinations.
Question 7 was asked to find out what the respondents thought would be the
best way to promote Largs. This question was used to figure out whether they
thought branding was an effective or the most effective way to promote
destination.
Question 8 was asked only to the AP’s to gain there perspective on the
decline of sea side tourism.
Question 9 was only asked to the focus group respondents. The question was
asked to understand if the respondents had come across any destination they
thought had been branded before. It also helped to understand the focus
group respondents knowledge on branding.
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Question 10 was again only asked to the focus group respondents to see if
they thought Largs used branding as a way to promote tourism and whether
they could identify a brand. The second half of the question was asked to
understand if Largs did have a brand whether it would affect the tourists
decisions to visit.
3.6 Quantitative
Saunders et al. (2003) defines quantitative data as data, often numerical,
gathered using fairly structured data collection procedures and consisting of
large representative samples. The data can be usefully quantified to meet
research objectives.
Primary data collection can be done by several methods, all of which involve a
questionnaire of some shape or form.
3.6.1 Questionnaire
A questionnaire or survey can be recognised as a similar method. Both
involve
“asking all participants the same set of questions” (Kolb, 2006, p. 164)
The reason a questionnaire is a quantitative method of data analysis is due to
the structure of the questionnaire and answers. The questions tend to be
closed, meaning that predetermined answers are provided, for example, the
30

answer could consist of a yes or no, or there could be a number range such
as 1 meaning poor, whereas 5 means excellent.
There are many different forms of surveying, post, telephone, email or simply
handing them to potential participants. Each have different advantages and
disadvantages. However, an important part of designing questionnaires is to
first decide exactly what they need to know about the information (Kolb, 2006,
p. 164). This suggests the researcher has an idea of what the answers could
be before issuing the survey. One other disadvantage of surveys and
questionnaires is motivating people to participate. They also do not give much
chance for participants to express any emotion due to the answering format.
3.7 Ethical Considerations and Limitations
Proper ethical considerations arise in all types of research but additional
issues occur when the research involves human subjects (Veal, 1997). There
are many aspects that need to be considered before conducting research,
including ensuring familiarity and understanding of the subjects for the
participants of interviews and focus groups otherwise the results are invalid.
Banister et al. (1994) emphasises the importance of considering ethical
considerations at all stages of the research process so before anyone was
involved in any form of research they were given a clear account on the
purpose of the research and sufficient time to understand the research
questions. According to Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2009), a number of
key ethical issues arise throughout various stages of a research project and
these key issues relate to the:
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• participants may have felt that the questions were invading their
privacy and it may make them feel uncomfortable about expressing
their opinions on their social habits. Some people may request that
the information remain anonymous so their peers or competition don’t
know about them however the interviews and focus groups in this
research project did not cause any discomfort to those involved.
• Right to withdraw partially or completely from the research process -
all participants have the right to remove their contribution from the
project if they choose. Each participant in this research project was
fully aware of what the information was to be used for so no one felt
the need to withdraw from the process.
• An issue for this research project was getting consent from AP owners
as there were many emails sent out but very few responded, this
could be due to lack of interest, lack of knowledge about the subject
or they may not have thought it was ethical. There were 4 owners
willing to participate in interviews, however finding a time to suit
proved difficult due to busy schedules.
• There could also have been an issue with inviting people to be part of
a focus group through “Facebook” as people may lack interest in the
subject and it is not a totally secure site, although in this instance the
invitation was only sent out to users subscribed to the researchers
home page so as there was no cause for concern on who might reply.
• Obtaining relevant information from these data collection methods
could also be an issue as answers may not be relevant so questions
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need to be strutted efficiently to give proper guidelines so the
questions can be answered effectively.
3.8 Summary of Research Methods
It was decided that quantitative research would not be undertaken in this
study. Tourism itself is a qualitative experience so it seemed that qualitative
research methods would produce the best results. This chapter has discussed
the various approaches which will be used in this research project, a focus
group and three interviews will be conducted. The ethical limitations have
been considered and all the participants in the research have been asked to
sign a consent form to give permission for their opinions to be used in the
project. All of the participants have all also been offered an electronic copy of
the research project if they so wish.
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4.0 Findings
4.1 Introduction
This chapter will present the findings of the research from both primary and
secondary sources. The aim of the interview and focus group techniques was
to answer the aims and objectives of the research project. The interviews will
represent the tourism operators perceptions of attracting visitors to a
destination, specifically Largs, whereas the focus group will represent the
tourists perceptions of why they are attracted to destinations, again
specifically Largs. This chapter includes a descriptive summary of both the
tourist and tourism operators perceptions. The findings will be presented in
relation to the research objectives.
• Explore the role of branding in the promotion of tourism destinations.
• Analyse the success of branding as a way to promote Largs as a
destination.
• Evaluate the success and suggest ways to improve.
Before the interviews were conducted and before the focus group was held
the accommodation providers and the participants of the focus group were
given definitions of terms that would be used in the interviews and focus
groups that they had possibly not come across before.
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4,1,1 Summary of Research Samples
Size of Accommodation Providers Operation’s
Age Range’s of Focus Group Participants
35
NumberofRooms
0
23
45
68
90
Accommodation Providers
A B C
38%
38%
23%
18-24 25-30 30+

4.2 Explore the role of branding in the promotion of tourism destinations
According to the literature, previous research has only focused on destination
image but now the attention is turning to branding (Boo, Busser & Baloglu).
Destination image is defined as the impressions a tourists holds about a
destination (Crompton, 1979). Therefore it was necessary to understand the
opinions of all the respondents on destination image to be able to explore the
role of branding in the promotion of tourism destinations.
4.2.1 Do you think that a destinations image has a large impact on
people’s decisions to visit?
The definition of destination image presented was ‘whether you think a place
is, for example, exotic or cold, or urban or developed, or expensive or cheap.
It is the impression that a tourist holds about a destination, such as Scotland
is cold would be a destination image.
4.2.1.1 Interviews
AP 1 did not think that image had an impact on tourism to Largs although she
did not give a reason why. This is only one-third of the AP’s that did not agree
with image having an impact.
4.2.1.2 Focus Group
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Over 90 percent of the focus group participants thought image would affect
the decision to visit the destination. Respondent K said,
“if you are choosing a holiday for a particular reason it (the image of a
destination) could affect it.”
Respondent E said,
“I was thinking it does because if you like the sun you would think of
Tenerife and you would think sun,”
to which respondent C said,
“so you would go somewhere that is sunny?”
Respondent J who did not agree said,
“over seas visitors might have family roots there.”
4.2.2 Do you think that branding can be used to promote destinations?
The definition of destination branding given to the respondents is ‘marketers
crafting an identity which focuses on the uniqueness of their products, in this
case destinations. The example of this that they were given was, Glasgow -
Scotland with style.
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The application of branding and relationship theory to places, particularly
tourist destinations, is still relatively novel (Chen & Phou, 2012). The
relationship between branding and places is not always straightforward, and it
is certainly not well understood (Morgan, Pritchard & Pride, 2010).
4.2.2.1 Interviews
All the respondents from the interviews answered yes. There was no reason
given to back up their answers.
4.2.2.2 Focus Groups
Most of the respondents from the focus group answered yes. Respondent B
said that he thought it would work,
“because we’ve all just described the reasons why we would go, so if you
brand something so people think its they reasons they would want to go
then they’ll go.”
This was similar to the opinion of Voase, 2012, “to ‘brand’ a destination is not
so much a transitive matter, but a question of eliciting and interpreting
qualities already inherent to the place.”
When asked if anybody didn’t think it would work the respondents had mixed
opinions. Respondent B said,
38

“It depends if you use it, if you brand it as terrible then yeah (it wouldn’t
work)”
where as respondent K said,
“It depends if people know the place or not.”
Respondent A made an interesting point on the back of respondent K’s
statement,
“The brand is only needed for people who don’t know it.”
Respondent’s B and E disagreed with this, they thought that branding would
influence people either way, just possibly not as strongly if they are familiar
with the destination.
4.2.3 Do you think there is a substantial link between a destinations
image and the particular branding of that destination?
Respondents were asked if they thought that destination image and branding
had a close link to explore the role branding has in the promotion of tourism in
connection with destination image.
4.2.3.1 Interviews
39

The interview respondents thought that there was a substantial link. B & B
owner B said,
“when they’re branding it they need to brand it to the specifics of what the
customer wants to see.”
Owner C said,
“of course it would, I never thought of it but I think that’s probably right.”
4.2.3.2 Focus Group
The focus group respondents all had different points to make around this
question and then they all agreed that they did think there was a substantial
link. Respondent A said,
“there could be if it’s done well,”
and respondent B said,
“I think the brand, if it’s got one, can be reliant on the image but the image
wouldn’t be reliant on the brand.”
40

4.2.4 Can you tell me of any places that you think have been promoted
using branding, and has this had any influence on your thoughts about
visiting those destinations?
After the respondents had the chance to understand and discuss branding
they were asked if they could think of any places that they thought had been
promoted using branding.
4.2.4.1 Focus Group
The respondents came up with many different places, California’s new Come
and See advertisement was one of them and respondent D said that it would
definitely make them want to visit the destination. Respondent E said,
“Sandals, those Sandals resorts that are supposed to be couple’s
getaways”, “that would make me want to go.”
The respondents also thought of Centre Parcs, Blackpool Tower and The Red
Light District, Amsterdam. The branding of these destinations all affected the
respondents thoughts about visiting them.
4.3 Analyse the success of branding as a way to promote Largs as a
destination
A lack of literature on the use of destination branding for specific types of
destinations made this part of the research more difficult as there was nothing
41

to compare it to. After exploring the role of branding in the promotion of
tourism destinations, the research focused on analysing the success of
branding as a way to promote Largs as a tourism destination. To do so, first it
needed to be understood why people currently visit Largs so the interview
respondents were asked why they thought visitors came to Largs and the
focus group respondents were asked why they have visited Largs.
4.3.1 What were some of the reasons for your visits to Largs?
4.3.1.1 Interviews
The interview respondents thought that people visited Largs when the
weather was nice as it was pleasant and a good location. Owner B said,
“Most people around here that visit Largs only come for Nardini’s (ice
cream parlour) or the view”, “the people that come to Largs is mostly the
50 plus market who remember Largs in the old days.”
Owner C agreed with this by saying,
“Because they (older people) brought their children and their grandchildren
down so I think that’s got a lot to do with it.”
This is backed up in the literature with the decline of British coastal resorts
since the late 1970s (Agarwal, 2005) and it helps to understand why it is older
42

people that visit the destination more, because it is where they went when
they were young and they have continued to go.
4.3.1.2 Focus Groups
The focus group respondents came up with many different reasons for visiting
Largs. They agreed with the interview respondents that it was only
somewhere they tended to go when it is sunny, and to visit the famous
Nardini’s. They also thought that it was one of the nearest seaside
destinations to where they lived. Everyone said that they only went to Largs
for the day, never on an overnight stay, or holiday.
4.3.2 What, in your opinions, is Largs’ destination image? How would
this affect your decision to visit Largs?
4.3.2.1 Focus Group
Most of the respondents from the focus group agreed that the image they
have of Largs is that it is only a place people would go on a day with nice
weather. Respondent D, who was an older member of the focus group said,
“I think if you are local you would think it is a bit more upmarket than
Salcoats so you would go to Largs rather than there,”
and Respondent A who is also one of the older members in the group said,
43

“if you’re local you just think old people (retired people) would go.”
The focus group respondents said that the image would affect their decisions
to visit as they would be unlikely to visit Largs if it was not nice weather.
The interview respondents also said that they thought it was a place that
people would choose to go to when it is nice and again, somewhere that
many older people go on days out and this is what the AP’s said when talking
about why people visit the destination, that it is mainly older people who go.
On this point everyone agreed fully about what they thought Largs’ destination
image is and they all thought it would affect the tourists decision to visit Largs.
4.3.3 Do you think destination branding is a positive way to promote
Largs?
4.3.3.1 Interviews
All the interview respondents thought that branding is a positive way to
promote Largs. AP 1 said,
“anything will help,”
and AP 2 said that it would be
“if the people in Largs get behind it.”
4.3.3.2 Focus Group
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The focus group respondents tended to agree that as long as there was a
specific brand and the whole tourism sector of Largs stick to that brand that it
is a positive way to promote Largs. Respondent K said,
“if they did it in the right way it could attract people to go there,”
and respondent D said,
“Yeah I think it is but I think it needs to decide what it’s brand is, I don’t
think it has a specific brand at the moment”, “it doesn’t have a cohesive
brand.”
Although respondent B said,
“I think that means its not a good idea because it doesn’t have a good
enough brand”, “It doesn’t have anything strong enough that stands out to
be a brand.”
Respondent D replied with,
“they could change it”, “I think Largs would need to decided on its brand and
adopt that and then promote it from there and I think then it would help to
make it better.”
Respondent C agreed with respondent D,
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“if they do it well and they thought of what their specific brand would be then
it would be a good idea.”
The respondents had different ideas of what a possible brand for Largs could
be. Respondent F said,
“You could brand it as a sea side town.”
Respondent B thought that this point was unnecessary as,
“most people said you go when it is nice so its kind of already thought of
as that,”
to which respondent C said,
“but then there’s maybe people that don’t know Largs, don’t know that its a
sea side town.”
After a bit more thought on the question respondent E had another thought,
“I thought there was the potential if you got a really cohesive brand, they
could get more trade now (as a sea side resort) as I think with the
recession people may be less likely to pay money to fly abroad and
therefore there is more of an opportunity locally to do more of those
things.”
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4.3.4 What, in your opinion, would be the best way to promote Largs to
potential visitors?
4.3.4.1 Interviews
One of the interview respondents opinions of the best way to promote Largs
to potential visitors was that it needed more advertising time on television.
Another said that they just needed somebody to help them as they had,
unfortunately an underachieving tourist board.
4.3.4.2 Focus Group
The focus group respondents opinions were that they would need to “look at
Largs as a whole, they have to look at and set a standard to be able to
promote it.” Respondent A said,
“That comes back to the whole strategy doesn’t it, who are they marketing
it to, what age group is it?” Respondent F had an interesting point, “What’s
more important than image and brand?”
Respondent A suggested that a series of events could be a productive way of
bringing in tourists but respondent B said that it was not as effective as a
brand. He said that,
“if you have a brand it brings people in all the time so it’s better than just a
one off, or series, of events.”
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Respondent E said,
“What about experience in the sense that, you’ve been before and
because you’re familiar with what they offer you’d go again and therefore
you could promote that by word of mouth to other people.”
Then respondent A went on to say,
“that’s (branding) better, because actually word of mouth is spreading the
message. It was probably the brand that go you there the first time, after
that it’s your own experience.”
It was also said that because of “social media sites,” word of mouth can have
a huge impact on promotion. Respondent B disagreed as they thought that
“there’s probably only 10 people on my Facebook I would trust,” and by this
he means he would not trust the opinions of many of the people on his
Facebook to recommend anything to him.
4.4 Summary
After presenting all the findings it gives up the opportunity to now discuss and
analyse these findings in relation to the objectives set out at the start of the
project.
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5.0 Discussion of Findings
The purpose of this chapter is to discuss the findings outlined in chapter 4 in
relation to the objectives set out at the beginning of the research. The
interview and focus group questions have been sorted in to the relevant
objectives and this will present the structure for the analysis.
5.1 Objective - Explore the role of branding in the promotion of tourism
destinations
Destination marketing has been and will continue to be affected by multiple
external factors which serve as the driving forces behind its development
(Wang & Pizam, 2011). Destination marketers should try to create different
ways to market their destination more skilfully so that it becomes more widely
recognised as a popular place to visit. To compete for attention in a highly
competitive market place the destination marketers must use the tools
available to the best of their ability or they will fall behind in their field.
According to the literature the application of branding as a way to promote
tourism destinations is still relatively novel (Chen & Phou, 2012). The
literature also suggests a link between a destinations image and destination
branding but more effort is needed to fill in the research gaps in the links
between the two. The participants of the interviews and focus groups were
asked a series of questions to find out their opinion on the importance of
destination imagery and if they think there is a link between image and
branding.
49

5.1.1. Do you think that a destinations image has a large impact on
people’s decision to visit?
Only one out of the thirteen focus group respondents thought that it would not
have an impact on people’s decisions to visit. When asked for a reason why
Respondent J said,
“Overseas visitors might have family roots there,”
making the point that it would not have an impact if the visitor had another
reason to visit. This statement does not really make a clear point that it would
not affect other people’s reason to visit as everyone is not an oversea’s visitor
with family roots in the particular destinations. It is possible that respondent J
did not think of all groups of visitors but only the particular group that she
discussed.
All the other focus group respondents agreed that image does play an
important part in a visitors decision to visit the destination. From the focus
group discussion it is clear that the group thought it would affect them more if
they had a particular reason to choose a destination, for example a stag
weekend, then the image of that destination would definitely play a role in the
choice they would make as to whether they would visit it or not. This is made
clear by Respondent K who said,
“If you are choosing a holiday for a particular reason it could affect it.”
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The response from the interviews was similar. Only one accommodation
provider thought that image would not affect the decision to visit the
destination although they refused to comment on why they thought this. The
other accommodation providers thought that it would affect the tourists
decision to visit people do make decisions like that based on the images they
may already have in their head of that particular place, even if that image is
totally misconstrued. AP 3 said,
“Definitely, if people do come, if they get a day like this [points to sunny
day] then they’ll come back, if they come for a week and its all rain and
wind they won’t come back. If they’ve been before and its been horrible
they won’t come back.”
It did seem that all the accommodation providers did not fully understand the
definition of destination image as they all seemed to comment on the visitors
image after they had visited the destination at least once. They saw image as
being what the visitor thought while actually at the destination. Although this is
the case most of them did still think that image is an important part of what
brings people to destinations.
5.1.2. Do you think that branding can be used to promote destinations?
Studies of brand image, brand personality, brand relationships and brand
loyalty has normally been focused on marketing consumer products.
Destination marketers are adopting branding techniques to craft an identity
which focuses on the uniqueness of their products, namely destinations (Chen
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& Phou, 2012). This question was devised to find out whether tourism
providers and tourists felt that branding would be a positive way to promote
tourist destinations.
All the accommodation providers thought that branding could be used to
promote destinations. They all agreed that it would only be possible if all the
tourism operators at the destination backed the brand. AP 2 stated,
“[branding] helps to promote your town but its always the same people
who get involved in the committees, so they people that aren’t involved
are always sniping, saying why is it always them that’s involved.”
This comment was reiterated by AP 3 on the inclusion of all the of the tourism
operators in a destination,
“Yes, it [branding] would, I think it’ll definitely bring more people in”,
“there’s a lot of people thats interested and there’s a lot of people that
aren’t”, “that’ll do more to bring tourism [to Largs].”
The accommodation providers seemed to think that any new way to promote
destinations would be a positive way to promote them as they felt that enough
was not being done already. AP 3,
“we really need somebody to help us [promote destinations].”
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The majority of the focus group respondents agreed with the tourism
operators opinion that branding was a positive way to promote tourism which
was apparent when respondent B said,
“we’ve all just described the reasons why we would go [to Largs], so if
you brand something so people think its the reasons why they would
want to go then they’ll go.”
This is also apparent in the literature when Voase (2012) said,
“to ‘brand’ a destination is not so much a transitive matter, but a question
of eliciting and interpreting qualities already inherent to the place.”
These opinions show that both tourists and tourism operators agree that if
branding is used correctly then it would definitely be a positive way to promote
destinations.
Although there were many points raised as to why branding would be a
positive way to promote tourism the respondents of the focus group also
discussed some things that could affect how well it worked as a promotion
technique. It was observed that branding could only be a positive way of
promotion if people did not know the destination when respondent K said,
“It depends if people know the place or not.”
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Which shows that destination branding may not make a big difference to
people who know or have previously visited the destination. Respondent A
made the comment,
“the brand is only needed for people who don’t know it [the destination].”
This comment suggests that respondent A thinks that it doesn’t matter if the
brand would not affect people who know the destination as the promotion of
the destination is only necessary to attract new visitors. Some respondents
disagreed with this as they thought that branding would still affect people who
had visited the destination before although they did agree that it probably
would not affect them as much as it would new visitors.
From the literature and the research it is clear to see that although destination
branding is a relatively new way to promote destinations if it is done in the
right way it could be an extremely effective way of promotion, not only to new
visitors but also to existing visitors.
5.1.3 Do you think there is a substantial link between a destinations
image and the particular branding of that destination?
As the literature points out links between destination image and destination
branding part of the research focused on whether the accommodation
providers and focus group respondents agreed with this. They were asked if
they thought there was a substantial link between the two.
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The accommodation providers did think there was a substantial link with AP 2
saying,
“when they’re branding it they need to brand it to the specifics of what
the customer wants to see”,
meaning that the branding should focus on the images that a customer would
be drawn to for that particular destination. From the interviews it seemed that
the accommodation providers had never thought about destination image
being linked to destination branding but when they did think about it they
definitely thought there was a strong link between the two.
The focus group respondents all agreed that there was a link between image
and brand. This is interesting as it shows that the people who the brand would
be aimed at, tourists, all think that image plays an important part in the
creation of the brand. Respondent B said,
“I think the brand, if it’s [the destination] got one, can be reliant on the
image but the image wouldn’t be reliant on the brand.”
After this point was made the focus group respondents all started to nod in
agreement. This shows that they all thought when establishing a brand for a
destination, the images put across are very important to them. Destination
marketers would have to look at this information carefully to make sure they
are using images in an effective way when creating the destination brand. It
also shows that the group did not think that image would be reliant on the
55

brand. This is an interesting point as it shows that the group think that the
image they have of a place would not rely on that place having a particular
brand, meaning that if a destination was not branded tourists could still see
the place having a destination image.
In asking this question it has become clear, from both the tourist and the
tourism provider point of view, that image is very important when introducing
branding to a destination. However the branding of the destination wouldn’t be
the only factor when a tourist thinks of a destinations image.
5.1.4 Can you tell me of any places that you think have been promoted
using branding, and has this had any influence on your thoughts about
visiting those destinations?
The purpose of this question was to get an idea of whether the focus group
respondents would know if they had seen destination branding before and if it
actually had an affect on them and the findings confirm that they were aware
of destination branding around them. There were multiple destinations
suggested by the respondents which shows that when they think about
destination branding they realise they have actually experienced it before,
even though they did not know what it was. One of the destinations that the
respondents thought had a destination brand was California, with its new
Come and See advertisement. Respondent D said,
“with all those adverts, that would certainly make me want to visit.”
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showing that she is aware of destination branding as this was a destination
that she had picked from a television advert even before fully understanding
what the concept actually is. It also displays the positive effect the brand has
on the thoughts of respondent D on whether they would like to visit that
destination. It has also had a lasting effect as she remembered California over
many other places because of the branding that has been put in place to
attract visitors. Respondent E said,
“Sandals, those Sandals resorts that are supposed to be couples
getaway’s, there’s no children. In the sun with the glorious beaches and
jacuzzi’s and things.”
This is an interesting point as it is obvious that the type of brand this
destination has taken on board has had an obvious effect on the respondent
and that because of that they remembered exactly what the destination was
about and why it was somewhere they would want to visit.
The common theme that showed through the responses to this question was
that all the destinations the respondents thought had a brand were all
positively received. There was no mention of any destinations who they
thought were branded that did not draw them to the destination. This is
backed up by the literature when Roodurmun & Juwaheer (2010) made the
point that destination marketers have had to turn to branding to distinguish
their destinations to convey a positive message that will motivate tourists to
visit them.
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5.1.5 Summary
From the literature and research it has become clear that the image of a
destination is very important to potential visitors and that it is also important in
the creation of a successful brand. It has also become clear that destination
branding could be an extremely positive way to promote destinations as even
though it is not a widely popular way to do so it is already being recognised by
potential visitors.
5.2 Objective - Analyse the success of branding as a way to promote
Largs as a destination
By understanding the role of branding as a way to promote tourism
destinations it then meant the research could focus on branding as a way to
promote Largs. To understand whether this could be an effective way of
marketing the destination it was necessary to first understand why people
would generally visit the destination. Then the destination image of Largs will
be analysed. It is then possible to discuss whether branding would help
promote Largs and whether there are any other possible marketing solutions
that may work better for Largs.
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5.2.1 What were some of the reasons for your visits to Largs?
The purpose of this question was to understand why people visit Largs so that
possible destination marketers could realise new or different ways to entice
people to visit. The main theme that ran through the different answers was
that nice weather was a strong reason for people to visit. AP 2 said that,
“if it’s sunny it’ll be mobbed, most people wait to see the weather
forecast before they venture out,”
which gives the impression that he only expects the town to be busy if there is
a chance of nice weather. The focus groups respondents had similar thoughts
about visiting Largs, when asked some of the reasons why they visited Largs,
respondent C said,
“when it’s sunny,”
to which respondent I said,
“when it’s sunny it’s the first place you think of.”
The fact that many of the respondents all had the same thoughts about
visiting Largs shows that the dependency on nice weather is extremely high
for the attraction of visitors to Largs. It was seen by the focus group
respondents as a place to visit to do things that would normally be done at a
seaside resort, like playing the amusements beside the beach and getting a
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‘chippy’ on the front. One of the respondents actually made the point that for
them,
“it was probably the nearest, what do you call it, seaside resorts,”
so this shows again that the weather is a major factor in their decision to visit.
This statement also gives the impression that the destination could be less
popular now if it is viewed as a seaside resort as there has been a major
decline of British coastal resorts since the late 1970s (Agarwal, 2005) due to
the change in tourist needs. This point comes across when AP 2 said,
“the people that come to Largs is mostly the 50 plus market who
remember Largs in the old days.”
With this statement it is easy to see that the decline of coastal tourism has
had an affect on the reasons why people visit Largs. AP 2 thinks it is mostly
older people who come to Largs now and that would have been the people
who used to visit the destination when seaside resorts were more popular. AP
3 reiterated this point by saying,
“I mean my mother came down here [Largs] for her holidays for a
fortnight”, “I think that’s got a lot to do with it [visiting Largs] because they
[her parents] brought their children and their grandchildren down.”
From all the responses to this question it seems that people’s reasoning for
visiting Largs relies heavily on what the older generations of their family did
60

before them. This is the reason for the reliance on the good weather for
visiting, as they were used to going with their families for summer holidays
and then just days out.
5.2.2 What, in your opinions, is Largs’ destination image? How would
this affect your reason to visit Largs?
This question was asked as part of the research to understand if destination
image was as important to them if they had already visited that destination.
The findings from the research showed that this was the case as again
weather was a big factor. Respondent E said,
“the image I have of Largs does [affect her reason to visit] generally
speaking as we go when it’s nice so you can walk right along the
promenade and get the nice fresh air”
And respondent C said,
“I think most people would say that, you’re not going to go when it’s not
nice,”
So even though all the focus group respondents have been to Largs before
they all made it clear that they still had an image of it in their mind and that it
always affects their decision to visit. They all suggested that the image they
had was that it was only the kind of place they would like to visit in nice
weather and that definitely comes in to their mind if they think of Largs and if
61

they think about visiting Largs. It would generally put them off visiting at any
other time.
5.2.3 Do you think destination branding is a positive way to promote
Largs?
The purpose of this question was to understand the opinions of the tourists
and tourism providers on the use of branding as a way to promote Largs.
They all thought it was a good way to promote destinations, so when asked
specifically about Largs the AP’s thought that it would still work with Largs. AP
1 said that,
“anything would help,”
which highlights the fact that she thinks it doesn’t really matter how they were
to promote Largs, as long as they did something it would help. So although
she thinks branding would work it is only because she thinks that any kind of
help that Largs gets to attract new visitors will help. AP 2 thinks that branding
would be a positive way to promote Largs,
“if the people in Largs will get together behind it,”
which gives the impression that as this time not all the tourism providers in
Largs are working together to get the best out of their destination. Focus
group respondent makes a similar point by saying,
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“it’s all kind of separate, it doesn’t have a cohesive brand,”
and this highlights the fact that there does not seem to be a very good
network between the tourism providers of Largs, they are not working together
and this is affecting how people see the destination. Because of this
respondent B said,
“I think that means its [branding] not a good idea because it doesn’t have
a good enough brand”, “it doesn’t have anything strong enough that
stands out to be a brand.”
Respondent B was the only person to make the point that branding may not
be a positive way to promote Largs but the point is still important as he says
that there is not a part of Largs that is strong enough to be the main focus of a
brand creation. This could be an issue for many destinations, not just Largs.
The other respondents tended to disagree with this, respondent D came back
with,
“they could change it,”
which implies that it doesn’t matter that Largs doesn’t have a strong focus as
it is possible that with branding that could be changed. This was then backed
up when she said she had seen it done before,
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“West Kilbride has branded itself as a craft town to encourage people to
visit, so it’s filled all it’s empty shops with craft shops and craft fairs and
things like that, so I think Largs would need to decide on it brand and
adopt that and then promote it from there and I think then it would make
it better,”
showing that once a destination has decided on a brand it just has to make
sure that it adopts it across the whole area to then promote that brand. It
doesn’t necessarily need to be based on something the destination is already
known for, however it does need to be something that is possible for the
destination to adopt without having to make impractical changes. Respondent
C agreed with this,
“if they do it well and they thought of what their specific brand would be
then it would be a good idea.”
During their discussions about using destination branding as a way to
promote Largs the focus group respondents offered possible brand ideas that
they thought would work in Largs. Respondent F said,
“You could brand it as a sea side town,”
which is an interesting point considering the decline of coastal tourism over
the last 30 years. Although AP 3 made a good observation when she said
that,
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“I think young families want to go abroad for the sun, although the way
moneys going they’ll hopefully come back,”
And this was backed up by respondent D who said,
“I thought there was potential if you got a really cohesive brand, they
could get more trade now [as a sea side resort] as I think with the
recession people may be less likely to pay money to fly abroad therefore
there is more of an opportunity locally to do more of those things,”
This shows that from both tourist and tourism operator point of view that
people may start to look at coastal resorts, like Largs, as destinations for
summer holidays again because the economic climate has forced them to
give up on more expensive luxuries. This means that it is possible that using
branding to regenerate Largs’ coastal tourism could be a viable option when
choosing a brand for the destination. However respondent B made a
compelling argument that,
“most people said you go when it is nice so it’s kind of already thought of
as that,”
and this gives the impression that he thinks it would not be beneficial to brand
it as a coastal resort because many people already consider factors, such as
weather, that would normally be considered when thinking about visiting a
coastal resort.
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Other respondents thought that Largs connection with the Vikings and the
Vikingar centre was an idea for a possible destination brand. Respondent K
said,
“It’s got things like Vikingar that are good, that they could use to
advertise the place, so if they chose to use that as a brand then did it in
the right way it could attract people to go there.”
It was interesting to observe that the focus group respondents were already
thinking about possible areas of Largs that would be unique ways of
promoting the destination as Chen & Phou (2012) discussed that destination
marketers are adopting branding techniques which focus on the uniqueness
of their destinations. This shows that the focus group respondents also
understand that it is the uniqueness of a destination that is important when it
comes to branding. And the relation to the Vikings could be a very important
part of a brand for Largs. However, there was some discussion around the
fact that the draw of the Viking ties that Largs has could be too niche for a
good brand. Respondent L said,
“It’s not big enough to carry it,”
and respondent A said,
“It’s a very small market,”
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which gives the impression that they think it will not attract a large enough
numbers to Largs as it is a very unique selling point. However, this can also
work in Largs’ favour as it gives the destination a big advantage when it
comes to comparing it with similar destinations who may not have that unique
added feature. For example, it could be a very popular destination for school
trips or educational trips and bring in visitors who do have interests in Vikings
who will not pick anywhere else near by because they do not have that
particular feature.
5.2.4 What, in your opinion, would be the best way to promote Largs to
potential visitors?
This question was asked to understand whether the tourists or tourism
providers thought that there was any better method that could be used to
promote Largs. It was necessary to ask in this way as it is not only important
to see if they thought branding was a good way to promote Largs, it is
important to see whether they thought it was the best way, or if there was
anything better.
AP 1 thought that the best way was more advertising time on television,
although this doesn’t give any understanding of what the television advertising
should consist of, so it could be that creating a brand would still be the best
idea, it’s just the television advertising would be a good way of getting the
brand out there. AP 3 made the comment that the tourist providers just
needed someone to help them, she felt that the tourist board was “rubbish”
and because of this many people had come out of this. This is a big problem
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for Largs as they need to have a strong, unified body to help implement any
sort of destination marketing, whether it be branding or another choice. If the
tourist board are not working to the best of their ability then any marketing
concepts put in place will not be as effective as they could be.
There were many mixed feelings amongst the focus group respondents.
There was suggestions that a series of events could be a productive way of
bringing people to Largs but respondent B said,
“if you have a brand it brings people in all the time so it’s better that just
a one off, or series, of events.”
o from this it is clear that there are many different ways to promote
destinations and all can be extremely effective if executed well. However, the
opinions that came out from the focus group was that destination branding
would be the most effective way to promote the destination, as all of the other
forms of promotion could benefit from a brand being created. Respondent A
made his opinion clear when he said,
“that [branding] is better, because actually word of mouth is spreading the
message. It was probably the brand that got you there the first time, after
that it is your own experience.”
With this comment he gave the impression that word of mouth is another
great way of promoting a destination. However, it also seems that he thinks
that word of mouth is only possible after someone has been drawn to the
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destination in another way, because someone has to have experienced the
destination before they can spread the word, and in his opinion branding
would be the best way to draw someone to the destination first.
5.2.5 Summary
From the research it is clear to see that branding could be a successful way to
promote destinations. It is also clear that it would be a successful way to
promote Largs if a particular brand was chosen and adopted by all areas of
the destination. Branding would not be a successful way to promote Largs if it
is not supported properly.
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6.0 Conclusion and Recommendations
6.1 Chapter Introduction
This final chapter will evaluate the how successful branding has been and
could be used to promote Largs as a tourist destination. The chapter will also
give recommendations on how to make destination branding a more
successful form of destination marketing particularly in Largs. The chapter will
summarise the findings from the literature and the research for each objective
and make recommendations based on these results.
6.2 Explore the role of branding in the promotion of tourism destinations
From the literature we can see that there is a lot of research done on
destination marketing and how important it is for destinations to market
destinations in the best ways to compete for attention in a highly competitive
marketplace (Wang & Pizam, 2011). It is also come out from the literature that
destination branding is a relatively new way of marketing destinations (Chen &
Phou, 2012). The research methods were used to find the opinions that both
tourists and tourism operators had on how effective destination marketing is to
them when it comes to choosing a destination and how important destination
branding is as a marketing tool for destinations. The main points that came
out from the research were, the focus group respondents all agreed that
destination branding would be an effective way to promote tourism
destinations and that a destinations image plays an important role in the
creation of a brand. The research has also shown us that even though
70

destination branding is not widely used by destination marketers, tourists are
already noticing where it has been used.
Using the literature and the research a conclusion can be formed that at the
moment destination branding does not play a large role in the promotion of
destinations but it has the potential to be an extremely successful way of
promoting destinations in the future. It has also been concluded that
destination branding will rely heavily on the destinations image. Therefore a
recommendation has been formed. Destination marketers should focus on the
role image plays in a destinations brand as they are creating that brand. It is
possible that people’s opinions on image and brand can be changed but only
if the marketers decide on a cohesive brand that it is then adopted across the
whole destination. If destination branding is used to promote a destination the
success lies with the team who are responsible for creating the brand/image
connection and making sure that the brand is developed by getting all tourism
outlets involved.
6.3 Analyse the success of branding as a way to promote Largs as a
destination
There is little evidence of previous research on the success of branding for
destinations like Largs. From the research conducted in this project it has
become apparent that branding could be a successful way to promote Largs if
handled correctly. This means, recognising the links between destination
image and branding, and using these links to the destinations advantage, for
example, weather was a big factor in people’s decision to visit Largs, as
71

weather is not a factor that can be controlled then a brand could be created
that will attract visitors in all climates. It is also important that the tourism
providers of Largs all agree on the particular brand, as it is necessary for them
all to adopt the brand to make it successful. It was found in the research that
the accommodation providers thought that this was not always the case.
It was also found in the research that all the respondents recognised branding
as the most effective form of destination marketing. They felt that all other
forms of destination marketing could be enhanced with the destination having
an underlying brand. Whether it be on television on through word of mouth, a
brand would be the source of all of these marketing options.
Further research with the tourist board from the area could have been helpful
but unfortunately they did not make themselves available to be a part of the
findings.This could have given more insight in to the marketing efforts they
have in place at this time which would have made the recommendations more
refined. However, it also shows that as the accommodation providers
mentioned, the tourist board were not willing to do everything possible to help
promote the destination. If they had participated they could have been helped
by the research project as it focused specifically on their destination which no
other research has done before.
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