BRANDING THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

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BRANDING THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

• Julio Aramberri
• Drexel University

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THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

• What do we mean by NEE?
• A number of thorny issues
• UNWTO includes 22 countries in its geographical
  notion
• Covering the Russian Federation and many
  countries in Central Asia

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THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

• A political approach
• Those Eastern countries in the USSR periphery
• Since 1990 have opened their economies to global
  market forces
• A democratic form of government with many local
  differences

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THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

• The practical approach
• NEE are the countries of Eastern Europe that have
  joined the European Travel Commission
• ETC was founded in 1948
• Today it includes 39 countries
• 16 can be considered NEE

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THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

• Bulgaria
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Georgia
• Hungary
• Latvia
• Lithuania

• Macedonia
• Montenegro
• Poland
• Romania
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Slovenia
• Ukraine

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THE NEW EASTERN EUROPE

• Diagnosing the contribution of tourism to their
  national economies
• Analyzing opportunities and threats to their
  tourism sector
• Discussing the role of branding in their future
  development

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THE GLOBAL TOURISM SYSTEM

• The structure of the world tourism system is
  still an unknown
• Two main databases UNWTO and WTTC
• Pros and Cons

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THE GLOBAL TOURISM SYSTEM
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NEE IN THE SYSTEM
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NEE MAIN FEATURES

• Different situations
• From Croatia to Romania
• Not all of them can be treated equally
• The three Baltic states
• Lithuania ? Intermediate
• Latvia ? Laggard
• Estonia ? Successful

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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES

• The picture is not the same for all NEE countries
  
• From 2000 to 2005 there was steady growth for
  most, but not for all
• Poland started strongly in 1995 when it reached
  17.4 million arrivals
• It has lost speed since. In 2007 it was expected
  to attract just 15 million

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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES

• Hungary has lost 3 million visitors since 2004
• Estonia has not registered significant growth
  since then.
• Croatia has grown quite quickly. It increased
  sevenfold since 1995.
• For most arrivals have remained below
  expectations.

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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES

• What is the make-up of international tourist to
  the NEE?
• Long-haul travel to Europeonly 8 percent of
  total arrivals and 3 percent of total overnights
• Non-Europeans have very short stays in those
  countries (which might mean that most are
  business people), thus preventing overall growth

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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES
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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES

• The future is not rosy
• The German and British economies went through a
  rough patch in 2007
• The ebb in arrivals and overnights in most NEE
  destinations is a clear threat
• The economic forecast for 2008 and 2009 is far
  from encouraging 

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THREATS OPPORTUNITIES

• Growth expectations for TT to the region in that
  period will likely experience a drastic reduction
• Turn threats into opportunities
• Improve marketing
• When the tide flows again, one may reap the
  benefits growing from previously planted seeds

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BRANDING NEE

• Do NEE countries have products attractive enough
  to support a branding blitz?
• Which are the stories their NTO tell their
  audiences?
• Which are the main limits to their branding
  efforts?  

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BRANDING NEE

• The good news NEE countries have a lot of
  attractions of many kinds that might support a
  clear marketing strategy
• The not-so-good news Everybody does
• One cannot naively surmise that consumers see
  them all as equally worthy a trip

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BRANDING NEE

• There is a rank in destinations
• Even the classic ages were aware of that. What
  else did the Seven Wonders of the World mean?
• In our times there have been quite a few attempts
  to rank the New Seven Wonders

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BRANDING NEE

• Anholts nation ranking surveys the views that
  citizens from different nations have on other
  countries
• In 2007 only 4 NEE countries were included in the
  36-nation survey
• Poland ranked 28, Estonia 34, Lithuania 35 and
  Latvia 36

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BRANDING NEE

• They occupied the same spots in the tourism and
  culture dimensions
• The other 14 NEE nations represented in ETC were
  not surveyed, but the position of those that were
  does not bode well for the others

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BRANDING NEE

• Anholts city brands index for 2007 measures
  other attributes
• The 2007 Index included 40 cities the world over
• 4 from NEE countries
• Pragues overall slot was 28, Budapests 32,
  Warsaws 37, Rigas 40

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BRANDING NEE

• In People, Prague came 25, Budapest 31, Warsaw 35
  and Riga 36
• In Pulse, Prague was 20, Budapest 31, Warsaw 37
  and Riga 40
• The last two dimensions are usually associated to
  travel propensity

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BRANDING NEE

• When it came to potential attractions, whether
  nations or cities, none of the NEE destinations
  ranked high
• They came in the second tier of attractions and
  usually at the end of it

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BRANDING NEE

• FutureBrands Country Index 2006 is based on a
  Delphi-like technique
• It ranks destinations by attributes directly
  related to TT such as Authenticity, History, Art
  Culture, Families, and so on
• Up to twenty different items

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BRANDING NEE

• In the 2006 Index, of the 16 NEE countries, only
  3 scored
• Croatia entered the Rising Star category
• The Czech Republic made it to Art Culture
• Hungary classified in Value for Money.
• That was all

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BRANDING NEE

• One conclusion seems inescapable
• NEE countries do not have powerful TT brands
• At best, some of them make it to second-tier
  attractions
• The great majority does not register at all

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LOGOS
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LOGOS

• Logos do not create a brand, but they serve as
  its foundations
• Logos summarize the message communicated by the
  brand and convey in a flash its difference from
  others
• A logo may seem something easy, but only to the
  untrained eye
• They are highly complex products

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LOGOS

• Logos usually consist of two parts
• One is visual and is known as the icon
• The other is literarythe slogan
• Slogans anticipate a payoff or reward for the
  consumer
• If the slogan is a summary, the icon is the
  quintessence of the slogan

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LOGOS

• One gets the impression that most NEE countries
  still conceive of their logos in less than a
  professional way
• Serbia and Ukraine do not have one yet
• Seven out of 16 NEE countries do not add any
  slogan to their icons

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LOGOS

• This includes destinations such as Bulgaria, the
  Czech Republic, Poland and Romania
• If you do not know what you are trying to sell
  (or, in marketing lingo, how to reach the
  consumers evoked set), your icons will be
  aimless

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LOGOS

• Only Macedonia, Montenegro and Croatia make
  concrete proposals.
• However, the Macedonian Cradle of Culture, Land
  of Nature shows no difference with any other
  destination.
• Montenegros Wild Nature may well fit its
  markets
• It is not meant for great numbers of tourists,
  though.

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LOGOS

• In my view, Croatia alone sends a consistent
  message
• Before the breakup of the former Yugoslavia
  Croatia was treading on the same footsteps as
  Spain
• Quickly built 3-S destinations catering to mass
  tourists steered to the country by British and
  German tour operatorsthat was the game

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LOGOS

• Mass tourism is still there, but new market
  segments Have grown
• These new customers still want the sun and the
  sea but in different settings
• Croatia has them small islands, fishermens
  harbors, quaint medieval towns, national parks,
  wineries, and villas

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LOGOS

• Instead of Spain, the models for an upscale and
  more refined customer are now Tuscany, Provence,
  Southern Italy
• Sun and sea with a touch of class, history and
  old traditions.
• The payoff The Mediterranean as It Once Was
  quickly captures the notion and conveys it
  adroitly

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CONCLUSION (1)

• NEE countries need a professional approach to
  promotion and branding
• Who should provide it? In an ideal world, those
  that obtain the greater dividends from the
  tourist trademembers of the private sector
• In the real world common strategies are easier to
  implement when representative institutions
  collaborate

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CONCLUSION (2) (2)

• It will not be easy to dispense with DMO and
  their proclivity to bureaucratic fiat
• My best proposal is to restrict them to
  intelligence and design and work the rest under
  the direction of the private sector
• This model looks to me as the lesser of two
  evils.

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LOGOS
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LOGOSroatia
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CLOGOSzech Republic
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toLOGOSnia
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LOGOSeorgia
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LOGOS
HUNGARY A LOVE FOR LIFE
HUNGARY A LOVE FOR LIFE
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tvLOGOSia
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LLOGOSithuania
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LOGOSMacedonia
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LOGOSMontenegro
WILD NATURE
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LOGOS
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LOGOSmania
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LOGOSa
LITTLE BIG COUNTRY
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LOGOSia