Regional Development, Place Branding
and Tourism
- exploring dilemmas of process and strategy
1. Arguments
2. Conceptualisation
3. Focus on process: City branding case
4. Focus on strategy: Food tourism case
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
ARGUMENTS
about regional development, place branding and tourism
A certain scepticism…



Globalisation is here to stay, so is neo-liberalism
Brands are all fluffy talk, keeping consultants, making little difference
Tourism is an increasingly desperate measure of last resort
… about scepticism



Scope for local agency also in path-dependent regions
Image and discourse may matter
Tourism as global growth industry in times of leisure
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
CONCEPTUALISATION
Development policy from an institutionalist perspective
Political
environment
Implementing
organisation
Public actors
Political sponsor
Private actors
Organisation
Discursive terrain
Policy design
PROBLEM
DEFINITION
Policy target
Firms
Organisations
Public authorities
Tourists
Economic &
socio-cultural
environment
Public actors
Private actors
Cultural patterns
Discursive terrain
POLICY
OUTCOME
Source: Inspired by inter alia Ham & Hill, Jenkins, Sabatier, Parsons, Winter – Elaborated on the basis of
Henrik Halkier: Institutions, Discourse and Regional Development, Brussels: PIE Peter Lang, 2006, chapter 3.
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Place branding processes and inter-organisational relationships:
• commitment: perceived branding needs
• strategy: market and place-making
• inclusion: distribution of roles
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Commitment:
 imperative vs. more/less important
 repositioning vs. reinforcement
Strategy:
 market: selling place vs. building community
 place-making: city of words vs. city of stones
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Branding
stakeholders
Agenda
setting
City brand
Local government
Public service providers
Private firms
NGOs
Local media
Citizens
Design
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
City of words
(communication
platform)
Brand
board
City of stones
(physical
place-making)
Implementation
Markets
External
Tourists
New investors
& firms
New residents
Incoming students
Internal
Existing investors
& firms
Citizens
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Tales of Two Cities
 Wide prospects
 Diversity
 Teamwork
 Drive
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
 Roots
 Pulse
 Knowledge
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Commitment: Perceived Branding Needs
Municipality
Tourism
City retail
Less important
Image strong &
positive - reinforce
Important
Competitive edge
in experience
economy
Important
Competitive edge in
experience
economy
Imperative
Image negative reposition
Less important
Involves concrete
events
Less important
Involves concrete
events
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Inclusion:
Branding
stakeholders
Agenda
setting
City brand
City of words
Municipality
City retail
VisitAarhus
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
External
Primary for
all three
Brand
board
City of stones
VisitAarhus
Design
Markets
Implementation
Internal
Secondary
for all three
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Inclusion:
Branding
stakeholders
Agenda
setting
City brand
Branding
Secretariat
VisitAalborg
City of words
External
Primary for
all four
Brand
board
City of stones
Branding
Secretariat
Implementation
Design
City Retail
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Markets
Internal
Secondary
for all four
Municipality:
Trade & Business
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Strategy: Market and Place-making
Selling place
Municipality
Tourism
City retail
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
Building
community
City of
words
City of
stones
CITY BRANDING CASE
Focus on process
Commit
ment
Inclusion
Strategy
inclusion -> strong commitment?
commitment -> holistic strategy?
Place-branding depending on many dimensions of
inter-organisational cooperation
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
FOOD TOURISM CASE
Focus on strategy
DELICATE DESTINATIONS, PRODUCTIVE REGIONS?
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
THE BRANDING CHALLENGE
Local food for international tourists
From tempting prospects of synergy …
 tourists will eat anyway
 food experience add to attraction of destination
 local food an exotic quality
 boost local food production directly/indirectly
… to international destination food brand
 attractions of regional food communicated to visitors
 regional food experiences demanded by visitors
 regional food experiences must be produced
 regional food made accessible to visitors
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
THE BRANDING CHALLENGE
Local food for international tourists
RDA
DMO
F
T
T
F
F
Exchange
to be
increased
INTER/NATIONAL
TOURISTS
T
Key challenges
 Stakeholder coordination: Communication AND experience
 Understanding potential markets
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
THE BRANDING CHALLENGE
Local food for international tourists
Potential targets
 Danish families with kids
 Norwegian empty nesters
Stakeholders
 food producers
 food retailers
 local policy makers
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
THE BRANDING CHALLENGE
Local food for international tourists
Results: Holliday home food experiences
REACTION
Product
Functional
Emotional
Health
Pleasure
RELATION Person/place Cultural insight Togetherness
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
THE BRANDING CHALLENGE
Local food for international tourists
Results: More than branding strategies
POLICY INSTRUMENTS
Communication
=
Organisation
=
Localise suppliers
Market local products
+
Build cross-sectoral
networks
Food tourism
destination brand
POLICY TARGETS
Type of Qualitative
change Quantitative
aims
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk
+
Primary target of change
Food
Tourism
Innovation
Experience
Localise
consumption
Image
THE BRANDING CHALLENGE
Local food for international tourists
Policy perspectives
 Tourism project? Self-catering? Demand?
 Choice and implication of strategies depending on

Actor configurations, private and public

Food tourism resources
Future research
 Explore links between strategies, resources and paths through
comparative studies (extended literature review, field work)
 Develop comprehensive analytical framework accounting for
strategies and practices from evolutionary perspective
Henrik Halkier– halkier@cgs.aau.dk