Impact of Promotion on Destination Reputation:A Case of Gujarat

Abstract

India is unparalleled in its beauty, uniqueness, rich culture, heritage and history. The Government of India has been initiating various advertising campaigns such as the Incredible India to promote India as an attractive tourist destination. Different states in India like Goa, Kerala, Gujarat, etc. have also been promoting themselves as tourist destinations by using such campaigns for attracting more tourists in their states. Gujarat has been a front runner in adopting innovative promotional strategies; the state government is encouraging the tourists to discover its century's old history. The "Khushboo Gujarat Ki" ad-campaign has increased tourism in Gujarat, thereby suggesting the relevance of promotion in brand building of a destination. Tourism destinations are complex organizations (Buhalis, 2003) which need to manage their reputation (Inversini, Cantoni, & Buhalis, 2009) vis-a-vis other destinations in order to attract larger number of tourists. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly critical for destinations to measure and manage their reputations. (Passow, Fehlmann, & Grahlow, 2005). The present paper is an empirical study which attempts to analyze the Ad content of "Khushboo Gujarat Ki" campaign of Gujarat and its impact on the reputation of the destination.