By
Eli Avraham, Senior lecturer, Department of Communication, University of Haifa, Israel
Eran Ketter, Department of Communication, University of Haifa, Israel.
Description
Growing competition between countries and cities over attracting infrastructure, investment, tourists, capital and national and international
status mean that today, a negative image is more harmful than ever. Whatever the cause of the negative image, places perceived as dangerous,
frightening, or boring are at a distinct disadvantage. Many decision makers and marketers stand by helplessly, frustrated by their knowledge
that in most cases, their city's negative image is not based on well-grounded facts. Given that stereotypes are not easily changed or
dismissed, the challenge facing these decision makers is great. Analyses of many case studies show interesting examples of places that
tried to change a negative image into a positive one, in order to bringing back tourists, investors and residents.
Although a great
deal of knowledge about crisis communications has accumulated in recent years, very little has been written about strategies to improve
places' negative images. The aim of "Media Strategies for Marketing Places in Crisis" is to discuss the various dimensions of an image
crisis and different strategies to overcome it, both in practice and theory. "Media Strategies for Marketing Places in Crisis" is based
on the careful analysis of dozens of case studies, advertisements, public relations campaigns, press releases, academic articles, news
articles, and the websites of cities, countries and tourist destinations.
Audience:
Primary audience: tourism professionals including destination marketers, government officials, managers of tourism destinations, public
relations professionals; Secondary audience: advanced undergraduate and graduate students in tourism marketing.
