The crisis and media strategies for marketing places – Part Three
Marketing is a universal process that can be applied to developing and promoting many entities, including products, services, experiences, places, persons, properties, ideas, causes, and information.
Since the early 90’s there has been increasing interest in place marketing, place image and place branding. The number of countries taking part in the global economy and global tourism is increasing, accompanied by a parallel process whereby worldwide transportation and communication have grown. They are speedier, easier and the barriers between East and West are fading and getting cheaper (low cost carriers e.g.). However, if some place grows, another decreases in the attraction cycle. For example, today Paris does not compete just with other cities in Europe, but with other global cities, trying to win international tourism and important conferences. Global competition for tourism and investment has always existed, but today visiting foreign parts or investing abroad is much simpler, cheaper and safer, thanks to the communication progress. Avraham & Ketter (2008) and White (2006), indicate the best strategies, in particular communication and promotion strategies, to improve the place´s image in the crisis´ context. To help the place’s image and the place’s attraction in the decrease of the attention context, the decision makers have to choose a suitable “package” for marketing the place competitively.
