Brand Personality and Destination Brand Competitiveness; A mediated symbiotic relationship, a study of Kenya's tourism industry

Abstract

Although branding has been acknowledged as a fundamental element of destination brand competitiveness, and there is agreement that effective branding promotes development and growth of an industry, the organisation of branding in Kenya as a destination is not well understood. This paper examines the relationship between brand personality and destination brand competitiveness by investigating tourism firms perceive Kenya's brand personality and how brand personality impacts on destination brand competitiveness. An exploratory approach was adopted to explore this issue using three Kenyan, county destinations; Nairobi County, Nakuru County and Kisumu County. The findings of this research suggest that the manner in which tourism organisations translate the personalities into the brand poetics will influence the overall destinations brand. In particular the study supports previous research findings that the role of destination brand is essential if destination marketing authorities are to operate in synergy with other stakeholders because they are the providers of goods and services that represent the country effectively.