Heritage In DMOS’ Branding Strategy: The Case Of Caribbean Islands

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to stimulate discussion and debate, and to draw attention to the extent that ‘heritage’ is used as a branding strategy in Caribbean destinations’ logo designs. A visual methodology was used to analyse the logo designs of 21 Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) of the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO) member countries representing the English, French, Spanish and Dutch speaking Caribbean. The branding strategies of each destination were analysed, compared, and contrasted. The analysis found that member countries of the CTO mainly used a neutral branding strategy in their logos. 52% of the DMO logos analysed adopted a neutral position in their branding strategy. 38% of DMOs have based their branding on heritage and 10% on sun-and-sea.

Keywords

• Destination branding, Heritage tourism, Caribbean destinations, Visual methodologies.