Pregledni rad
https://doi.org/10.5673/sip.55.1.6
The City is more than just a Destination: An Insight into City Branding Practices in Croatia
Daniela Angelina Jelinčić
orcid.org/0000-0001-9140-8498
; Institut za razvoj i međunarodne odnose, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Feđa Vukić
; Arhitektonski fakultet, Studij dizajna, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Iva Kostešić
; Arhitektonski fakultet, Studij dizajna, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
The article insists on a clear difference between place branding (city or
nation branding) and destination branding, while a number of Croatian and some
Southeast European cities, recognizing tourism as economic opportunity, tend to
see their urban space almost exclusively as various destinations. Branding processes
follow exactly the same line of development, often failing to include the main fabric
of the city – the local community itself. In the article, branding processes of selected
cities in Croatia and branding projects in several Southeast European cities have been
researched. The results show that the majority of them have designed their brand
identities as if tourism was the only cultural and economic fact the community has to
offer. Places are turned into destinations and destination branding methods work only
towards attracting the outsiders, which then results in the lack of sustainability for the
insiders. Thus communities become ‘tourism products’ and, within such a framework,
the issues of the real city identity, its carriers and forms are neglected. In the article
the top-down approach to place branding is revisited, new factors – cultural and
social participation - are recognised in the reconfiguration of economy and identity.
This calls for grounding the place branding methods on the issue of self-perception
connected to the vision of communal development. Thus a new concept of identity
system is proposed as a theoretical frame for the working methodology. It is a new approach to branding (or rather identity making) which enables individuals to contribute
to the collective symbolic framework respecting the city and its citizens while at
the same time allowing outsiders to get to know its substantial values.
Ključne riječi
place branding; destination branding; tourism; participation; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
182253
URI
Datum izdavanja:
30.5.2017.
Posjeta: 4.419 *