Tourism co creation in place branding the role of local community

Article link: Website: Purpose This study aims to explore the role of local community in tourism co-creation. Despite the importance of internal stakeholders, there is a dearth of research on the process of place branding co-creation with the local community, considering their interconnections and influencing relationships. Design/methodology/approach An old and picturesque local market under a rebranding process was used as a case study. The research involved 10 interviews with market vendors to understand their views regarding place identity, their involvement in brand co-creation, their expectations about the process and the perceived results of such co-creation. Public information was also collected as secondary data to illustrate the rebranding process. Findings The vendor community had limited involvement in the market rebranding and felt they should have been more widely involved in the decisions as a group rather than individually. However, their satisfaction with the results of the rebranding led to the continuity of the sense of place and to the proud adoption of the new brand.