As creative taglines become frequent elements in destina­tion marketing campaigns, John Koldowski, special advisor to CEO of PATA, underlined the importance of “delivering on what you promise”. 

Speaking at the China Inter­national Tourism Branding & Marketing Seminar this af­ternoon, Koldowski said: “Every country now knows how power­ful taglines are in branding the destination and are all vying to have the best identity.

“However the branding cam­paign might backfire on the destination and quickly work against it if (travellers) do not get what they were promised.”

Koldowski singled out Minis­try of Tourism India’s Incredible India, Tourism Malaysia’s Ma­laysia Truly Asia and Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Amazing Thailand as some of the best tag­lines in Asia that are paired with memorable and successful mar­keting campaigns. 

According to Tiger Wu, direc­tor of Centre for Recreation and Tourism Research, Peking Uni­versity, the use of a single tagline for China is “tricky”, as the coun­try is vast and its tourism experi­ences are varied.

China revealed its destination marketing tagline Beautiful Chi­na in March this year. 

Wu said: “Everyone, especially if they are from different coun­tries, has a different definition of beauty and it can be based on the destination’s culture, history or scenery.”

Hence, he has suggested that China adopts a more targeted approach for different audiences, perhaps differentiated by geo­graphical source markets.

“For instance, our survey has shown that China’s rich history and culture are most important to Western travellers,” he said.

Duan Yue Qing, director-general of Yunnan Provincial Tourism Development Commit­tee, said the province’s Colourful Yunnan, Tourism Paradise tagline was recognised as one of the top 10 marketing slogans in China this year. 

Duan opined that the tagline rightfully described Yunnan’s community of colourful ethnic tribes, varied flora and unique scenery.