City Branding through Online Travel Information Search: Cases of Culture-Led Cities in Vietnam

Abstract

Cities around the world brand themselves to build their images as memorable places in which culture is considered as an important element for the sustainable development. Cultural attractions can help cities get away from a seasonal pattern of tourism, focus on higher income inhabitants. Hence, cultural tourism has a strong relationship with city branding. Since a city cannot build separate brands for its different stakeholders, city branding aims to tourists who might be investors or residents in the future. In Vietnam, although some culture-led cities have been adopting various strategies, the understanding of searching trend of online travellers is still limited. This study investigates tourism searching patterns and keywords volume related to cultural information through search engines and social media. The research sites include different tourism regions of Vietnam which are Hanoi, Hue, Danang, Hoi An, Ho Chi Minh. Successful examples of creative cities all over the world are reviewed for technological platform-based communication in three different levels: primary, secondary, and tertiary. The findings show the dominance of central Vietnam cities as a tourism cluster. The study suggests implications for Danang city to use new technologies for city brand communication more effectively.