> most government tourism boards rarely achieve success
How do you figure that? Most government tourism advertising is branding, and not specific to a business (it's usually "Visit X" with some motivational photos, where X is a country or region). Countries certainly have brands, are perceived in a certain way. Are you suggesting that brand advertising has no effect on this? Is it that brand advertising works for brands other than countries?
I speculate, but have no data, that most exercises carried out by tourism boards like advertising, cultural events, etc. barely move the needle on tourism because they're based on the usual drab formula of advertising and cultural events.
To really create interest in a country, one has to export a desirable mainstream cultural product like food or media. One has to tell a story, and good branding requires a compelling story.
I mean, if all there was were nice advertising of sandy beaches and temples in Thailand, etc. I'd probably not be motivated to visit. Nothing wrong with it, but there's no emotional connection because there's no narrative (sandy beaches are everywhere, and there are temples in most Asian countries -- there's nothing distinct about these things in themselves). But the tourism board of many countries stick to this formula because there's not much imagination on what else there is to be done.
On the other hand I've eaten Thai food regularly due to the ubiquity of Thai restaurants in North America, watched viral tearjerker Thai commercials on Youtube, watched Muay Thai (popularized by American movies like Kickboxer, and more recently by Tony Jaa's movies like Ong Bak), read stories about Bangkok's traffic jams where people have to pee in a cup (probably hyperbole), seen Thailand featured on travel shows like Bourdain's -- the result of which I now have a human connection to Thailand and made me want to visit. (I did a few years ago and really enjoyed it)
I can't say I have the same feelings about Indonesia for instance, even though it's the 4th largest country in the world and probably quite fascinating to visit. Australians frequent Bali because it's a nearby tropical destination, but I'd bet many people around the world couldn't tell you much about Indonesia if you asked them. Now imagine if Indonesia started exporting its food, which I can attest is quite good based on what I had in Amsterdam. That would start a whole new conversation about Indonesia.
Sure - you can't tell much of a story in a single image, so you piggy-back on an existing narrative, and increase its salience and availability, while associating it with the brand target.
I'm no advertising expert, but I don't believe that brand advertising doesn't work. It's clear that Thailand is already more salient and relevant to you, but that doesn't mean that advertising for Indonesia is pointless; it's just that it's starting with fewer hooks, and it's got to reach for stories more indirectly.
I wouldn't make the extrapolation that brand advertising doesn't work -- that's too general. I was merely observing that for countries (as opposed to consumer products), advertising alone isn't sufficiently salient to create an emotional connection -- efforts to produce culture and export soft power are much more along the right track.
Take Canada for instance -- I'm from there. Anthony Bourdain had this to say on Canadian tourism ads: “Whoever is in charge of promoting Canada abroad completely have their heads up their asses. It’s all like bears and swatting salmon and Mounties.”
Canada is so much richer than the stereotypes Americans have of us -- we're not just about the pristine wilderness, cold winters and funny accents. Canada's cities are culturally deep and have a dynamism fueled by immigration that is palpable--and more compelling than many U.S. cities--due to sheer Brownian motion collisions of different cultures. The dynamism of Toronto rivals and in some ways exceed that of Chicago where I now live.
So much culture and innovation is being created every day in food (especially in Montreal), TV shows, movies, universities, arts, etc. in Canada but no one has figured out how to sell that.
To be fair, there are some small successes: Anne of Green Gables for instance is a distinct cultural product that guarantees hordes of visitors to Prince Edward Island every summer without fail and with a near zero advertising budget. We need more of this.
In the marketing world, regional tourism is a dog. Municipalities and politicians dump money into billboards and magazine ads for basically no results, if they even bothered to measure anything half the time.
How do you figure that? Most government tourism advertising is branding, and not specific to a business (it's usually "Visit X" with some motivational photos, where X is a country or region). Countries certainly have brands, are perceived in a certain way. Are you suggesting that brand advertising has no effect on this? Is it that brand advertising works for brands other than countries?