The central contention of this paper is that the World Heritage Site (WHS) designation has over time evolved from a technical measure aimed exclusively at preservation into an acclaimed and widely respected brand that countries use to attract heritage tourists, and that tourists, in turn, rely on in selecting the destinations they will visit. The article adopts the defi nition of Kotler and Gertner (2002) that the two principal requirements of a place brand are a promise of quality and differentiation, requirements that the WHS designation fully meets. It then examines the special requirements and challenges of destination branding, noting in particular the multiple stakeholders involved and the often limited and divided management control that results from a multiplicity of partners. In the following section, the development of the United Nations Educational, Scientifi c and Cultural Organization ' s (UNESCO) World Heritage program is traced from its origins as an emergency measure to save the Egyptian temples of Abu Simbel to the establishment of the inter-governmental World Heritage (WH) Committee in 1972 and the inauguration of the World Heritage (WH) List in 1978 (UNESCO, 2009). During the ensuing three decades, a total of 890 WHS designations have been conferred on natural and cultural sites in 148 lands. Lastly, the article looks at the management of the WHS brand at the international, national and site levels.It is concluded that the WH Committee is using the limited means available to it -particularly the designation process and the Endangered List -in a prudent and effective manner to preserve and enhance the WHS brand. At the national and particularly the site level, the data available are insuffi cient to draw defi nitive conclusions. Nonetheless, the WHS brand continues to be respected and valuable both to the WH sites that use it in their advertisements and to tourists who depend on it in selecting the destinations they will visit.Place Branding and Public Diplomacy (2009) 5, 290 -300.

Purpose – The global migration and movement of talent plays an important role in the economic growth and competitiveness of many nations. In coming decades, it is anticipated that there will be increased competition between countries to attract the best and brightest. The World Economic Forum (2011) has recommended using nation branding strategies to attract talent. In response to this recommendation, the purpose of this paper is to propose a strategic framework and terminology for branding nations to attract highly skilled workers. Based on a review of the literature, it recommends five strategic vision drivers that can help countries brand themselves in an appealing and compelling way to talented professionals. This paper also recommends the term “relocation branding” to describe the practice of branding nations, regions and cities to attract talent. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the literature on nation branding and talent mobility to propose a conceptual framework of five vision drivers for branding destinations to attract talent. It also discusses how these vision drivers can be used in the context of an overall branding initiative and campaign. Findings – This paper finds that the determinants of talent mobility are complex and overlapping. Highly skilled temporary and permanent migrants have a broad range of concerns and interests when they voluntarily choose a country to live and work in. This paper argues that, given these complexities, a more tailored and multidimensional understanding of talent mobility is necessary to effectively craft a branding strategy that will appeal to the highly skilled. A clear vision, demonstrating an understanding of the challenges of moving between countries, has to be integrated into the brand from the outset. Originality/value – This paper is one of the only in-depth studies of nation branding for the purpose of attracting temporary and permanent skilled migrants. The value of this paper is significant as it provides a framework for strategically creating and positioning nation brands to attract highly skilled workers.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to empirically assess the importance for nations of key institutional, economic, and societal factors for attracting skilled professionals from abroad. It examines the existing literature on international talent mobility and empirically tests the validity of nation branding as a strategy for attracting internationally mobile skilled professionals. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use secondary data from the World Economic Forum, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Martin Prosperity Institute to test six hypotheses concerning factors that attract internationally mobile skilled professionals to a foreign country to live and work. Findings – The study finds that conditions of employment, quality of life, good governance, and tolerance towards people of diverse backgrounds are key issues that need to be holistically emphasized in successful nation branding campaigns aimed at attracting highly skilled professionals from abroad. Originality/value – The authors use strong secondary data to reduce common method bias in the results which show that “macro” factors sway internationally mobile skilled professionals to favor some countries over others. The authors contribute to the literature on international talent flows by conceptualizing nation branding as a framework through which a variety of push and pull factors can be examined to entice and attract internationally mobile skilled professionals to a particular host-country. The findings will apply to several different types of skilled professionals including self-initiated expatriates, self-initiated corporate expatriates, and third country nationals and local foreign hires.

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