This article bridges research on destination branding and studies of business brands through an empirical investigation of the consistency between the destination brand of Binh Thuan province, Vietnam, and the brands of 87 tourism businesses operating there. Consistency is operationalized as the manner and extent to which tourism business brands are aligned with the destination brand in terms of brand elements and the brand architecture used to associate the business brands with the destination brand. Binh Thuan is branded very explicitly as a ‘sea, sand, sun’ destination. The 87 business brands were classified into seven groups using a brand elements/brand architecture matrix. On the brand architecture dimension, 61 branded businesses split almost evenly, 31/30, with regard to whether or not their brands were explicitly linked to Binh Thuan’s core values. The most consistent brand elements were the selling points and target markets; most variation with the destination brand occurred in terms of positioning. The elements of nearly two-thirds of the branded businesses aligned very consistently or consistently with those of the destination and a third were weakly or not at all consistent. Twenty-six businesses had little or no branded material at all. Factors contributing to a lack of consistency are location, ownership and management.

<p>The consistency between a destination brand (DB) and tourism business brands (TBBs) has been acknowledged as pivotal in destination brand management (DBM). Recent research suggests that consistency should be a synergy of a DB and TBBs and that consistency could be guaranteed if stakeholders are fully involved through the whole process of the DB creation and development. However, research which goes beyond theoretical suggestions is lacking. To fill the research gap, this thesis seeks to address two related research aims:  (1) To assess the consistency between the DB and TBBs in Binh Thuan province; (2) To examine the process of DB creation and development in Binh Thuan province, the involvement of tourism business stakeholders in this, and the influence of this process on consistency.  In doing so, this thesis aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the consistency in relation to the nature of DB, the DBM, and the involvement/buy-in of tourism stakeholders.  This thesis, drawing on the literature of DBs and the recent developments in DBM and stakeholders‟ buy-in, develops a conceptual framework and applies it in Binh Thuan (BT), Vietnam.  The first phase examines the brand-related information projected in marketing materials of BT‟s DB and 87 TBBs. The consistency between the DB and the TBBs is assessed through the use of content analysis. To seek an explanation for the resulting patterns of consistency, 29 in-depth interviews of business managers who managed the TBBs, and two interviews with destination marketing organisations‟ (DMOs) representatives were coded into prominent themes using an analytical framework developed by the researcher.  The study found that the consistency between the DB and TBBs varied according to businesses. Among the brand elements, selling points and target markets were the most consistent. However, the most competitive values reflected through slogans varied among TBBs. This study found that the DB is the outcome of a long-term process in which the destination core values play an important role for building the DB identity, underpinning all of the following components of the DB, influencing the integration of TBBs into the DB architecture, and TBBs‟ consistency with the DB. The study found that if stakeholders are fully involved in the whole process of DB creation and development, their brands are likely to be very consistent with the DB.</p>

<p>The consistency between a destination brand (DB) and tourism business brands (TBBs) has been acknowledged as pivotal in destination brand management (DBM). Recent research suggests that consistency should be a synergy of a DB and TBBs and that consistency could be guaranteed if stakeholders are fully involved through the whole process of the DB creation and development. However, research which goes beyond theoretical suggestions is lacking. To fill the research gap, this thesis seeks to address two related research aims:  (1) To assess the consistency between the DB and TBBs in Binh Thuan province; (2) To examine the process of DB creation and development in Binh Thuan province, the involvement of tourism business stakeholders in this, and the influence of this process on consistency.  In doing so, this thesis aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the consistency in relation to the nature of DB, the DBM, and the involvement/buy-in of tourism stakeholders.  This thesis, drawing on the literature of DBs and the recent developments in DBM and stakeholders‟ buy-in, develops a conceptual framework and applies it in Binh Thuan (BT), Vietnam.  The first phase examines the brand-related information projected in marketing materials of BT‟s DB and 87 TBBs. The consistency between the DB and the TBBs is assessed through the use of content analysis. To seek an explanation for the resulting patterns of consistency, 29 in-depth interviews of business managers who managed the TBBs, and two interviews with destination marketing organisations‟ (DMOs) representatives were coded into prominent themes using an analytical framework developed by the researcher.  The study found that the consistency between the DB and TBBs varied according to businesses. Among the brand elements, selling points and target markets were the most consistent. However, the most competitive values reflected through slogans varied among TBBs. This study found that the DB is the outcome of a long-term process in which the destination core values play an important role for building the DB identity, underpinning all of the following components of the DB, influencing the integration of TBBs into the DB architecture, and TBBs‟ consistency with the DB. The study found that if stakeholders are fully involved in the whole process of DB creation and development, their brands are likely to be very consistent with the DB.</p>