Promoting Gondwana: presentation of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area in tourist brochures

Promoting the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area: environmental presentation within tourist brochures

“…World Heritage Area (WHA)), and how this is presented and promoted. Several observations within the current literature suggest that brochure design and imagery use are particularly weak in promoting environmental messages, especially within WHAs in Australia (Buckley & Araujo, 1997;Hardiman & Burgin, 2012;King, 2011;Wilson et al, 2011). Furthermore, while ecolabels and brand identification within tourism have been extensively studied, the extent to which environmental brands and 'green' advertisement are adopted and presented by tourism operators and marketing organisations, along with their impact on consumer behaviour, is less apparent.…”

“…This drive to increase tourist numbers places pressure on park managers to support local tourism initiatives to increase visitation rates to significant natural areas such as World Heritage sites (Buckley, 2004;Chen, Hwang, & Lee, 2006;Darcy & Wearing, 2009;Pearson & Sullivan, 1995;Thompson et al, 2011;Weaver, 2001). If managed correctly then the process can provide dual benefits by using tourism to meet government's international obligation to present the World Heritage values while using the World Heritage branding and areas natural values to attract increased tourism (Wilson, Stimpson, Lloyd, & Boyd, 2011). Conversely increased tourism, without increased understanding of the values, threats and vulnerability of World Heritage sites, may create conflicts between government's economic and conservation goals (Fairweather, Maslin, & Simmons, 2005;Gale & Jacobs, 1987;Halpenny, 2010;King, 2011;Saunders, Brook, & Myers, 2006;Monroe, 2003).…”

“…Despite the rise in new media, traditional brochures still have a vital and particularly powerful role in marketing many 'products' a VIC promotes (Hsu, Killion, Brown, Gross, & Huang, 2008a). The textual analysis of destination material, particularly the geographic imagery that is contained within, has a long history of being used to identify the way regions are portrayed and potentially consumed by tourists both implicitly and explicitly (Fiske, 1989;Fuery & Mansfield, 1997;Hartmann & Apaolaza-láñez, 2010;Wilson et al, 2011). As a proxy for the 'product', the brochure not only has a representational function in engaging, informing and educating an existing or potential tourist, but it also forms an active and open way of disseminating information to tourists (Hsu et al, 2008a;Molina & Esteban, 2006;Moscardo, 1999).…”

“…The construction of an image has been a powerful element in influencing visitation patterns in and around natural regions (Wilson et al, 2011). While unique natural areas are becoming tourist icons in their own right, the appeal held for many natural areas (e.g.…”

“…Furthermore, while ecolabels and brand identification within tourism have been extensively studied, the extent to which environmental brands and 'green' advertisement are adopted and presented by tourism operators and marketing organisations, along with their impact on consumer behaviour, is less apparent. Textual analysis quantification, of the extent of green advertising within tourist brochures, has been effectively used to test the concept of brand adoption and assess the success of fulfilling WHC obligations of the presentation of the WHA (Ryan & Sivanto, 2009;Wilson et al, 2011). This paper seeks to expand existing knowledge on eco-branding and 'green' advertising and to discover whether adoption of the World Heritage brand is being fully applied within the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (GBMWHA).…”