Exploring the role of local products as a tool of destination branding

الملخص EN

Destinations are becoming increasingly substitutable and difficult to differentiate.* Despite the existing potential of Egypt, it is necessary to invest a lot of effort to build an attractive tourist destination.

This is could be done by integrating the existing and develop new tourist products and develop a new destination brand to create new image and approaching different markets through unique identity.

Destination branding presents a vital tool to develop destination performance.

Thus, this paper highlights the importance of destination branding for Egypt by focusing on local products as a branding tool.

This paper opens by briefly reviewing the destination branding concept.

It proposes local products as a tool that could contribute in successful destination brand management.

The paper is based on a research conducted in 2013 through semi-structured interviews with local product sellers as well as tour guides involved directly with tourists in order to explore the importance of local products and evaluate the existing image of the Egyptian local products to come up with conception of employing local products effectively in the Egyptian branding.

Results showed the potential of the Egyptian local products; however they need to be more targeted, more authentic and more sophisticated.