Branding and Co-Creation in Emerging Tourist Destinations: A Content Hotel Website Analysis

In the digital era, branding and co-creation of tourism experiences are catching new heights. The brand value continuum is considered an essential source of value co-creation. Most recently, the quality of websites in the tourism and hospitality industry has been examined, focusing more on the booking intentions. However, a qualitative exploration of branding efforts and orientations of co-creation using websites is still required, especially in emerging economies. Thus, this chapter examines the branding of two tourism destinations, including Zimbabwe and Dubai. This chapter also compares the two destinations’ co-creation processes using symbolic and narrative representations of hotel websites within the destinations. This chapter undertakes a content analysis of the hotels’ websites in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, to reach meaningful conclusions about branding efforts and orientations. The findings of this chapter have added to the debate on destination branding and co-creation. The close comparison shows that four-star hotels in Dubai offer overall more co-creation value exchange than those in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe.