Branding of Tourist Destination: A Case Study of Manipur in India

Abstract

Abstract

Manipur is a state situated in the Eastern-most corner of Northeast India. The state shares borders with other Northeastern states of Nagaland, Mizoram and Assam and the neighbouring country of Myanmar. Manipur has conducive Agro-Climatic Conditions for fruits and vegetables. It has also a good connectivity and link with South East Asian countries. It has supportive vegetation for various medicinal and aromatic plants. It also has a good transport infrastructure and effective air connectivity with major cities of the country including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangalore etc. Manipur has various unique and beautiful tourist destinations which attract a large number of tourists not only from within the country but also from abroad. The state is surrounded by green verdant hills with salubrious weather. It offers a variety of attractions for tourists including lakes, parks, historical places, gardens, waterfalls, mountains etc. This paper is an attempt to identify the branding components of Manipur as a differentiated tourist destination. It has adopted the destination branding model adapted from (from Saarinen 1997; Ooi 2001; Iliachenko 2005). The paper is exploratory in nature. In order to achieve the objectives, the cases of various attractive tourist destinations in Manipur have been taken into account. Moreover the SWOT analysis has also been used for better analysis. The findings of the study reveals that branding is an important element in identifying and differentiating tourist destinations in order to attract a large number of tourists from all over the globe. It also plays an important role in promoting the destination in a unique way.

Keywords: Branding, Destinations, Manipur, Promotion &Tourist.