Assessing the differentiated contribution of city resources to city brand image

Abstract

Intense competition among tourism destinations has forced
tourism managers to use all their available resources in
comprehensive strategies to improve their place image, including
city managers who are looking to create a distinctive, strong city
brand image capable of attracting tourists. The main objective of
this paper is to assess the contribution of cultural heritage, events,
tourist attractions and infrastructure to the development of cities’
brand image. A sample of Spanish tourists who visited the Spanish
town of Plasencia was used to assess the contribution of these
factors to city brand image development through partial least
squares path modelling. The results show a significant, but
differentiated, contribution of the four factors to city brand image,
with events offering the lowest contribution. The findings provide
tourism managers with new insights into how best to use each
resource to build a strong city brand image and improve marketing
strategies for their cities.