Word Play in Destination Marketing: An Analysis of Country Tourism Slogans

Abstract: Advertising Slogans can hold the key to success of tourism destinations. In highly competitive times when countries are in a fi erce struggle to attract a major share of tourists, the importance of creation of an ideal ‘tourism slogan ’ for the country is duly acknowledged by Destination Marketing Organizations (DMOs). There are continuous efforts for building national destination identities that can rightly encapsulate the image of a country in an essence through a logo, campaign or slogan, which strikes an immediate chord with the tourist market and can be easily retained in top of mind awareness (ToMA). The power of ‘word play ’ in coining a country tourism slogan has a vital role that can be detrimental to the success of destinations. While certain creatively coined slogans leave an indelible mark in the memory through appropriate use of words, rhyme and rhythm, providing a true refl ection of the country, others are easily relegated into oblivion. There are very few country tourism slogans that the wider market can easily identify and associate with. Therefore lexical use and creativity in advertising slogans has become of paramount importance in marketing. This study makes an attempt to analyze the importance of word play in country tourism slogans with the aim of identifying the most commonly used themes that are used to attract tourists through the few words that paint a picture of the destination