Perspektif Konstruktivisme Sosial dan Strategi Komunikasi Pemasaran Terhadap Jenama Destinasi Negara Dalam Kemajuan Industri Pelancongan di Indonesia dan di Malaysia

The development and interpretation of a country destination brand has the capacity to boost the tourism industry. The main problems in this study are the branding of tourism destination brand and how the branding development and interpretation attract tourists in deciding their holiday destinations. The research carried out was on the destination brands of Indonesia and Malaysia: Indonesia Ultimate in Diversity, Wonderful Indonesia, Visit Indonesia Year 2008, Malaysia Truly Asia and Visit Malaysia Year 2007. The research was guided by social constructivism perspective and communication marketing strategy. To achieve the research objectives, qualitative approach was employed using interviews, field observations and document analysis. The findings show that the social construction based on values, philosophy, culture, wealth and extra edge of the country destination brand that are easily understood is the foundation in attracting the interest of tourists to choose a certain tourist destination. The findings also show that the social construction of reality towards the country destination is based on the knowledge layers of tourists: technical, economic and symbolic. A strong country destination brand is the outcome of earnest efforts and one which goes beyond the level of social construction of reality: externality, objectivity and internalization. The tourism stake holders with strong commitments and consistently benefiting various mass media and information and communication technology (ICT) in marketing communication strategy are also found to be one of the contributing factors towards the success of the country tourism industry. Thus, the roles of mass media and ICT in developing the tourism destination brand should be taken into account in the social construction towards the country tourism destination branding