Reimagining urban destinations: Adaptive and transformative city brand attributes and values in the pandemic crisis

Cecilia Pasquinelli; Mariapina Trunfio; Nicola Bellini; Simona Rossi

doi:10.1016/j.cities.2022.103621

Reimagining urban destinations: Adaptive and transformative city brand attributes and values in the pandemic crisis

Cities. 2022 May:124:103621. doi: 10.1016/j.cities.2022.103621. Epub 2022 Feb 1.

Authors

Cecilia Pasquinelli¹, Mariapina Trunfio¹, Nicola Bellini², Simona Rossi¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, University of Naples Parthenope - Palazzo Packanowski, Via Generale Parisi, 13, 80133 Naples, Italy.
² Institute of Management, Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna - Piazza Martiri della Libertà, 24, 56127 Pisa, Italy.

Abstract

This paper contributes to the post-Covid urban tourism debate. It focuses on how cities respond to the pandemic asking how and to what extent urban destination brands are leverged by city marketers for coping with the Covid-19 crisis. It explores city brand values and attributes change as a component of the urban approach to facing the current crisis. Content analysis is carried out on pre- and post-pandemic brand communication of four Italian iconic cultural destinations (Rome, Florence, Venice and Milan) on Instagram. Findings suggest adaptive and transformative brand responses to the pandemic crisis, projecting the cities into future development scenarios. This research contributes to the recovery versus reform debate on post-Covid urban contexts and opens research on the pandemic effects on values, images and tourism stakeholders' mindsets and brand experimentation on social media platforms.

Keywords: Adaptation; COVID-19 crisis; City brand; Instagram; Urban tourism.