Themes Related to Islandness in Tourism Logos: Island versus Non-Island Tourism Destinations

Abstract

Islands hold a special place in the hearts and minds of travelers. The depiction of islands as a paradise and the sense of idyllic fantasy that travellers invoke with respect to islands is, in essence, a rudimentary attempt to brand islands. Islands are celebrated as being distinct from non-islands in ways rooted in the place, and the pursuit to discover characteristics that distinguish islands from their non-island counterparts is the quest to understand islandness. It should be no surprise then if some island destination management organizations, responsible for the creation of engaging and compelling brand identities, integrate themes related to islandness in the brands they develop to promote island destinations. This paper examines the incorporation of islandness themes as part of the brands developed to promote tourism by comparing islands and non-islands destinations. The tourism logos used by 85 island- and 146 non-island destinations were reviewed to assess the degree to which the logos included themes related to islandness. Employing a modified Likert-scale, study findings show island themes are not used exclusively by islands, but instead are used to various degrees and in different ways by islands and non-islands alike. This suggests that many of the themes related to islandness are not unique to islands and apply in some cases to non-island destinations as well. In addition, the findings may be interpreted to mean that the investigation of logos as a proxy for understanding islandness in island tourism brand identities is insufficient and inadequate, and a more fulsome investigation into the various ways of expressing brand identity might provide greater insights.