The role of destination brand-oriented leadership in shaping tourism destination brand ambassadorship behavior among local residents in Tanzania

Abstract
The Chengdu Declaration on Tourism and the Sustainable Development Goals emphasizes the importance of promoting local residents’ involvement in building inclusive tourism development across all aspects, including business strategies. However, there has been little focus on promoting inclusivity of local residents in destination branding as a business strategy. This study aims to investigate the role of political leaders in shaping local residents to behave as destination brand ambassadors, responding to calls from scholars and practitioners to explore the position of local residents in achieving inclusive destination branding. The study adopts corporate branding theory to explore the role of leaders in motivating local residents to demonstrate positive brand-building behavior, specifically brand ambassadorship behavior. To test the proposed structural model, the study uses cross-sectional survey data from 313 local residents in Dodoma, the capital city of Tanzania. The results indicate that brand-oriented leadership has a significant influence on local residents’ intentions to demonstrate brand ambassadorship behavior through public trust. This proposed and tested model can be used as a valuable guideline for tourism destination administrators and marketers to develop effective strategies. Finally, the study concludes with implications and future research directions.
Description
Full-text. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2266634
Keywords
destination branding, destination brand oriented leadership, brand ambassadorship behavior, tourism destination, chengdu declaration, local residents
Citation
Amani, D. (2023). The role of destination brand-oriented leadership in shaping tourism destination brand ambassadorship behavior among local residents in Tanzania. Cogent Social Sciences, 9(2), 2266634.
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