Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

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Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

journal homepage: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-hospitalityand-tourism-management

Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The

case of Egypt
Eli Avraham
Department of Communication, University of Haifa, Mt. Carmel, Haifa 31905, Israel

a r t i c l e i n f o

a b s t r a c t

Article history:
Available online xxx

Egypt e a must see destination for generations of visitors e is considered to be one of the strongest
tourism brands in the Middle East and tourism remains its dominant industry, accounting for 20% of its
annual GDP. Over the past decades the country has suffered many crises such as wars, terrorist attacks,
internal political tensions and violent changes in government. As can be expected, all of these were
reported in the international media and had a negative effect on the ow of tourism into the country. By
adopting the multi-step model for altering place image, this study includes qualitative content analysis
of news reports, press interviews and relevant elements of advertising campaigns in order to uncover
media policy, strategies, events and marketing initiatives used by Egyptian marketers and ofcials in
order to restore a positive image of their country and bring back tourists after crises. The analysis shows
that three types of strategies were used by Egyptian marketers to repair the country's image: source,
message and audience; and a variety of other steps were also adopted.
2016 The Authors.

Keywords:
Egypt tourism
Media strategies
Post-crisis marketing
Destination image repair
Tourism marketing

1. Introduction
Egypt is recognized as a strong tourism brand, offering a range of
types of tourism and sites that attract millions of tourists every
year. In light of the country's location in the Middle East, violent
governmental changes, internal political tensions and urgent
terrorist attacks, this success is surprising and requires explanation.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the marketing efforts
adopted by Egyptian marketers in order to restore tourism and
prevent a drastic decline in the numbers of tourists over the coming
years. The conceptual framework used in the current study was the
multi-step model for altering place image (Avraham & Ketter,
2008; 2016), which offers three types of strategies to use in order
to repair a destination's negative image during and after a crisis:
source, message and audience.
The study includes qualitative content analysis of news reports,
press interviews and campaigns in order to uncover media policy,
strategies, events and marketing initiatives used by Egyptian marketers and ofcials to restore a positive image of their country and
bring back tourists after crises. Previous studies dealing with
tourism crises in general, and Egypt in particular, focused primarily
on examining individual case studies but did not propose a long-

E-mail address: eavraham@com.haifa.ac.il.

term analysis of image restoration efforts throughout the years,

nor did they rely on the knowledge that exists in the eld of crisis
communications and image repair (Paraskevas & Arendell, 2007;
Walters & Mair, 2012; Mair, Ritchie, & Walters, 2014). The manuscript's theoretical background section will present an overview of
the existing knowledge in the eld of tourism marketing, in general
and during times of crisis, as well as image repair theory models
and Egypt's international image as a tourist destination. We will
then present the study's methodology and ndings.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Marketing and branding tourism
Many academics and professionals believe that there is a strong
connection between a positive image and continued tourism
growth (see list: Morakabati, Beavis, & Fletcher, 2014). According to
the Oxford Dictionary, an image is dened as the general
impression that a person, organization, or product presents to the
public (Dinnie, 2010:42). A destination's image receives extensive
attention in the eld of tourism research because of the belief that
the success or failure of destinations depends on their image in the
minds of potential visitors and the effectiveness of their image
management of the destinations' marketers (Abd El Jalil, 2009).
Place marketing and place promotion are the leading elds of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.04.004
1447-6770/ 2016 The Authors.

Please cite this article in press as: Avraham, E., Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The case of Egypt, Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Management (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.04.004

E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

knowledge used by marketers and researchers to create a positive

image for places. These elds have acquired many denitions
(Avraham & Ketter, 2008) and numerous publications advise the
most effective practices in order to use the knowledge accumulated
(Baker, 2007; Kotler, Haider, & Rein, 1993; Dinnie, 2010).
Wang (2011) states that destination marketing and management can be dened as a proactive, visitor-centered approach to the
economic and cultural development of a destination that balances
and integrates the interests of visitors, service providers and the
community (Wang, 2011: 3). This denition shows that destination marketing and management is a complex issue that requires a
holistic and systematic approach which must include research.
Recent years have seen an increasing use of the new concept by
researchers and practitioners of place/destination branding.
Govers and Go (2009:16) believe that place branding refers to
building brand equity in relation to nations, regional and/or local
(or city) identity. The academic literature contains analyses of
many case studies of countries and tourist destinations that have
sought to re-brand themselves by creating and promoting cultural
events, exhibitions, sports competitions and tourism (e.g., Lahav,
Mansfeld, & Avraham, 2013). The use of these marketing efforts
and public diplomacy has a limited effect when the place is associated with risk due to war, terror, instability or violence (Nielsen,
2001; Beirman, 2003; Walters & Mair, 2012). In such cases, these
crises dominate the perception of the destination and harm its
attempts to attract tourists.
2.2. Marketing and branding tourism during crises
Tourism crisis events are dened as those that severely undermine the visibility, reputation, marketability and perception of
tourism destinations and associated enterprises (see list: Beirman
& van Walbeek, 2011). It has often been observed that frequent
negative acts can completely bring to an end the tourism industry
for a country (Dinnie, 2011). The international media reports on
terrorist attacks, wars and political instability over the past decade
that have led to the destruction of many tourist industries have
been cited in numerous case studies (Avraham & Ketter, 2008;
Mansfeld & Pizam, 2006). Terror events divert tourists away not
only from a particular destination, but also from neighboring regions or countries (Mair et al., 2014). Tourism is irrevocably bound
up with the concept of security. Tourist behavior and destinations
are deeply affected by perceptions of security and the management
of safety, security and risk (Beirman, 2003). A lack of security can
inuence the tourist's faith in the destination, particularly when
personal threats are perceived (see list: Morakabati et al., 2014).
The association of a destination with a lack of safety has been
the center of concern for many tourism industries. The response by
governmental decision-makers has been varied and included
measures related to crisis management (economic, physical and
security aspects; see: Mansfeld and Pizam, 2006) and image/
communication management (such as training delegates to deal
with the media, organizing press conferences, establishing information centers and developing press kits; see Coombs & Holladay,
2010). According to Mair et al., (2014) the main strategies used
during post-disaster marketing included correcting misperceptions
about the disaster and restoring condence in a destination.
2.3. Image repair theory
One of the most central theories in analysis efforts to restore the
image of organizations, companies and brands is the theory of
image repair. According to Benoit (2015:3), this theory focuses
exclusively on messages designed to improve images tarnished by
criticism and suspicion. The theory of image repair includes

several models (see: Coombs & Holladay, 2010) and is associated

with a long tradition in genre and apologia studies, reputation
management, recovery marketing, crisis public relations and rhetoric theory (Benoit, 1997). Researchers suggest several strategies for
repairing the image of people, groups and organizations. Stocker
(1997) proposes a basic response strategy containing three to four
steps: expression of regret, action to resolve the situation, ensuring
that the situation will not recur and, if necessary, an offer of restitution to the injured parties. Coombs (1999) mentioned several
strategies such as attacking the accuser, providing excuses or justications, ingratiation and offering a full apology (for additional
models see Coombs & Holladay, 2010). Benoit (2015) summarizes
the crisis-response list to include denial (simple denial, shift the
blame), evading responsibility (provocation, defeasibility, accident,
good intentions), reducing offensiveness (bolstering, minimization,
differentiation, transcendence, attack accuser, compensation),
corrective action and mortication.
2.4. The multi-step model for altering place image
Despite the variety of strategies in the image repair models, the
use of some of them might be problematic when seeking to restore
a destination's image. This problem might arise when, for example,
destination marketers try to attract tourists during or after a terror
attack; in such a case the marketers cannot accept responsibility for
the event, nor can they apologize or offer compensation. This is also
the case regarding many other types of crises, such as natural disasters, epidemics or wars, which are beyond the control of the
destination. The authorities at these destinations can hardly be
blamed for the crises or for the resultant damage, so the strategies
offered by the existing image repair models are clearly not relevant.
As a result of the problem in adopting the strategies offered by
previous models, Avraham and Ketter (2008:188) suggested the
multi-step model for altering place image. According to the
model, a destination can choose the most suitable marketing
strategies to repair its image, according to three groups of characteristics related to the crisis, target audience and the place (CAP:
Crisis, Audience, Place). Once the strategy or strategies have been
selected, several techniques (e.g., advertising, public relations,
promotions) and the media (e.g., television, radio, press and
internet) can deliver the campaign. Several studies have used this
model, or part of it, to analyze the marketing efforts of destinations
around the world (Walters & Mair, 2012; Avraham, 2015; 2013).
This study focuses on the three groups of media strategies (SAM:
Source, Audience, Message) in use by marketers to repair destination image that are the main part of the multi-step model. Source
strategies concentrate mainly on the marketers' efforts to affect,
inuence or replace the source that they believe underlie the
destination's image, usually the international media; for example,
organizing familiarization tours for foreign journalists (Mair et al.,
2014) or by blocking media access (Avraham, 2015). Audience
strategies are concerned with the audience's values, perceptions,
and dreams; here, marketers try to show the values held in common between their country and the foreign audience. Message
strategies focus on contradicting the negative messages, stereotypes, perceptions and generalizations spread or reported about
the destination such as a lack of personal safety, sanitation, or night
life. Here the marketers' challenge is to convince the target audience that these perceptions are not true and that the destination is,
in fact, clean and safe for tourists, as well as offering entertainment
and other amenities (Walters & Mair, 2012).
2.5. Tourism to Egypt and its international image
The tourism sector in Egypt started to develop in the 1970s and

Please cite this article in press as: Avraham, E., Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The case of Egypt, Journal of
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E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

since than the country has been a must see destination for generations of visitors, and tourism remains its dominant industry,
accounting for 20% of its annual GDP (Dinnie, 2010; Mansfeld &
Winckler, 2015). In 2013 revenue was $5.8bn from 9.5 million
tourists; this was down from $12.5bn in 2010 from 14.5 million
tourists (eTN, 6 September 2014). Employing one in seven Egyptians, tourism is one of the country's main sources of foreign currency (eTN, December 22 2014). The country offers a variety of
tourism activities such as history-culture, sea and sun, urban, golf,
and cruise tourism. It looks like the combination of Egypt's unique
archaeological-cultural-religious sits, its desert and ecotourism
opportunities, its Red Sea scuba diving attractions, and the vast
triple-S sites (Sea, Sun and Sand), with low-cost tourism services
transform this country into a popular destination word wide
(Mansfeld & Winckler, 2015). According to Baloglu and Mangaloglu
(2001), a tourist's image of Egypt has both positive and negative
attributes. For instance, the country was seen to score well in terms
of its historical and culture attractions, accommodations, and good
climate. However it scored badly in terms of its local food, nightlife
and entertainment, personal safety, quality of infrastructure and
standards of hygiene and cleanliness.
The Egyptian tourism industry has suffered from a series of
crises, forcing many Western governments to impose travel
warnings, steps which had a negative effect on the ow of tourists;
this represented the Egyptian tourism industry's greatest challenge
(Abdel-Azim, 2009). Egypt has suffered from several terror attacks
since the 1990s. Some of the attacks were directed against foreign
tourists in an attempt to damage the country's vital tourism sector
(eTN, February 22, 2009). In addition to these attacks, Egypt also
suffered from other crises such as the 9/11 attacks, the second
Palestinian Intifada, and the war in Libya (eTN, February 22, 2011).
One signicant event that occurred in the Middle East recently was
the Arab Spring, which had immediate effects on the sharp decline
in tourism (Masetti, Korner, Forster, & Friedman, 2013). The Arab
Spring events included large demonstrations, violent clashes, the
ousting of two presidents from ofce, and the development of internal political conicts that led to terror attacks.
3. Methodology
As we saw in the theoretical background, destination marketers
use campaigns, media policy and marketing strategies in order to
repair a negative destination image. Therefore, we used the
following three research questions to uncover the strategies
employed by Egyptian marketers to restore a positive image of their
country:
RQ1 Which advertising campaign components (such as texts,
slogans and visuals) were used during tourism crises in Egypt?
RQ2 Which media policies and relationships with the international media were adopted by Egyptian ofcials during tourism
crises?
RQ3 Which marketing initiatives (such as cultural and sports
events) were promoted by Egyptian marketers during tourism
crises?

3.1. Data collection and research methods

In order to uncover the media policy, strategies, events and
marketing initiatives used by Egyptian marketers, the study was
based on qualitative analysis on four types of tools: 1) advertising
components (slogans, visuals and texts); (2) press interviews with
Egyptian ofcials and marketers; (3) news reports; and (4) ofcial
media policy adopted by the Egyptian government (e.g. boycotting

or arresting newspeople). These tools were located in three sources

between 2000 and 2014: (1) The Egyptian national tourism board
websites, including the tourism board's Facebook page (Experience Egypt), the Egypt tourism newsletter and the Egyptian national tourism board's Twitter account (egypt tourism@come2eg);
(2) News reports about Egyptian tourism from four international
media outlets: the BBC, the New York Times, Aharam Today and
Ha'aretz. (3) Global tourism news website eTurbo news (http://
eturbonews.com/), established in October 2007 and considered
one of the main websites covering global tourism. A total of 310
items dealing with Egyptian tourism was found on this website
over 420 randomly sampled days (60 days per year between 2008
and 2014). These 310 items, all of which contain information on
Egypt's marketing strategies (interviews, campaigns, and marketing initiatives), were examined using a qualitative content analysis.
Qualitative content analysis is a very popular method among
advertising researchers and has been advocated as an effective
method for analyzing the content of promotional information such
as advertisements, press releases, news and marketing initiatives.
The researchers who use this method believe that the texts can
show general discourse patterns (Pauly, 1991) through the
appearance of motifs, labels, denitions, logos, symbols, visuals,
slogans, and generalizations in the promotional material and the
news items. The belief is that these patterns exclusively characterize a specic factor, body or destination and inform us about
ways they interpret the world and their specic point of view (van
Dijk, 1988).
4. Findings
Using the multi-step model for altering place image, the
analysis reveals that Egyptian marketers and ofcials used three
kinds of strategies in order to restore their respective country's
positive image: source, audience and message.
4.1. Source-focused strategies
The analysis shows that over the years Egyptian marketers and
ofcials have been cooperating with the international media,
attempting to inuence them, trying to prevent negative coverage
as well as seeking to bypassing the traditional foreign media by
nding alternatives ways to reach their target audiences.
4.1.1. Cooperation and developing media relations
The cooperation of Egyptian ofcials with the media was
expressed by various steps, including giving interviews, organizing
press conferences, distributing press releases, willingness to
respond to journalists' questions, and informing them about upcoming events. One major step in promoting cooperation with the
media took the form of trips for journalists. These trips were
organized by Egypt, mainly during and after crisis events such as
the beginning of the Arab Spring, to cultural-historical attractions
(eTN, June 9, 2011); the reason for these trips, according to the
Minister of Tourism, was so they (the journalists) can now report
back how safe it is to visit Egypt (eTN, June 10, 2011). Two years
later, Egypt's Minister of Tourism addressed some 30 Italian journalists hosted in Sharm El Sheikh, as he struggled to convince the
Italian and European governments to reconsider their travel advice
not to visit Egypt (eTN, September 13, 2013). In addition, groups of
Russian consumers and journalists were invited to visit the country's resort areas (eTN, September 16, 2013).
Press trips to Egypt were not restricted to European journalists
only. Many representatives of the Arab media were also invited e
including a visit by a Kuwaiti media delegation to Sharm el-Sheikh
(eTN, January 10, 2014). In addition, Egyptian marketers ew out to

Please cite this article in press as: Avraham, E., Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The case of Egypt, Journal of
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E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

meet the local media in countries considered to be the primary

market segments for Egyptian tourism. For example, a delegation
from the Egyptian tourist authority arrived in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia), where it highlighted the uniqueness of Egypt and its position
as the top tourism destination for Arab tourists (eTN, 23 May 2011).
Marketing efforts were also directed at tour operators around the
world. These operators were invited to Egypt and were also contacted in their home lands (eTN, June 12 and November 20, 2011).
The Egypt tourist ofce and Egyptian tourism authority also organized road shows in Mumbai for 200 tour operators in India (eTN,
14 October 2010).
4.1.2. Complaining, threatening, applying pressure and blocking the
media
In 2013 Egypt ran an international public relations campaign
designed to convey what is really happening on the ground as
opposed to overblown accounts provided by some media outlets
(eTN, 11 February 2014). In addition to the attempts to cooperate
with the media and using public relations rms, Egyptian ofcials
also exerted pressure on certain media outlets and journalist to
adjust their reports on what they perceived as biased coverage of
crisis events in their country. For example, at a meeting with Italian
tour operators the Egyptian Minister of Tourism pointed out the
negative image of his country portrayed by the Italian media during
the events in Tahrir Square (eTN, 8 February 2013). Egypt had used
that strategy in a more extreme way before and had actually acted
against journalists; an Al-Jazeera TV network reporter was arrested
in January 2007 for writing and lming a TV item on torture (BBC,
January 14, 2007).
Beyond the threats to journalists, there were attempts to
physically harm them when Al-Jazeera network ofces were closed
at the start of the protests against Mubarak (Ha'aretz, February 17
and 27, 2011). A year and a half later the Egyptian military government adopted the same tactic by closing unsympathetic media outlets such as Al-Jazeera, Mubashir Misr and Islamist channels
(eTN, September 3, 2013), claiming that they damaged national
security and promoted propaganda against Egypt in foreign
countries (Ha'aretz, September 4, 2013). Al-Jazeera reporters were
released from prison only at the beginning of 2015 (Ha'aretz,
February 13, 2015).
4.1.3. Replacing the traditional media and nding alternatives
As technology became increasingly developed, the hegemony of
the traditional media started to crack and ofcials started to understand that the new technology could help them reach their
target audience without the mediation of the traditional media. As
we saw in past research, frustration with the traditional media's
coverage led many Middle Eastern destination marketers to nd
alternatives to reach their target audience directly (Avraham, 2013;
2015). The Internet is known to offer many ways of doing this,
providing countries with the opportunity to present themselves as
they wish and to distribute news about the country's culture, arts,
fashion, music and cuisine (Ketter & Avraham, 2012). The Egyptian
Tourism Minster appeared in a YouTube video and asked foreign
travel agencies to push their governments to lift their negative
travel advisories for his country (eTN, 1 September 2013); Egypt
also used the YouTube site to disseminate information they deemed
necessary for recovery from the tourism crisis (eTN, September 1,
2013).
Another tool used in this strategy operates on the principle of
presenting reality, including the use of webcam cameras, without
the mediation of the traditional media. These cameras were set
up at familiar tourist sites and broadcast over the Internet to
anyone interested. Egypt had placed these cameras at their main
tourism spots in order to demonstrate to Western tourists that

these sites were still safe and full of activity (eTN, February 6 and
11, 2013). In November 2013 this strategy was developed further
by launching the Egypt Now Initiative. The ofcial Egypt
tourism website offered a channel that streams live footage, via
webcams, of beaches at Sharm el Sheik and Hurghada (eTN,
September 26, 2014). Another tool used by the tourism authority was the Facebook page, Experience Egypt, (founded in 2010)
that doubled its activity at the beginning of the Arab Spring in
2011, on which tourists shared their positive experiences with
travelling to Egypt and the tourism authority published photos of
tourists visiting destinations and events (eTN, February 28, 2011).
The activity of Google Street View as a source of planning for
tourists was also extended (Al Arabiya, September 11, 2014) and a
Twitter account was open where tourists could start tweeting
with Twitter about why you love Egypt and get information
about events (Twitter, egypttourism@come2eg).
4.2. Message strategies
Rather than looking at the source, the second group of media
strategies focuses on handling the message usually put forward by
the media reports which might convey the impression that Egypt
is not safe.
4.2.1. Ignoring the crisis and conveying the message of business as
usual
The ignoring the crisis strategy is an easy solution, whereby
destination marketers pretend that no crisis has occurred or that
any damage has been caused. Egypt, for example, displayed total
disregard for the spate of terrorist attacks in several of their cities
during the rst half decade of the 2000s (Avraham & Ketter, 2008).
In tourism advertisements launched after those crises and on the
tourism ministry's website, Egypt made no mention of the terror
attacks in any way. It is interesting to see that Egypt also used the
total disregard strategy as policy at the beginning of the Arab
Spring: the Egyptian Tourism Authority's website simply ignored
the current problems, as mentioned by a crisis management expert
(eTN, 7 February 2011). Moreover, their Facebook page mentioned
none of the problematic events (Facebook, Experience Egypt,
2011); only when it was obvious that the events would continue,
Egypt changed that strategy.
Another possible response to a situation in which a crisis cannot
be ignored, but marketers seek to downplay it, is the business as
usual technique: acting as though nothing serious has happened,
destinations hope that the crisis will soon be forgotten and the ow
of tourists will continue unimpeded. For example, after the Arab
Spring began in Egypt the Tourism Minister declared at a press
conference: For the return to normality, it requires an effort for the
world to know that everything is back to normal in the country and
can rest assured of the maximum security (eTN, June 12, 2011).
Furthermore, after an attack on the Egyptian-Gaza border by unknown assailants that left sixteen Egyptian border guards dead,
Egypt's Minister of Tourism denied any negative impact on tourism
following this event, and in fact emphasized that it was business as
usual (eTN, August 7, 2012).
4.2.2. Mitigating, limiting or reducing the scale of the crisis
Another strategy that Egyptian ofcials used during crises is
mitigating, limiting and reducing the crisis. According to this
strategy, the marketers try to limit the geographical borders of the
crisis, its severity and the intention to harm tourists. This strategy
was carried out using three techniques:
4.2.2.1. Limiting the geographical scale of the crisis. In this technique the marketers are aware of the crisis but try to limit it to a

Please cite this article in press as: Avraham, E., Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The case of Egypt, Journal of
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E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

certain area. An example of limiting the geographical scale of the

crisis can be found when the governor of Luxor claimed during the
Arab Spring that his city was stable and secure but suffers
problems due to the recurrent turmoil in Cairo and the Suez Canal
cities (eTN, March 3, 2013). With these words, the governor
hinted that only a few cities were unsafe for visitors and that the
crisis was geographically limited. This strategy was used also by the
Egyptian Tourism Minister when he told CNN that the unrest was
only in one square kilometer in downtown Cairo, and that this
should not put people off the entire country (eTN, February 6,
2013). Another example from an Egyptian ofcial came when the
Tourism Minister claimed that, as opposed to Cairo, other parts of
Egypt were very much open for business: It is safe to go to Sinai,
the Red Sea and Sharm el Sheik, (eTN, September 1, 2013).
4.2.2.2. Portraying the crisis as insignicant or marginal.
Destinations that cannot ignore nor limit the crisis try to portray it
as insignicant, marginal or irrelevant for foreign tourists. This
strategy of limiting the crisis is often implemented when the
media demand explanations or reactions from decision-makers to a
crisis event. Such a case occurred after a suicide bomb attack in
Cairo in 2005. Senior Egyptian ofcials tried to convince reporters
that it had been just a small bomb, that most of those injured had
been lightly wounded, and that the bomb had been thrown from
a motor scooter, not by a suicide bomber (NY Times, April 8, 2005).
4.2.2.3. Framing or presenting the crisis events as irrelevant for
foreign tourists. In this technique the marketers try to present the
events as irrelevant for foreign tourists. For example, after an event
in which hundreds of Muslims torched and looted Coptic businesses and homes in the town of Dahshur, Giza, Egypt's thenpresident, Morsi, claimed that the incidents are not sectarian,
but they are normal quarrels, adding that Muslims and Christians
were brothers in one nation (eTN, August 5, 2013). On a different
occasion, the Egyptian Minister of Tourism tried to promote the
message that demonstrations in the capital were irrelevant for
foreign tourists by saying: The increasingly rare episodes of
demonstrations in the capital are due to problems that do not
involve foreign and domestic tourism in the rest of the country
(eTN, September 12, 2013). And on another occasion he said the
conict is internal and among Egyptians only. Tourists are left alone
and are safe. (eTN, 1 September 2013). Here again the idea is to
lessen the concern of potential tourists who might fear being
caught up in an outbreak of political unrest.
4.2.3. Acknowledging the negative image
Sometimes acknowledging the negative image directly is the
most effective course of action in order to maintain or regain a
trustworthy image. The willingness to admit the existence of a
crisis or image problem may be used, with one or more of the
following techniques:
4.2.3.1. Sending an opposite message. In many cases, marketers
understood the tendency of Western audiences to perceive countries in the Middle East as dangerous after any risk-related event,
big or small, occurred in the area. Egyptian ofcials chose to combat
this tendency by constantly (Mansfeld & Winckler, 2015) sending
an opposite message: We are safe. For example, Egypt's Tourism
Minister said in 2014: Tourist destinations continue to be safe and
secure and are still attracting thousands of tourists from around the
world on a daily basis. We want to make it known that Egypt is a
strategic, safe tourism destination for Arab and foreign visitors
alike (eTN, May 4, 2014). In an interview in Dubai, the minster sent
out a similar message: The world will see tourism returning to
Egypt. We have an ambitious global plan to show the world that it is

safe and fun to visit Egypt anytime. (eTN, May 11, 2014). Sending
the message that Egypt is safe was also carried out with an
advertising campaign. For example, according to a delegation from
the Egyptian Tourist Authority who visited Saud Arabia the role of
the famous campaign: Egypt is where it all begins was to portray
the fact that Egypt was a secure and safe destination (eTN, 23 May
2011).
4.2.3.2. Assuring a better future and the beginning of the new era.
The strategy of acknowledging the negative image can be applied
by promoting the new era slogans, suggesting that the country
has now changed from its problematic past to a promising present
or near future. As in the former technique, the message can be
promoted by interviews and advertising campaigns. For example,
speaking in Dubai less than four weeks before the country's planned 2014 presidential election, the Egyptian Tourism Minister said
that his country was gearing up for a fresh start with a new president and a new parliament (eTN, May 11, 2014); and a similar
declaration released earlier claimed that: Things will go back to
normal in Cairo within a month's time (eTN, September 16, 2013).
Sometimes this technique is mixed with one containing an opposite message: Egypt is safe and will be even more so after the
elections e as declared by the tourism minister (eTN, February 8,
2013).
The new era technique can also be promoted by a campaign, as
seen in slogans used in 2011: 7000 years of history and a new era,
A new era of hospitality, Peaceful change is in the air, A
peaceful revolution inspires the world, The online revolution made in Egypt, and Nothing new here, history is made (Travel
Weekly, March 10, 2011). During November 2011, the Egyptian
Tourism Authority unveiled the slogan, We're Egypt accompanied
by the message: We are friendly, we are open-minded, we are
proud of our country. We are Egypt, see you soon in Egypt (eTN,
November 12, 2011) in which it appears as though Egypt had
started to reinvent itself in a new democratic era. According to
Mansfeld and Winckler (2015) the idea behind this campaign was
to convey to potential tourists a message that the political change
will not affect the tourism industry.
4.2.4. Hosting spotlight sports and cultural events
Spotlight events, according to Avraham and Ketter (2008),
focus the media's attention on a particular location for a short,
concentrated period, allowing the host place to promote certain
chosen images that can be used to improve an unsafe image, create
positive news, and shift international media attention from a
negative to a positive portrayal of the place (p. 145). In the 1990s,
Egypt was already trying to shift international attention away from
a series of terror attacks by hosting several special international
events and promoting visits to its ancient archaeological sites
(Wahab, 1996). Since then it looks as though Egyptian marketers
have been improving this strategy, especially during the period of
the Arab Spring. For example, in order to boost tourism in Sinai, the
rst International [art] Biennale was organized in Sharm el-Sheikh
and attended by fty international artists who painted in the city's
venues. Several international conferences, concerts, sports competitions and folk music events were subsequently held there (eTN,
January 10, 2014). Earlier, the rst International Festival for Drums
and Traditional Arts was held in April 2013 in Cairo (Egypttourism,
April 26, 2013). Similarly, in order to attract tourists, especially from
Arab countries, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism launched the
Fawanees Ramadan 2011 festival in August that year, under the
slogan: Egypt's spirit of Ramadan (eTN, 31 July 2011).
4.2.5. Spinning liabilities into assets
This strategy suggests the spinning of a negative event or

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E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

characteristic into a positive one (Avraham, 2012; Avraham, 2014).

In May 2011, at the beginning of the Arab Spring in Egypt, a plan
was released to transform Tahir Square into a tourism site, selling
items with symbols of the revolution, and plans were proposed to
build a memorial obelisk, decorated with a list of martyrs and
photos of protest (eTN, February 16, 2011). The campaign that the
organizers launched used the theme: Tahrir: The Square that
Rocked the World (eTN, May 25, 2011) and the idea was to turn a
place that had been associated with mass demonstrations, violence
and street ghts into a symbol of freedom and change. Another
slogan used was Welcome to the country of peaceful revolution
(eTN, November 28, 2011).
Al-Hamarneh (2013) claimed that Egypt during the Arab spring
developed two new kinds of tourism, such as solidarity and
adventure tourism, that could similarly be considered turning the
negative into positive. Furthermore, Cairo (like Amman and Doha)
hosted many conferences and meetings dealing with the Arab
Spring and its implications. Moreover the Egyptian tourism department's consultant issued a statement at the beginning of the
Arab Spring that can be considered an example of spinning of a
negative event or characteristic into a positive one: The peaceful,
pro-democratic revolution has brought a fresh breeze to Egypt.
Tourism ofcials will freshen up their marketing measures
accordingly, focussing on increased participation at international
events and media-marketing activities. (Travel Weekly, March 10,
2011).
4.2.6. Geographic disassociation from problematic areas
The violent conicts in the Middle East over the years caused the
area to be perceived as one in a general state of war, a point of
view that might distance tourists. As a result, several destinations
in the Middle East have employed the Geographic Isolation Strategy
to differentiate themselves from this conict zone (Avraham, 2013).
This strategy has been used to describe Taba, a tourist destination
on Egypt's Red Sea; it describes the resortebut without mentioning
its location in Egypt. Taba was marketed as an independent entity
located on the Red Sea Riviera. Another technique used by
countries in the region was to describe them as being located in the
Eastern Mediterranean rather than in the Middle East. Beirman
(2000) mentioned that this technique has been used both by
Egypt and Israel and argued: This has been part of a deliberate
strategy to promote a more positive image and to avoid the
largely negative stigma attached to being dened as part of the
Middle East (Beirman, 2000, p. 149).
This strategy has also been used to differentiate specic areas in
Egypt. During the Arab Spring, for example, Egyptian marketers
continued to promote the resort area in the Sinai even though the
violence was continuing in other areas (Al-Hamarneh, 2013). The
advertisements for these Sinai destinations in tourism magazines
and on the Egyptian tourism board websites naturally made no
mention of the problematic events happening elsewhere. The advertisements pictured golden beaches, sun and water sports; the
Egyptian Tourism Minister repeatedly said that the coastal area in
Sinai was safe for tourists and there was no reason not to visit it
(eTN, September 1, 2013). This was evident also in a campaign run
in the international tourism magazines (such as Traveler and Travel
and Leisure) with the slogans We're real, We're magical, We're
Egypt and We're moments, We're timeless. We're Egypt. Most of
the visuals used in this campaign were taken from Sinai beaches.
4.2.7. Association with well-known brands and celebrities
Many destinations, as mentioned, suffer from an image problem
based on stereotypes and generalizations built up over many years.
Overcoming such an image can be difcult as people do not quickly
put aside their preconceptions, however erroneous they may be.

When this is the case, instead of working to change the negative

image directly, destinations try to associate themselves with
familiar brands, celebrities or cultural symbols that are well
familiar to the target audiences (Mair et al., 2014). The effective use
of celebrities in destination image repair was shown by Walters and
Mair (2012) in their research on the best strategy to attract tourism
after a series of bush res in Australia.
Egypt used that strategy when hosting an American actor, Sean
Penn, in October 2011 who was shown sightseeing at the Egyptian
Museum, the Giza Pyramids and Tahrir Square (eTN, November 12,
2011). According to the newspaper, Al-Ahram Today, the goal of Sean
Penn's tour was to show the world that the country was safe (Al
Ahram Today, October 1, 2011). In addition, the archeologist Dr.
Zahi Hawass, who is well-known around the world and was the
subject of a National Geographic television show called Chasing
Mummies: King Tut's Final Secrets has also been promoting Egypt.
Dr. Hawass went to the US to give a series of public lectures and to
hold several press conferences, aiming to promote tourism to
Egypt. In addition he met journalists from European countries (eTN,
10 June 2011). Later the EU Foreign Policy Chief, Catherine Ashton,
visited Luxor, a visit that was mentioned on the Tourism board
website and Facebook page (Egypttourism, November 13, 2012).
Moreover, the Atletico Madrid team, while visiting the pyramids
(November 13, 2011) were mentioned in the Facebook page. As part
of the campaign run at the beginning of the Arab Spring, the
Egyptian Tourism authority organized artistic and cultural festivals
starring Arab and Egyptian superstars in several cities (eTN, 23 May
2011).
4.3. Target audience-focused strategies
The common denominator of the target audience-focused
strategies to improve a destination's image is the effort to reach a
specic target audience directly using several strategies.
4.3.1. Emphasis on similarities, resemblances and relevance to
specic audiences
In this strategy, marketers connect a country and its values,
history, culture or ideology to a specic, appreciative target audience. Manheim and Albritton (1984), for example, found that
American public relations rms promoted Third World countries in
the U.S. by trying to associate these countries with human rights
and democracydvalues, the PR experts knew, that are highly
esteemed by Americans. After the removal of Mubarak (Egypt's
former president), the Egyptians tried briey to promote solidarity
tourism among Western visitors who might be thrilled by the
advent of freedom in the Middle East but as the situation became
more complicated, this initiative ceased (Avraham, 2015). Nevertheless, the Egyptian marketers tried to appeal to Western audiences through campaigns. For example, the objective of the
campaign that announced Egypt, where it all begins was to
emphasize that Egypt has more to showcase to the world than the
splendor of a great civilization. They presented a banner combining
Egypt's history and present as it was written using the admirable
aesthetics of Arabic calligraphy. In addition, the campaign's visual
presentations portrayed Egypt as the travelers' gateway to an
exceptional holiday, the experience of their dreams. Most of the
models in the advertisements have a white, Western appearance,
they are wearing Western clothes, the women are shown without
any head coverings; they are sending the message that there are
many activities for Western tourists in Egypt such as sailing, diving,
enjoying the beaches, playing golf, surng, and water skiing.
During the Arab Spring we saw, for the rst time, attempts of
Middle Eastern destinations to concentrate mainly on attracting
tourists from Arab countries (Avraham, 2015). For example, the

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E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

Egyptian Tourism Minister tried to convince tourists from the Gulf

states, while using the proximity/similarity between his country
and those statesdfeatures such as physical proximity, religion,
history, cultural tradition and the Arabic languagedin order to
convince them to come back and visit his country: We have missed
you. Egypt warmly opens its arms to you, as our country is safe for
Arab and international tourists, particularly since it is close to you
in terms of traditions, geography, language and history. [This is] in
case you would like to help the future of Egypt, as it seeks to achieve
stability and implement a map for the future. The governor of
South Sinai also said similar things to the same audience: Sharm
el-Sheikh is calling you; it is a safe city, free of any acts of violence
since 2005. We need your support in tourism after your country
supported us politically and nancially. You are our people and our
brethren (eTN, January 10, 2014). Both ofcials linked their
destination and its values to a specic, appreciative target audience.
Egyptian marketers tried hard to address the potential tourists
from the Gulf states in several campaigns. In May 2014, for example,
Egypt's Ministry of Tourism launched the campaign called We
miss you to attract visitors from the Gulf states, in which the
advertisement featured shopping malls, luxury hotels and dancers
(eTN, August 17, 2014). During 2014 Egypt also launched the Masr
Qareeba (Egypt is near) campaign to the same audience (eTN, 19
October 2014). Since then, as the crisis continued, regional tourism
accounted for 20% of the total of incoming visitors to Egypt (eTN, 19
October 2014).
4.3.2. Developing and marketing new niches and target audiences
While the former strategy focuses on certain target audiences,
this strategy also includes a search for new target audiences, but is
based more on nding new niches. In this strategy, the marketers
invest efforts in promoting and developing new niches, such as golf,
rural or extreme tourism, markets that were neglected in the past.
Usually during wars and after a series of terror attacks, when the
ow of general tourism largely dries up, there was a tendency
among tourism marketers to attract more religious tourism, which
is considered less sensitive to the question of safety (Mansfeld &
Pizam, 2006). The tendency of this kind of tourism to consider itself immune to crises makes this strategy popular among Middle
Eastern countries. During the crisis of the Arab Spring, Egypt started to discover Christian tourism. According to the Christian bible,
the Virgin Mary and Jesus stayed in Egypt for 42 months, visiting 20
different places. As a result the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism
developed a program that would allow pilgrims to follow the
journey of the Holy Family. (eTN, 10 August 2014).
In addition to religious tourism, Egyptian marketers also started
to develop and improve the promotion of other kinds of tourism
such as green/eco-tourism, diving tourism and MICE, i.e. Meetings,
Incentives, Conferences and Events (eTN, 11 February 2014). In
2014, in a bid to preserve the environment and to attract green
tourism a number of tourist facilities in Egypt began the shift to
using clean or renewable energy sources. Developing green tourism
and using renewable or clean energy are perceived as a means to
attract Europeans in particular (eTN, 7 January 2014). According to
ofcials from the Tourism Ministry's promotion ofce, the use of
renewable or clean energy in tourist facilities has become a
requirement to attract tourists, especially those from European
countries who are familiar with the culture of green tourism .
Furthermore, international tourism markets place environmental
criteria at the forefront of tourist attraction factors, and hence, this
transition will boost tourism, and, he added, it will help put Egypt
back on the world tourism map. (eTN, 7 January 2014).
In addition to developing and marketing religious and green/
eco-tourism, MICE tourism and area marketing have been promoted. For example, Egypt's ambassador to India said: We are

promoting Egypt as a preferred MICE destination and our main

target is to increase the number of tourists from India by 50
percent, he said (eTN, November 20, 2011). Furthermore, in order
to increase the numbers of tourists in 2013 and 2014, instead of
promoting the country as a whole, Egypt started to promote a variety of sub-brands, including The Romantic Nile and The Land of
the Pharoahs. The campaign was designed according to the marketers in order to promote Egypt's culture so that it would not be
seen as merely a beach destination (eTN, September 26, 2014). In
addition, Egyptian marketers also tried to address new target audiences, i.e. those outside the region (Avraham, 2015). At that time,
Egypt was seeking new tourists from Japan and the BRIC countries
e Brazil, Russia, India and China (eTN, May 21, 2012). The Minister
of Tourism also visited South Africa with a delegation to market
Egypt tourism (eTN, 19 October 2014).
5. Summary and discussion
Although each crisis is unique and so is its marketing recovery
(Mair et al., 2014), by using the conceptual frame of the multi-step
model for altering place image we saw that Egyptian marketers
used three types of strategies: source, message and audience, in
order to deal with tourism crises caused by terrorism, violence and
wars, as well as those resulting from stereotypes, generalizations
and negative perceptions. It looks as though dealing with the image
problem will continue to be a challenge for Egypt ofcials and
marketers until the country stabilizes and its internal conicts are
resolved. But it seems as though these marketers have no choice.
This is because of the centrality of the tourism industry in Egypt's
economy where four million people work directly in tourism (eTN,
January 10, 2014). In addition, tourism provides jobs and foreign
exchange; it encourages intercultural dialogue and breaks down
stereotypes, prejudice and blockages between cultures so the
marketers must continue and try to restore the image of the
country (Al-Hamarneh, 2013).
Our analysis shows that marketers created a variety of marketing initiatives, advertising campaigns, press reports and public
relations crisis techniques in which a great deal of creativity was
shown. Many Middle Eastern countries battle a prolonged problematic image that is a barrier to tourism. Previous studies
(Avraham, 2015; 2013) have shown that, in comparison to Egypt,
these countries have only employed some of the possible tools
available for use in crisis situations. In contrast, the Egyptian marketers' use of diverse strategies, tools, tactics, and marketing initiatives is noteworthy; as is their marketing activities across the
globe, exibility and rapid changes made in their messages, market
segments targeted and types of tourism offered immediately after
the crisis events. For example, Egypt's state authorities have shifted
emphasis in two directions over the last few years. First, as
mentioned, a shift in emphasis has been made to the Gulf states, as
well as to area marketing, primarily to the Red Sea in its tourist
promotion (BBC, June 25, 2015). For example, the brochures
distributed by the Tourism Authority focused mainly on beach
tourism, as well as historical tourism. The Egyptian tourist image is
mostly based on the country's physical landscapes rather than its
rich culture heritage and its local people, local culture and local
identities (Abd El Jalil, 2010). According to Cooper and Momani
(2009), these attempts at re-branding highlight not only the
differentiated status of Egypt, but also its capacity for creativity in
tourism marketing.
It is important to mention that Egypt marketers have used other
steps and techniques, beside the three kinds of strategies. Some of
them related to the media/marketing aspects, other to changes in
the brand itself. These steps and techniques included attracting
more international charter ight companies (eTN, 12 June 2011),

Please cite this article in press as: Avraham, E., Destination marketing and image repair during tourism crises: The case of Egypt, Journal of
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E. Avraham / Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management xxx (2016) 1e8

the participation of the tourism board representatives in international tourism fares (eTN, 12 November 2011), Egypt's logo and its
tag line Where it all begins appeared on all online and direct mail
promotional materials as the ofcial sponsor for World Travel
Market's themselves (eTN, September 26, 2014), reducing prices to
popular Egyptian cities (eTN, January 10, 2014), involvement of the
private sector to help fund tourism promotion and advertising
(eTN, May 22, 2012), a doubled tourism promotional budget (eTN,
November 20, 2011), a common advertising campaign with
Turkey (Egypttourism, November 19, 2012), easing the procedures
to obtain a visa (eTN, November 16, 2014), and enhanced security
measures (eTN, March 19, 2014). Here again we can see a great deal
of creativity by Egyptian marketers.
It is recommended not to take the creative Egyptian tourism
marketing, as described in this article, for granted, as such efforts
are rare in developing countries. Developing countries usually
suffer from a lack of marketing budgets, difculties in changing the
problematic reality or the tourism product, and an inability to inuence the international media, all of which reduce their chances
of overcoming a prolonged tourism crisis (Avraham & Ketter, 2016).
It seems that many developing countries can learn a great deal from
the experience gained by the Egyptian marketers. Anyone who asks
how a country in the Middle East could attract some 14 to 15
million tourists a year, despite frequent crises, can nd part of the
answer in this study's ndings.
Future research should concentrate on various aspects of the
decision-making process through production research. This kind
of research would be helpful to our understanding of the main
factors behind the selection of marketing initiatives and media
campaigns. Some of the factors that should be studied include who
allocates the budgets to run recovery campaigns, how ofcials
understand the effectiveness of certain strategies, and who are the
stakeholders involved in the decision-making process, to name a
few.
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Hospitality and Tourism Management (2016), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jhtm.2016.04.004