The Importance of Cultural Heritage in the Promotion of a Nation's Brand

Introduction

With globalisation, diminishing borders, and the increasing cosmopolitanism and fusion of cultures, Destination Management Organisers (DMOs) have faced the need to differentiate their products and services and build a strong nation brand (Diamantopoulos et al., 2019). Despite the traditional measures of ranking countries based on their economies, population, or quality of life, there is a gap regarding more “unconventional methods of branding” (Yadav, Paul, & Mittal, 2021, p. 2). As Yadav et al. (2021) suggest, prior studies (Anholt, 2008, 2011; Dinnie, 2015) have shown the establishment of a nation has a brand. Nation branding might be described as a practice that allows countries to build or modify their image, promote themselves as a place for people to visit, invest in, live, and attract overseas investment (Bartsch, Riefler, & Diamantopoulos, 2016; Dinnie, 2015; Lee & Lee, 2021; Rojas-Méndez, Papadopoulos, & Murphy, 2013).

As Anholt (2007) suggests, people lack time to learn about places in an increasingly fast-paced and ever-changing world. It is easy to embrace stereotypes as these reduce cognitive effort and simplify decision-making. Put simply, “when you haven’t got time to read a book, you judge it by its cover” (Anholt, 2007, p. 1). Regardless of the veracity of these stereotypes, they affect people’s behaviour toward the place and its products and services. Anholt (2007) coined the term “competitive identity” “to describe the synthesis of brand management with public diplomacy and with trade, investment, tourism and export promotion” (p. 4), establishing a new model to promote competitiveness in a global world. The author proposed a Nation Brand Hexagon model including six key areas of national competence: Exports, Governance, Investment and Immigration, Culture and Heritage, People and Tourism. Each dimension contributes equally to the formation of a country’s brand reputation. In particular, the Cultural and Heritage dimension includes several aspects, namely global perceptions of a nation’s heritage and the country´s contemporary culture (e.g., the appreciation of or intention to consume its popular, more commercial cultural products and activities such as music, art, literature, design, famous film-makers, etc.). According to Anholt (2007), the creation of a strong Nation Brand is accomplished through these six areas of national assets, establishing a reputation of a country with a direct and measurable impact. This study aims to analyse the influence of World Heritage (WH) sites in leveraging the image of the country and the intention to visit it.

In the context of globalisation and cultural convergence, cultural heritage authenticity is an important asset that can be used for creating a distinctive identity and sense of community, impacting tourism and other economic sectors of the country (Poor & Snowball, 2010). Based on the lack of research studies on national cultural heritage (Chauma & Ngwira, 2022; Hakala, Lätti, & Sandberg, 2011; Khalil & Nasr, 2021), the authors focus their attention on authentic cultural heritage experiences to leverage Portuguese nation brand. If visitors (foreign or local) perceive cultural heritage experiences as credible and authentic, it will reduce uncertainty in the consumer’s selection process (Loureiro, 2017). It will also promote trustworthiness in a destination brand that a visitor has gained after knowing the place and generate positive word-of-mouth (Tham, Croy, & Mair, 2013).