GIKA 2016 Conference, University of Valencia, Valencia (Spain), March 20-23

1. A MARKETING RESEARCH TOOL FOR
DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANISATIONS'
LOGO DESIGN
Séraphin, H., Ambaye, M., Bonnardel, V. & Gowreesunkar, GB. (2016) A Marketing Research Tool for
Destination Management Organisations’ Logo Design, GIKA Conference, University of Valencia, March 20-23

2. INTRODUCTION
Exogenous factors like political instability, economic crisis, natural disasters and the outbreak of
diseases (Séraphin, 2004; Hai & Chick, 2011; Ritchie, Dorrell, Miller & Miller, 2004) can cause
destinations to decline and sometimes even totally disappear from the tourism map (Seddighi, Nuttall
& Theocharus, 2001)
The communication with the tourism market using an effective recovery message (Walters & Mairs,
2012) is the approach covered in this presentation
Difficult for Haiti to build and develop a sustainable tourism industry (Séraphin, 2014). The Haitian
DMO took an initiative toward rebranding the country with a new logo
Does the visual communication (logo) correctly portrait the image of Haiti?

3. INTRODUCTION
Logo 1 - 1939 Logo 2 - 2012
The current paper can be considered as a prolongation of a study by Muller, Kocher & Crettaz,
2013: 86), in the sense that their study advocates the change of logo as being positive for a brand
as ‘the introduction of a new logo leads consumers to perceive a brand as modern’. But, the study
does not take into consideration specific elements constituting logos (e.g. Shape and color).
Color will be an important focus of this presentation

4. CONTEXT
Worldwide, tourism promoters are increasingly showing in the development of island tourism
(Gowreesunkar & Ramnauth, 2013).
The Caribbean is commonly associated with sun, sandy white beaches, swaying palms and
romantic images of tranquil azure seas (Nelson & Torres, 2010)
6 destinations led the way : Dominican Republic (4.689.770 visitors); Cuba (2.850.135 visitors);
Jamaica (2.008.409 visitors); Puerto-Rico (1.588.795 visitors); the Bahamas (1.363.487 visitors) and
Aruba (1.072.082 visitors).
Haiti was the most popular tourist destination in the Caribbean between 1940s – 1960s. In
1957, the dictatorship and the atmosphere of terror organised by Francois Duvalier and his
‘Tonton Macoutes’ crippled the country’s tourism industry. On January 12, 2010, an earthquake
shook Haiti.

5. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK Over the last 10 years, there has been an
accumulation of archaeological evidences indicating
that in pre-historical times colored pigments (e.g.
ochre) were used to convey meaning (Labrecque et
al, 2013).
The choice of the color palette that best captures the
essence and narrative of the destination is also an
important pre-requisite (Morgan et al., 2013).
The implication for DMOs is that they are faced
with the challenging task of selecting the
appropriate color that not only best represents
the destination, but also generates a strong
image in the mind of visitors.

6. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The outer circles of “Destination” and “Marketing” show all
the key criteria that it is necessary to take into account
when deciding the colors of an effective logo.
Difficulties faced while choosing the right colors as
it is important to “change the image of the
destination” while “maintaining the essence of the
destination”.

7. CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
The “nutshell approach”, the nut being
the core elements of the destination
(context, identity and history) and the shell
the visual aspects (aesthetic, the
memorable aspects, etc).

8. CONCLUSION
The colors used in the first logo were more
effective in terms of conveying the essence of the
destination to the tourists, as the colors used are
quite meaningful and representative (as explained
earlier) of the history, tradition, identity and context
of Haiti.
The new logo of the Haitian DMO, as Muller et al
(2013) argued, contributed by changing the image
of the destination into something more modern.

9. A MARKETING RESEARCH TOOL FOR
DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANISATIONS'
LOGO DESIGN
 Dr. Hugues SERAPHIN – Hugues.seraphin@Winchester.ac.uk
 Dr. Michele AMBAYE – Michele.ambaye@esc-pau.fr
 Dr. Vanessa Gowreesunkar – v.gowreesunkar@mieonline.org
 Dr. Valerie Bonnardel – Valerie.bonnardel@Winchester.ac.uk