Destination branding: Opportunities and new challenges

Destination branding is an important research area and a powerful instrument for building the positioning of tourist destinations. The main objective of this study is to analyze the state-of-the-art research of destination branding. A bibliometric and a fractional accounting network mapping analysis were conducted using the Web of Science and Scopus online databases. The research identifies trends focused along different lines: strategy, experience, customer-based brand equity, place attachment, destination loyalty, word-of mouth, and social media. Although there have been some research on destination branding, to date, there has been no in-depth analysis that addresses the trends in destination branding. This work therefore contributes to the existing research by showing the state-of-the-art of research on destination branding, identifying trends and proposing future research lines and topics.