The Fallout of the Pandemic: An Investigation of Oman Tourist Destination Brand Equity

Authors

  • Vishal JAIN
  • Parul JAIN

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21325/jotags.2023.1306

Keywords:

Pandemic, Tourism, Destination, Brand Equity, Oman

Abstract

Oman is in the process of diversifying its economy by identifying other sectors to lessen dependency on petroleum products. Many such sectors are identified as tourism, manufacturing, fisheries, mining, transportation, and logistics. Coronavirus pandemic has a significant impact on the global economy. As countries around the globe begin to emerge from the pandemic, what will be the new normal for tourism? This new normal is already beginning to affect tourism sector in Sultanate of Oman. The present study explores how the fallout of the pandemic will affect destination brand equity from a tourist perspective. However, most of the previous studies that deal with the similar issues, do not include effective ways to develop Oman tourism destination as a brand.  The results reveal that destination Oman significantly satisfies all dimensions of brand equity, i.e., brand awareness, perceived quality, brand association, and brand loyalty. The perceived risk dimension is also extracted in the study to recognize the impact of pandemic crises.

References

Aaker, D. (1991). Management brand equity. Conversations with Marketing Masters, 26–44.

Abouzzohour, Y. (2021). One year into his reign, Oman’s sultan must renegotiate the social contract and prioritize diversification. Order from Chaos, January, 1–9.

Al-Hasni, Z. S. (2021). Identifying and Prioritizing Ways to Improve Oman’s Tourism Sector in the Corona Period. Journal of Intercultural Management, 13(1), 144–176. https://doi.org/10.2478/joim-2021-0006

Al-Hinai, A., & Jayasuriya, H. (2021). Agricultural Sustainability through Agritourism in Oman and Potentials for Adoption. 83–91. https://doi.org/10.32789/agrofood.2021.1008

Al-Jahwari, F. R. S. (2021). Exploring evidence concerning Omani and migrant graduates’ employment and employability in the Tourism and Hospitality (T&H) sector in Oman [University of Sheffield]. https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/30351/

Al-Ruhelli, A., & Al-Hinai, R. (2022). Oman. In A. Gohar (Ed.), Tourism Governance (pp. 161–178). De Gruyter. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110638141-010

Aljabri, S., Raghavan, M., & Vespignani, J. (2022). Oil Prices and Fiscal Policy in an Oil-exporter country: Empirical Evidence from Oman. Energy Economics, July(111). https://tradingeconomics.com/oman/rating

Baporikar, N. (2012). Emerging Trends in Tourism Industry in Oman. In P. Ordóñez de Pablos, R. D. Tennyson, & J. Zhao (Eds.), Global Hospitality and Tourism Management Technologies (pp. 116–135). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-61350-041-5.ch008

Bariar, S., & Jain, V. (2020). Examining Consumer Based Brand Equity (CBBE) Dimensions of a Private Label Brand (PLB). Journal Of Development Research, 13(3), 31–41. https://vesim.ves.ac.in/images/JDR-Volume-13-Issue-3_July_Sep-2020.pdf

Caldwell, N., & Freire, J. R. (2004). The differences between branding a country, a region and a city: Applying the Brand Box Model. Brand Management, 12(1), 50–61.

Castelier, S. (2022). Oman’s fiscal outlook improves as oil prices surge. Al-Monitor. https://www.al-monitor.com/originals/2022/03/omans-fiscal-outlook-improves-oil-prices-surge

Chekalina, T., Fuchs, M., & Lexhagen, M. (2018). Customer-Based Destination Brand Equity Modeling: The Role of Destination Resources, Value for Money, and Value in Use. Journal of Travel Research, 57(1), 31–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/0047287516680774

Cruz-Cárdenas, J., Zabelina, E., Guadalupe-Lanas, J., Palacio-Fierro, A., & Ramos-Galarza, C. (2021). COVID-19, consumer behavior, technology, and society: A literature review and bibliometric analysis. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 173, 121179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2021.121179

Dali, N. R. S. M., Hamid, H. A., Nawang, W. R. W., & Nazarie, W. N. F. W. M. (2020). Post Pandemic Consumer Behavior: Conceptual Framework. The Journal of Muamalat and Islamic Finance Research, 17(May), 13–24. https://doi.org/10.33102/jmifr.v17i3.280

Du, L., Razzaq, A., & Waqas, M. (2022). The impact of COVID-19 on small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): empirical evidence for green economic implications. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-22221-7

García, J. A., Gómez, M., & Molina, A. (2012). A destination-branding model: An empirical analysis based on stakeholders. Tourism Management, 33(3), 646–661. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2011.07.006

Ghafari, M., Ranjbarian, B., & Fathi, S. (2017). Developing a brand equity model for tourism destination. International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, 12(4), 484–507. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBIR.2017.082828

Hakro, A. N., & Pandow, B. A. (2019). Development and Diversification: A case study of the Sultanate of Oman. In A. N. Hakro (Ed.), Oman in the 21st Century: Issues and Challenges (Nova Scien, pp. 3–24). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ahmed-Hakro-3/publication/361786117_Oman_in_the_21st_Century_issues_and_challenges/links/62c50f3ddb1d233df1cca0bc/Oman-in-the-21st-Century-issues-and-challenges.pdf#page=17

Hanzaee, K. H., & Saeedi, H. (2011). A Model of Destination Branding for Isfahan City: Integrating the Concepts of the Branding and Destination Image. Interdisciplinary Journal of Research in Business, 1(4), 12–28.

Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705519909540118

Jain, V., & Bariar, S. (2019). Analysis of mediation effect of country-of-origin image on brand equity. International Journal of Business and Data Analytics, 1(1), 89–109. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBDA.2019.098828

Jain, V., & Mishra, A. (2020). A Study of Ecotourism Marketing Prospects in Oman. In İ. Yazicioğlu, E. Konaklioğlu, Ö. Altunöz, & Y. Arslantürk (Eds.), International Travel and Tourism Dynamics: Overtourism (pp. 284–288). Hacı Bayram Veli University.

Kasapi, I., & Cela, A. (2017). Destination Branding: A Review of the City Branding Literature. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 8(4), 129–142. https://doi.org/10.1515/mjss-2017-0012

Kaushal, V., Sharma, S., & Reddy, G. M. (2019). A structural analysis of destination brand equity in mountainous tourism destination in northern India. Tourism and Hospitality Research, 19(4), 452–464. https://doi.org/10.1177/1467358418781442

Keller, K. L., Parameswaran, M., & Jacob, I. (2011). Strategic brand management: Building, measuring, and managing brand equity (4th ed.). Pearson.

Khan, F. R., & Krishanamurthy, J. (2016). Future of Oman tourism perception of the students in tourism studies. International Journal of Tourism & Hospitality Reviews, 3(1), 01–11. https://doi.org/10.18510/ijthr.2016.311

Khan, N., Hassan, A. U., Fahad, S., & Naushad, M. (2020). Factors Affecting Tourism Industry and Its Impacts on Global Economy of the World. SSRN Electronic Journal, March. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3559353

Konecnik, M., & Gartner, W. C. (2007). Customer-based brand equity for a destination. Annals of Tourism Research, 34(2), 400–421. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.annals.2006.10.005

Kotler, P. (2000). Marketing Management, Millenium Edition (10th ed.). Prentice-Hall, Inc.

Kumar, P. K., Aswani, P. R., & Seema, M. (2020). A study on consumer behaviour towards amazon products post pandemic. Journal of Interdisciplinary Cycle Research, XII(728), 728–735.

Manci, A. R. (2022). Determining destination risk perceptions, their effects on satisfaction, revisit and recommendation intentions: Evidence from Sanliurfa/Turkey. Journal of Multidisciplinary Academic Tourism, 7(1), 81–96. https://doi.org/10.31822/jomat.2022-7-1-81

Maryati, T. (2020). Consumer Behavior Changes Post Pandemic Covid-19. International Journal of Halal Research, 2(2), 84–89.

Michael, N., James, R., & Michael, I. (2018). Australia’s cognitive, affective and conative destination image: an Emirati tourist perspective. Journal of Islamic Marketing, 9(1), 36–59. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-06-2016-0056

Ministry of Economy. (2020). The 10th Five-Year Developement Plan. https://www.economy.gov.om/en/library/10thplansum/

Mishra, A., & Jain, V. (2020). Residents’ Perceptions Toward Tourism as a Community Development Tool: A Case of Sultanate of Oman. Journal of Tourism and Gastronomy Studies, 8(4), 478–489. https://doi.org/10.21325/jotags.2020.699

Mohseni-Cheraghlou, A. (2020). Linking the past to the future: Economic diversification and tourism in Oman. MEI@75. https://www.mei.edu/publications/linking-past-future-economic-diversification-and-tourism-oman

Naima, B. (2021). Community-led initiatives for the rehabilitation and management of vernacular settlements in Oman: a phenomenon in the making. Built Heritage, 5(1), 21. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43238-021-00039-5

Oman Vision 2040. (2020). Vision Document. National Priorities. https://www.2040.om/en/national-priorities/

ONA. (2022, August 8). Oman on Lonely Planet’s top 10 destinations list. Times of Oman, A2.

Pärson, G., & Vancic, A. (2020). Changed Buying Behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic: The influence of Price Sensitivity and Perceived Quality. Kristianstad University, Sweden.

Qu, H., Kim, L. H., & Im, H. H. (2011). A model of destination branding: Integrating the concepts of the branding and destination image. Tourism Management, 32(3), 465–476. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2010.03.014

Sainaghi, R. (2010). Hotel performance: state of the art. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 22(7), 920–952. https://doi.org/10.1108/09596111011066617

Samyuktha, P. S., Al-Subhi, A., Al-Siyabi, M., & Al-Afari, A. (2022). Predicting Finacial Distress of Omani Tourism Companies During Covid-19 Using Zmijewski Model. International Journal of Accounting Research, 7(1), 2617–9954.

Sangpikul, A. (2017). Ecotourism Mix, Good Practice, and Green Marketing: An Approach Towards the Quality Tourism Business. Journal of Community Development Research (Humanities and Social Sciences), 10(1), 1–15. http://www.journal.nu.ac.th/JCDR/article/view/1716

Scholz, W. (2021). Appropriate Housing Typologies, Effective Land Management and the Question of Density in Muscat, Oman. Sustainability, 13(22), 12751. https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212751

Shen, L., & Ma, J. (2022). A Study of Shanghai Tourist Destination Brand Equity: Perspectives from Western Group Tourists. Journal of Tourism Management Research, 9(1), 82–96. https://doi.org/10.18488/31.v9i1.3079

Statista. (2022). Total contribution of travel and tourism to gross domestic product (GDP) worldwide. Travel, Tourism & Hospitality. https://www.statista.com/statistics/233223/travel-and-tourism--total-economic-contribution-worldwide/

Times News Service. (2022, August 9). Hotel revenues across oman surge more than 200%. Times of Oman.

WTTC. (2022). Oman. Annual Research: Key Highlights. https://wttc.org/Research/Economic-Impact/moduleId/704/itemId/177/controller/DownloadRequest/action/QuickDownload

Young, K. E. (2020). Twin crises deepen Gulf states’ policy competition and independence. Global Discourse, 10(4), 481–487. https://doi.org/10.1332/204378920X16015780589771

Yüksel, S. (2017). Circular Tourism Perspectives for Oman. Journal of Business Management and Economic Research, 1(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.29226/jobmer.2017.0

Published

10/01/2023

How to Cite

JAIN , V., & JAIN, P. (2023). The Fallout of the Pandemic: An Investigation of Oman Tourist Destination Brand Equity. Journal of Tourism & Gastronomy Studies, 11(3), 2535–2548. https://doi.org/10.21325/jotags.2023.1306