Sustainability in Overtouristified Cities? A Social Media Insight into Italian Branding Responses to Covid-19 Crisis

Cecilia Pasquinelli, Mariapina Trunfio, Nicola Bellini and Simona Rossi
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Cecilia Pasquinelli: Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, University of Naples Parthenope, 80132 Naples, Italy
Mariapina Trunfio: Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, University of Naples Parthenope, 80132 Naples, Italy
Nicola Bellini: Institute of Management, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, 56127 Pisa, Italy
Simona Rossi: Department of Management and Quantitative Studies, University of Naples Parthenope, 80132 Naples, Italy

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 4, 1-14

Abstract: The paper aims to reach insights into city branding in the Covid-19 context to discuss the projected brand propositions and their reliance oan sustainable brand attributes and values. This study explores the immediate response of overtouristified cities to the post-pandemic crisis by focusing on four iconic cultural cities in Italy, which are Florence, Milan, Rome, and Venice, and the related Facebook communication in summer 2020, right after the end of the lockdown following the first wave of contagion in the country. A content analysis of the official Facebook accounts of these cities provided an explorative insight into different destination brand approaches to dealing with the pandemic threat, revealed fading urban characters of the tourism experience and an expansion of the destinations from a spatial perspective, towards city-region destinations. The findings suggest potential configurations of the sustainable destination brand whose formation, in the case of the overtouristified cities, deserves further attention throughout the evolution of the Covid-19 crisis.

Keywords: sustainability; city brand; overtourism; brand values; brand attributes; Facebook; Covid-19; Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

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