Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding

Tourism plays an important part in soft power as a public diplomacy tool that, alongside destination branding, aims to reinforce the image of a place to attract visitors, with the ensuing multiplier effect on its economy. Both destination branding and public diplomacy seek the common goal of generat...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: María-Francisca Casado Claro, Josep Pastrana Huguet, María Concepción Saavedra Serrano
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being (CinTurs) 2023-06-01
Series:Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.cieo.pt/journal/J_2_2023/article1.pdf
_version_ 1797787720157757440
author María-Francisca Casado Claro
Josep Pastrana Huguet
María Concepción Saavedra Serrano
author_facet María-Francisca Casado Claro
Josep Pastrana Huguet
María Concepción Saavedra Serrano
author_sort María-Francisca Casado Claro
collection DOAJ
description Tourism plays an important part in soft power as a public diplomacy tool that, alongside destination branding, aims to reinforce the image of a place to attract visitors, with the ensuing multiplier effect on its economy. Both destination branding and public diplomacy seek the common goal of generating a positive reputation and image of the place, although they pursue different interests. On the one hand, destination branding aims at attracting tourists with an eminently economic objective in mind; while, on the other hand, public diplomacy seeks to promote national interests (economic, social, political), and advance foreign policy goals. Destination branding and public diplomacy can be regarded as two faces of the same coin, as together they leverage a country’s equity in soft power. Japan has furthered its economic, social, and political goals by projecting the image of a technologically advanced country boasting a rich cultural tradition through skillful management of its soft power and its public diplomacy, that in recent times has revolved around cultural diplomacy with the “Cool Japan” strategy for the promotion of cultural industries, as well as around sports diplomacy, with the celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which owing to the COVID pandemic became an example of failed destination branding, that nevertheless did not obscure their success in terms of sports diplomacy.
first_indexed 2024-03-13T01:25:51Z
format Article
id doaj.art-0bdf25d69d8e44eeb1eed833e710a825
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2795-5044
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-13T01:25:51Z
publishDate 2023-06-01
publisher Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being (CinTurs)
record_format Article
series Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being
spelling doaj.art-0bdf25d69d8e44eeb1eed833e710a8252023-07-04T15:14:47ZengResearch Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being (CinTurs)Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being2795-50442023-06-01112668010.34623/snwy-ec89Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination BrandingMaría-Francisca Casado Claro0https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4395-9620Josep Pastrana Huguet1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1929-6940María Concepción Saavedra Serrano2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8618-6827Department of Economics and Business, Universidad Europea, Madrid, SpainInternational Doctoral School of the National University of Distance Education (EIDUNED), Madrid; Consell Insular de Menorca, SpainDepartment of Economics and Business, Universidad Europea, Madrid, SpainTourism plays an important part in soft power as a public diplomacy tool that, alongside destination branding, aims to reinforce the image of a place to attract visitors, with the ensuing multiplier effect on its economy. Both destination branding and public diplomacy seek the common goal of generating a positive reputation and image of the place, although they pursue different interests. On the one hand, destination branding aims at attracting tourists with an eminently economic objective in mind; while, on the other hand, public diplomacy seeks to promote national interests (economic, social, political), and advance foreign policy goals. Destination branding and public diplomacy can be regarded as two faces of the same coin, as together they leverage a country’s equity in soft power. Japan has furthered its economic, social, and political goals by projecting the image of a technologically advanced country boasting a rich cultural tradition through skillful management of its soft power and its public diplomacy, that in recent times has revolved around cultural diplomacy with the “Cool Japan” strategy for the promotion of cultural industries, as well as around sports diplomacy, with the celebration of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, which owing to the COVID pandemic became an example of failed destination branding, that nevertheless did not obscure their success in terms of sports diplomacy.http://www.cieo.pt/journal/J_2_2023/article1.pdfdestination brandingsoft powerjapanolympic gamescreative industries
spellingShingle María-Francisca Casado Claro
Josep Pastrana Huguet
María Concepción Saavedra Serrano
Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding
Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being
destination branding
soft power
japan
olympic games
creative industries
title Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding
title_full Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding
title_fullStr Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding
title_full_unstemmed Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding
title_short Tourism as a Soft Power Tool. The Role of Public Diplomacy in Japan’s Country and Destination Branding
title_sort tourism as a soft power tool the role of public diplomacy in japan s country and destination branding
topic destination branding
soft power
japan
olympic games
creative industries
url http://www.cieo.pt/journal/J_2_2023/article1.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT mariafranciscacasadoclaro tourismasasoftpowertooltheroleofpublicdiplomacyinjapanscountryanddestinationbranding
AT joseppastranahuguet tourismasasoftpowertooltheroleofpublicdiplomacyinjapanscountryanddestinationbranding
AT mariaconcepcionsaavedraserrano tourismasasoftpowertooltheroleofpublicdiplomacyinjapanscountryanddestinationbranding