Challenges of branding Iran: perspectives of Iranian tourism suppliers

Branding could be viewed as one of the most influential marketing tools available to destination marketers. Creating an effective and successful destination brand is, however, a considerably complex process which requires substantial effort, time and resources. This process is even more complex in the case of Iran which for decades has been suffering from significant negative imagery in the tourist generating markets. The aim of this paper is to focus on some of the challenges faced by Iranian tourism suppliers in relation to creating a successful branding strategy for Iran. The findings of this paper are based on interviews conducted in Iran with representatives of Iranian tourism suppliers from both the public and private sector. The analysis of these interviews suggests that tourism suppliers face two main challenges: (1) lack of effort and resources (2) lack of essential collaboration between the public and the private sector.