Boosting tourism destination through IMC: how to strengthen the Amalfi Coast destination brand identity

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) has reached a mid-range of maturity in corporate contexts and has been associated to several positive effects, indeed there is little evidence that IMC can be applied to place promotion and destination marketing. A number of barriers and advantages, both at strategic and tactical level, seem to inhibit and, at the same time, foster the possibility to plan and implement an IMC program but there is no evidence on how they effectively influence the tourism promotion. Thus, this paper explores why IMC may be preferred to traditional communication in the context of the Amalfi coast region of Italy. Depth interviews from tourism stakeholders are conducted to identify incentives and barriers to adopting IMC relative to destination marketing. The findings underpin development of several steps enabling maximizing incentives and minimizing barriers of IMC. The paper thus advances IMC theory in a tourism context, supporting the need to develop such as attracting tourist interest, sustaining a destination brand and strengthening community identity, each of which may positively impact on area economic development.