Destination Image Recovery strategies during Crisis in Kashmir, India

Abstract

The valley of Kashmir has remained an acclaimed tourist destination for its magnificent & breathtaking beauty and unique culture throughout the globe. Despite being acknowledged as the ‘Paradise on earth’, tourism in valley has been badly hit due to a long legacy of crisis and conflicts. The consequence of this political conflict has resulted in destroying Kashmir's brand image. The present article's main endeavor is to carve out strategies adopted by the tourism officials of Kashmir, India, to mitigate the political crisis, negative perception & stereotypes brought into tourists' minds. The study also emphasis the Destination image recovery practices adopted to bring back tourists to the valley. The study includes qualitative analysis of secondary data, and well-structured interviews were conducted by selecting six destination marketing organizations (DMO’s) to uncover the crisis recovery strategies to repair the Destination Image. The study's focal findings reveal that innovative promotional measures, Security & awareness initiatives, partnering with stakeholders, media-related maneuvers, and other strategies help in destination image recovery during the crisis.