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Place marketing, evolutionary theories and the management of multifaceted destinations: Cartagena, Colombia, as a study case

Tourist destinations generally offer a variety of attractions that local authorities or destination management organizations (DMOs) may incorporate into their promotional activities. This diversity of available assets has different stakeholder groups having to decide what the destination actually stands for. The present study connects existing frameworks about evolutionary dynamics and place marketing and applies them to multifaceted destinations to provide fresh insights into how these can be managed. It extends the discussion by taking the city of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, as an in-depth case study to illustrate how multiple assets as well as multiple place identities can impact the management of a given destination. The main data source consisted of semi-structured interviews which were used to explore the (typologies of) attractions that best represent the destination and how these should be promoted according to the local institutional stakeholders. The results show that being a multifaceted destination poses significant challenges to the definition of tourism marketing strategies, even if most stakeholders agree that a shift from the traditional, beach-related elements towards more (intangible) cultural resources is necessary. The paper concludes by drawing some theoretical implications as well as practical recommendations for multiple asset destinations.