WHAT IMAGE DO YOU WANT TO PROJECT? WHY DO YOU WANT TO CHANGE YOUR COUNTRY'S NAME?
As we move into a new era of travel, in which aging, rich baby boomers and nouveau riche Asians fight for the right to dominate the travel market, destinations must position themselves to be first choice. Is changing one's name mid-stream the equivalent of throwing out the baby with the bathwater?
What does it take to be chosen by a few million or more tourists who have the means, the will and the time to travel anywhere? When they have done Paris, London and New York, where are they going to get back to reality? What will they be looking for ? Where are these destinations of the future?
My own thoughts gravitate to countries that have the natural resources, the history, the food, a culture, the people and the scenery. Countries like Abyssinia come to mind because, in my days at school, Abyssinia was a country that was described in poetic terms, exotic, sensuous, far-away and exclusive. Majestic lakes and mountains, lush farms, rich soil and beautiful people. I have recently discovered that it is still just as glamourous, as exotic and as sensuous but its' new name Ethiopia does not conjure up the same image, and in fact if it had retained its' original name, it may have retained some of the enchantment that might be missing from its' present image. My apologies to Ethiopia but I missed the brand-change announcement.
Other special places were Rhodesia, Yugoslavia, Borneo, Bombay and Peking, each a very special destination with charming, erotic reputations and all with the basic components to succeed in enhancing an already strong brand. Each one established in the schoolbooks of their future rich touristic markets. However, each one later to become something else, another name, another brand. Each one dumping its' past image. Each one throwing away the very magnet that was their name.
It might be an emotional decision taken by a new leader who is attempting to dispense with the memory of his predecessor. It is generally a desire to change a portion of one's history, to throw off the memory of an era. But with it goes the baby and the bathwater.
But the 'baby and the bathwater' contains the scent and the memories of the past, the attraction for these new visitors to explore the history of the earth. It can not be erased. It can not be forgotten. It should never be forgotten.
So for the benefit of the dictators amongst my readers considering such a move, move carefully and live with that old name.
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