Including residents in the rebranding of tourist destinations to achieve sustainable development goals

Purpose - This paper aims to indicate the importance of including residents in the rebranding of a destination. Design/methodology/approach - This article is based on a literature review. Findings - The World Tourism Organization recently adapted the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to show their relevance to tourism. The quality of life of the residents was a common theme of these goals. Through a review of literature, the paper identified the negative and positive effects of tourism on the residents' quality of life. This was done to show how destination management organizations (DMOs) could design and manage their tourism activities to avoid the negative effects on residents and maximize the positive benefits. Originality/value - As tourist destinations strive to meet sustainability goals, we argue that many will have to be rebranded. The paper shows how through the rebranding process the destination can create brand identity elements that communicate as well as guide their sustainability efforts. Also, just as corporations need to include and have employees that believe and support the company's brand identity elements, DMOs must include residents in the branding process and gain their support of the destination's brand identity elements. As practical implications for DMOs, the paper shows the importance of developing tourism policies that will enhance the life of residents, demonstrating how this can be accomplished through a rebranding process. As research implications, there is a call for researchers to measure the results of destination's rebranding efforts including the satisfaction of residents as a construct. To accomplish this there is also a need to develop a reliable and valid scale of resident satisfaction with tourism polices.