A growing trend within the tourism industry world wide is the search for cultural experiences, where a tourist aims to become exposed to and immersed in a new way of life for a brief period of time. In these instances, the tourist searches, often subconsciously, for as authentic an experience as they can find, and will travel out to a foreign country with preconceived ideas, as depicted to them by the media, of what to expect. Many tourism businesses utilise these predetermined notions to attract customers by providing the tourist with what they think is a true setting. A large majority of the time, these brands are generalised and in fact say nothing about the location whatsoever.
It has been noted that the design, aesthetics and brand identities of tourism companies can affect and influence the experience a tourist has. This can be seen as both a positive and a negative aspect of the brand. If a tourism business were to employ the use of more symbolisms and aesthetics that directly tie it to the location, take into account the impact a brand can have on the locals, and consider how it will transform the tourist’s experience, then it will be more successful overall.
As a country, Uganda is often seen as simply being ‘a part of Africa’ and visitors travel there expecting to see a generalised picture of Africa. This generalisation that the whole of Africa is the same detracts from the cultural touristic experience as Uganda has its own unique and deep rooted national cultural identity. There are many symbols and emblems that hold a strong meaning for Ugandans which mean nothing to people from other areas of the continent, and traditional customs which separate the Ugandan culture from other cultures.
In terms of tourism businesses in Uganda, Crows Nest is one which currently has little brand identity. This could be deduced as being more ‘authentically Ugandan’ but the business could benefit from capitalising on the symbolisms that could be brought in to create a brand for the company. By bringing in symbolisms to the brand identity, Crows Nest would stand out from its competition for being more accurately Ugandan, thus giving the visitor a more legitimate cultural experience.
This body of work, as presented in the Rebrand Proposal book, aims to present a possible rebrand for Crows Nest so it’s customers can receive a more authentic experience.
