Abstract/Summary

The need for branding the state of Sabah within the ecotourism industry is proposed. Like consumer products, states are increasingly trying to brand themselves in order to appeal to the tourism market. Consumers continue to rely on country and state images to pick their tourism destinations. Brand association continues to be a critical aspect for a consumer prior to engage in a purchasing decision. According to the literature review, effective state branding should reinforce positives images and thus provide a competitive advantage in world markets. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the various aspects of branding theory, with particular application to branding Sabah state ecotourism. The conceptual study begins by addressing theory and practice of country branding and further continues with recommendations for Sabah state ecotourism branding. The proposed study proposes Sabah to be associated with its natural beauty. As a result, offers a number of recommendations derived from branding theory. Ecotourism is a concept that requires careful management to ensure ongoing sustainability through a strategic balance of numbers and yield. The key to achieve optimal return on tourism investment is to develop and manage the ecotourism brand by identifying and understanding the target audience, that is, to get into the heads of the audience (stand out), and to deliver the ecotourism branding messages in a way that they will understand it. Under the globalization concept, there is a need for a country to brand itself on four different dimensions (public diplomacy, tourism, exports, and foreign investment dimension) (Vicente, 2004). Similarly, state branding is important because consumers rely heavily on country or state images to make their economic decisions.