Presented by: Dr Natàlia Ferrer-Roca

Apart from having some unique geographical traits, one of the main challenges of managing its brand are the different political structures in each region that have led to different destination development processes on each side. Being only two hours from Barcelona and next to Andorra also increases the struggle of its strategic destination brand positioning, as its not only competing with a strong international city brand but also with a country brand. This research is based on two field trips at the destination during 2017 and 2018, and face-to-face semi-structured interviews with the main stakeholders involved, including both representatives of government and tourism entrepreneurs.

Bio:

Dr Natàlia Ferrer-Roca is an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Organization, Business Management and Communication at University of Girona, Catalonia. She has a PhD in Media Studies from Victoria University of Wellington, MA in Communications Policy (Distinction) from Westminster University (London), and a degree in Journalism from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. Her research is inter-disciplinary, connecting media policy, political economy and place branding. She is also an independent researcher and advisor having worked with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU, Geneva) and the Government of Catalonia for the Catalan Audiovisual Commission. At the moment Natàlia is a Visiting Associate Professor at the School of Media and Communication at RMIT Melbourne, Australia.