Abstract

The constant media coverage of the Middle East in terms of conflicts, terror attacks and socio-economical unrest affects the media and public image of countries in this area and put some serious challenges for these countries’ marketers and their national tourism boards. Naturally, tourists are afraid to visit such places and marketers need to find creative strategies and techniques to ‘prove’ that the place is safe and unique in the attractions and experiences that only it can offer. Despite this challenge, it is surprising to see that there are only a few studies that deal with strategies used by tourism organisations in areas of conflict around the world. One of the least developed areas of research is the Middle East and the purpose of this study is to fill this lacuna. Analysing statements, press releases and campaigns, and by using the ‘multi-step model for altering place image’, the purpose of this study is to analyse how national tourism organisations in the Middle East have tried to restore their countries’ images in times of crisis. The analysis shows that Middle Eastern national tourism boards employed three types of strategies in order to restore a positive image: source, message and audience.