City branding as innovation for tourism development: systematic review of literature from 2011 to 2023

Tourism development benefits from harnessing the prospects of innovative city brands and motivates management scholars to postulate and investigate evolving motives and mechanisms for creativity and implementation of city branding processes. City branding as innovation creates positive images of metropolitan and urban areas with socio-economic potentials for attracting tourism, and there is a need for regular and on-going reviews to coalesce knowledge on the state-of-the-art in city branding scholarship. This study presents the current state of city branding research related to tourism development by systematically reviewing current literature within the field. The review investigates concepts for city branding and contributions to tourism practice within the literature based on analysing 140 peer-reviewed articles published between 2011 and 2023. The study finds concepts of branding strategies and practices, branding culture and creativity, branding generation and identity, branding quality and sustainability. The review also synthesises contributions of conceptual models and theoretical framework, strategic tools and management techniques, path analysis variables and performance indicators, branding narratives and interpretations. Additionally, a critique of the literature reflects on the forms of tourism and performance measures associated with city branding as innovation. Using insights from the analysis and synthesis, the review proposes areas for future management research. The review has management implications for tourism planning and provides a better understanding of the innovation factors that shape the physical, subjective, and objective space for city branding for tourism development.