OBSERVARE

Universidade Autónoma de Lisboa

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL15, N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025

DESTINATIONS, EXPERIENCES, AND PLACES:

THE ROLE OF STORYTELLING IN TOURISM ADVERTISING

ALEXANDRE DUARTE

alexandreduarte@fcsh.unl.pt

Holding a PhD in Communication Sciences (specialization in Organizational and Strategic

communications) from Universidade do Minho, a master’s degree in communication and

Image, and bachelor’s in marketing and advertising from IADE, Alexandre Duarte is a

Professor at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, a researcher at ICNOVA/UNL and Invited

Professor at Universidade Católica Portuguesa, where he coordinates the Postgraduate

Courses in Communication and Advertising Creativity, and Service Design. He has worked

in several multinational advertising agencies, such as TBWA, Saatchi & Saatchi, W/Brasil,

Lowe&Partners, or Ogilvy for more than 20 years as a Senior Creative Copywriter. Since

2018, is a member of the Board of EDCOM - European Institute for Commercial

Communications Education, and from 2024, assumed the Coordination of the Advertising

Working Group of the Portuguese Association of Communication Sciences – SOPCOM.

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2665-864X.

RAQUEL SOEIRO

raquelsoeiro@live.com.pt

Raquel Soeiro has a degree in Tourism from the Universidade de Évora and is currently pursuing

a master’s degree in communication sciences from Universidade Católica Portuguesa, with a

specialization in Communication, Marketing, and Advertising. Has participated in various training

courses related to customer service, travel agency reservation systems, and marketing. She is

currently working as a Tour Manager in a local company and has completed internships in event

management, sales, and marketing. Additionally, she is conducting research for her master's

dissertation on "The Event Experience and its Influence on Brand Reputation: The Case of

Convento do Espinheiro Hotel & SPA".(FCH/Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

https://orcid.org/0009-0009-4696-4239.

Abstract

This theoretical essay examines the role of storytelling in advertising communication,

specifically focusing on its application to destination branding. Tourism, as a dynamic and

intangible sector, faces unique communication challenges. This paper critically analyzes

storytelling as a tool to bridge these gaps, emphasizing its symbolic and emotional power to

enhance destination image, authenticity, and visitor engagement. By synthesizing tourism

communication and place branding literature, this study analyzes Portugal’s promotional

campaign "Can't Skip Portugal" as a strategic storytelling use in destination promotion. This

approach provides theoretical insights and practical implications for stakeholders in the

tourism industry.

Keywords

Tourism, Place Marketing, Place Branding, Destination Image, Storytelling, Can't Skip

Portugal.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

Resumo

Este ensaio teórico examina o papel do storytelling na comunicação publicitária do turismo,

centrando-se especificamente na sua aplicação ao destination branding. O turismo, enquanto

sector dinâmico e intangível, enfrenta desafios de comunicação únicos. Este artigo analisa

criticamente o storytelling como uma ferramenta para colmatar essas lacunas, enfatizando o

seu poder simbólico e emocional para melhorar a imagem do destino, a autenticidade e o

envolvimento do visitante. Ao sintetizar a literatura da comunicação em turismo e do place

branding, este trabalho analisa a campanha promocional de Portugal “Can't Skip Portugal”

como uma utilização estratégica do storytelling na promoção de um destino. Esta abordagem

avança os conhecimentos teóricos ao mesmo tempo que oferece implicações práticas para os

intervenientes na indústria do turismo.

Palavras-chave

Turismo, Place Marketing, Place Branding, Imagem de Destino, Storytelling, Can't Skip

Portugal.

How to cite this article

Duarte, Alexandre & Soeiro, Raquel (2025). Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of

Storytelling in Tourism Advertising. Janus.net, e-journal of international relations, VOL 15 N.º 2,

TD2 – Temathic Dossier – “Place Branding and Public Diplomacy”. February 2025, pp. 94-113.

https://doi.org/10.26619/1647-7251.DT0125.5.

Article received on 13 october 2024 and accepted for publication on 29 november 2024

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

DESTINATIONS, EXPERIENCES, AND PLACES:

THE ROLE OF STORYTELLING IN TOURISM ADVERTISING

ALEXANDRE DUARTE

RAQUEL SOEIRO

Introduction

Tourism is a significant global economic driver. However, its communication practices are

still constrained by the intangible and experiential nature of its offerings. Despite the

widespread recognition of storytelling in tourism promotion, the integration of this

technique into place and destination branding frameworks remains poorly explored. This

study identifies this gap, arguing that storytelling enhances the emotional resonance of

destination promotion and addresses key challenges in creating coherent, impactful

narratives for diverse audiences. It provides a conceptual framework by aligning

storytelling with destination branding theories and demonstrates how storytelling can be

used to build authentic, memorable destination identities.

Although defining tourism as a single, consensual concept is challenging (Lai & Li, 2022),

this paper adopts the definition of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), which

describes tourism as a “social, cultural, and economic phenomenon involving the

movement of people to countries or locations outside their usual place of residence for

personal, business, or professional purposes” (World Tourism Organization, 2023).

Furthermore, tourism can be understood as “the set of lawful activities carried out by

visitors during their travels, along with the attractions and means created to meet their

needs and the phenomena and relationships resulting from these interactions” (Cunha &

Abrantes, 2019, p.14). This indicates that tourism sustains a highly dynamic and complex

market composed of diverse products and services catering to various consumer needs.

It is driven by consumer preferences, technological advancements, and environmental

considerations, playing a pivotal role in global economies and in fostering social and

cultural exchanges.

Given the uniqueness of the industry, tourism communication involves diverse processes,

including social, informational, and promotional elements. Tourism and its

communication coexist in time and space, and how a destination’s image is promoted

directly influences visitors’ decision-making processes. Therefore, promotional efforts

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

must be adapted to meet consumer needs and market trends (Marujo, 2012). This makes

innovation in advertising messages not only necessary but imperative to achieve

promotional goals. As a result, the tourism industry has implemented new strategies that

combine creativity, sustainability, and the development of new products and experiences

to contribute to a more positive and robust image of destinations in the global market.

In this context, storytelling stands out as a key advertising tool. This technique, based

on intentional narratives, offers a creative revitalization of destinations, providing an

ever-growing opportunity to enhance the promotion of tourist destinations, places,

products, and experiences.

Although it has been proven that narratives have the power to make individuals feel more

human, connecting them to their memories and identities (Ribeiro, 2020), few studies

have explored the relationship between storytelling and place branding (Yavuz et al.,

2016; Keskin et al., 2016).

This study discusses, therefore, the success factors of using storytelling to brand a place,

looking to the "Can't Skip Portugal" promotional campaign that started in 2017 and

contributed to electing Portugal as the World’s Leading Destination at the World Travel

Awards 2019 for the third consecutive year and consolidating Portugal as an unmissable

tourism destination.

Tourism, Communication, and Place Branding

The global tourism industry encompasses various destinations with different products

and services tailored to various market segments, each with its motivations and needs.

In recent decades, the exponentially increased demand, the emergence of low-cost

airlines, and the rise of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), coupled with

more discerning consumers, have made this sector increasingly competitive. In addition,

the current trend, in terms of consumption, is very focused on experiences. Due to the

specificity of the tourism industry, where tourists’ experiences are broadly narrated from

an individual point of view and easily shared through the countless social media platforms

available, differentiating and positioning destinations in such a vast and diverse market

poses a significant challenge for tourism stakeholders.

Tourism acts as a driving force for place development by stimulating the creation and

expansion of tourism-related offerings and infrastructure. The diversification and

specialization of tourism offerings, driven by more informed and demanding travelers,

present an opportunity to revitalize and enhance destinations based on their resources,

identity, and authenticity (Melo et al., 2016). Moreover, as the tourism industry facilitates

a broad spectrum of cultural and social exchanges during the journey (Cunha & Abrantes,

2019), its communication goes beyond mere transmission of information. Its quality and

effectiveness are intrinsically linked to cultural awareness, understanding desires and

needs, and the communication methods employed (Setiawan, 2023).

Communication is a fundamental component of the viability of tourism activities, enabling

the dissemination of information about destinations, products, and services, bridging the

gap between supply and demand, shaping the stereotypes of the locations (Duarte,

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

2014), and connecting visitors with host communities (Marujo, 2012). Tourism

communication encompasses all formal and informal processes that take place before,

during, and after the visitation experience, playing a key role in relationships between

supply agents, public and private tourism sectors, and the development of the tourism

industry itself. Consequently, it is crucial for the strategic dissemination and promotion

of destinations, the establishment of a destination’s image, the provision of information,

the interaction between tourists and residents, and the creation of a destination as a

message to be interpreted by visitors, whether real or potential (Baldissera, 2010).

As Anholt (2010, p.1) stated, "Places have been promoting their attractions and their

images throughout history because they have always needed to attract settlers,

customers, visitors, traders, investors and the category of people we today call

‘influencers." This idea junctions with the brand-building process of places, or place

branding, which is understood as the sum of all beliefs, ideas, and impressions that

people associate with a place (Baker, 2007), and where tourists themselves play an

important and relevant role (Freire, 2006).

The tourism communication system unfolds in three stages: before the trip, through

active search for information on destinations, products, and services; during the trip,

through the experience of consumption and interactions at the location; and after the

trip, through feedback sharing. As such, tourism communication is a “complex,

omnipresent, bidirectional, and symmetrical process that is essential for creating,

maintaining, or correcting the image of a destination, company, or brand, fostering

tourist loyalty, sparking interest, influencing the choice process, and keeping the memory

of lived experiences alive to prompt recommendations and repeat visits” (Wichels, 2014,

p.29).

Advertising Communication in Tourism

Advertising communication is a very ancient phenomenon (Duarte, 2023) that has

evolved with the cultural, social, and technological progress of societies, primarily aimed

at persuading target audiences regarding a product or service for commercial purposes.

Advertising can be defined as the “placement of announcements and messages in time

or space… aimed at informing and/or persuading members of a specific target market or

audience about their products, services, organizations, or ideas” (American Marketing

Association, 2024) and plays an important role in all organizational sectors, but especially

in services, like tourism.

The very nature of tourism products, starting with their intangibility and the volatility of

demand influenced by economic, political, health, or social contexts, poses numerous

challenges for destination communication and promotion. Tourism communication serves

as a powerful tool for promoting places, destinations, and experiences, allowing tourism

offerings to be targeted and differentiated from others in the market. This is achieved by

promoting the unique attributes of the location or service to generate consumer desire

and intent to purchase through the dissemination of positive information and images

(Salehi & Farahbakhsh, 2014). Furthermore, the communication skills of service

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

providers are equally important in ensuring the quality of tourism products and creating

a pleasant experience for the visitor (Tankovic et al., 2023).

Hence, tourism advertising communication is designed to influence visitors’ decision-

making through persuasion and influence based on emotions, awareness, and

perceptions. These promotional actions aim to direct visitor behavior toward the

consumption of destinations, tourism products, and services. Its success can be

measured by the ability to lead the consumer to visit the destination or purchase a

promoted experience, product, or service (Hiekal, 2022). Therefore, tourism advertising

must be tailored to the characteristics of each visitor group and the various components

of the tourism offering, highlighting the destination’s attractions, accommodations,

dining options, and events (Souza et al., 2020).

It is also crucial to understand the factors that shape consumer perception and influence

their decision-making regarding a particular place, destination, or tourism experience.

This understanding enables more efficient adaptation, creation, and management of

tourism advertising communication. In this regard, the image of a destination plays a

critical role in a consumer’s decision-making process when choosing one destination or

experience over others. According to Alcocer and Ruiz (2020), the “destination image” is

consumers’ perceived mental conceptualization, which is directly conditioned by the

amount and quality of information available. Additionally, the formation of a destination

image, which is closely tied to place branding, results from a cognitive process involving

the deconstruction and reconstruction of information from various sources. The image

perceived by the consumer is inevitably shaped by individual subjectivity and background

and is further influenced by psychological and sociodemographic factors (Lopes, 2011).

The success of tourism communication depends on both the individual values of the

target audience (their perceptions, preferences, knowledge, etc.) and the cultural values

of the location (its notoriety, history, reputation, etc.). Tourism advertising strategies are

based on two main pillars: the content of the messages to be conveyed and the choice

of the most relevant communication channels. Advertising has the potential to reduce

the perceived risk in destination selection by promoting congruence between the visitor

and the destination (Šegota, 2024).

Like most commercial communications, tourism advertising uses various approaches that

can be employed individually or together depending on the purpose of the

communication. These approaches include slogans, which help establish the message in

the audience’s mind; logos, which create and reinforce a visual identity that distinguishes

the tourist location from others; informative brochures, which serve both an informative

and persuasive function by providing information on the place to visit, maps, and points

of interest, and digital media, which have gained prominence with the rise of digitalization

and include a wide array of tools, such as websites, QR codes, augmented reality, or

artificial intelligence (Jurdana, 2024).

Considering the current trends in the sector, including new forms of consumption driven

by digitalization, visitors tend to seek more personalized experiences, allowing them to

actively create and customize their touristic experiences. As such, the innovation

associated with revitalizing tourism offerings retains visitors by providing authentic and

transformative experiences. These experiences are promoted through advertising

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

100

communication that actively supports the promotion and development of destinations by

showcasing their points of interest (Salehi & Farahbakhsh, 2014).

Thus, if advertising is the tool through which persuasive information is provided to the

potential visitor, motivating them to visit a destination and encouraging the consumption

of its tourism products, services, and experiences, identifying and defining the target

audience as accurately as possible is crucial. Both the message and the media used must

contribute to the most effective promotion of tourism destinations.

Tourism and Place Brand Storytelling

Swain et al. (2024) used lexicometric analysis to determine the most prominent keywords

associated with place branding throughout the years. Between 2016 and 2020,

"storytelling" stood out, indicating the importance of this tool. As Youssef et al. (2018)

confirmed, its effectiveness in communicating a destination brand. Lund et al. (2020)

discovered that storytelling can also be used as an effective way to counter the negative

comments of social media users. The impact of these new digital media, called

"technologies of power" by Lund et al. (2018), due to their role in shaping social

interactions and mechanisms, implies a novel interpretation of how these online social

networks generate engagement and stimulate the circulation of destination brand stories.

Even though we can say that advertising has always been narrative (Vizcaíno, 2016),

according to López and Gil-Casares (2017), the birth of storytelling in the advertising

industry dates to the 1990s in the United States. The reasons behind its appearance are

anchored in the fact that advertisers and communication professionals of that time felt

the need to use communication forms that, although widely used in everyday life, had

not been seen in commercial communications until then.

For Camprubí and Planas (2020), storytelling, which has already been successfully used

in product branding (Salomon, 2007), is a tool that tourism destinations can use for place

branding.

The essence of tourism is rooted in the social and cultural interactions that occur during

a journey, collectively forming the consumer’s overall experience. Communication is a

practice that coexists with tourism itself (Baldissera, 2010). However, the continuous

development of the sector requires ongoing adaptation of the offerings provided by

destinations, actively contributing to the revitalization and innovation of communication

and promotional processes.

Given the recreational and intangible aspects of tourism, coupled with the historical and

cultural characteristics of the destinations, there is an increasing need for creative

communication about tourism destinations, places, and experiences. In this context,

storytelling has become an integral part of communication strategies in the tourism

industry to promote and differentiate destination brands (Youssef et al, 2018). A good

example is the “Mediterraneamente” campaign by the Catalonian beer brand Estrella

Damm, which not only promoted the beverage but also various tourist destinations in

Spain (Álvarez-Ruiz & Patiño, 2021, Rodríguez-Rabadán et al., 2022, Álvarez-Ruiz &

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

101

Patiño, 2023). This campaign employed youthful, carefree narratives typically associated

with Southern Europe.

Another Spanish example is the city of Girona, used by Camprubí and Planas (2020) as

a case study to assess the extent to which the city’s myths and legends can be used in a

promotional campaign. The authors concluded that traditional stories not only have the

potential to be used in storytelling but also to reinforce the values and identity of a city’s

brand.

In Portugal, cities like Aveiro and Ílhavo, for example, have created museum tourist

routes based on monuments and historical places, proposing itineraries that tell tourists

local history exclusively through narratives (Maia et al., 2013).

Telling a story makes it easier for you to remember. Not only because of the content

itself, its narrative elements, the characters, the images, the context, the action, etc. but

also because of the way they are told and how the message is transmitted. Stories are

the best tools not only to activate emotions but also memory. On the one hand, stories

are essential in activating our mirror neurons (Farran, 2013), which make us identify

with a certain situation and immediately relate to it. In this sense, when conveying a

story with certain words, images, colors, suggestions, people, etc., that connote certain

sensations, this activates certain specific areas of the brain that process the information

about the emotion that has been aroused.

On the other hand, all humans are made of stories because everything that happens to

us is relatable and, therefore, memorable. Also, as David Herman (2002) reminds us,

the more clichés and norms are broken, the more tellable and the greater the attention

the story will receive. People want to be surprised. Today’s public, whose access to

practically everything is more accessible than ever, is eager to experience, live, feel, and

participate. When this is not physically possible, use stories to experience this world. We

are now fully accustomed to enjoying infotainment experiences, and stories are a

fundamental part of this cultural and social process.

Stories also appeal to our playful selves. Faced with several informative messages,

stories make us lower our guard about our skepticism and prepare us to enjoy their

intrigue, their conflicts, and their characters (Núñez, 2007).

Hence, the power and potential that stories have, whether in the human mind or social

relations. A good story, well told, has the power to create a strong (and often lasting)

relationship with your target audience, which can awaken aspects that are often hidden

in their subconscious and, more importantly, determine their subsequent behavior.

Of course, the impact and relevance of storytelling can vary according to several factors,

namely the moment and social context in which the story occurs. In other words, what

is narrated in the story may have greater or lesser interest, a greater or lesser impact,

depending on the moment in which it happens and is transmitted. For example, a

dramatic story about a labor rights activist told on May 1 (International Labor Day) would

have greater reception and relevance than if it were told during the middle of August,

with much of the population on vacation.

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

102

In the context of advertising communication, storytelling is a technique that involves

creating and delivering messages through intentional narratives. According to Rodríguez

(2017), “storytelling presents itself as an emotional narrative in which a connection is

established between the audience and the narrator, which allows the message to last

longer for the viewer” (p.6).

This practice connects the axis of the advertising narrative to the current reality, and by

enhancing the sensory value of the experience, it fosters a mental association between

the stories and the consumer’s personal experience. The effectiveness of storytelling lies

in the human ability to store, consolidate, and recall information in the form of stories,

with its success depending on how well consumers identify with the narrative (Kang et

al., 2019). Storytelling, therefore, is an integral part of promotional strategies in the

tourism industry, allowing for the long-term promotion and differentiation of a destination

by coordinating all offerings within a single narrative that communicates the destination’s

key attributes and values clearly and uniquely. This promotional strategy, which involves,

emotional, and conative dimensions, aims to stimulate consumer emotions and requires

all destination stakeholders to align with the narrative (Mossberg et al., 2010; Youssef

et al., 2018).

Storytelling, by enabling the development of unique narratives, benefits both tourism

providers and visitors. Visitors’ attention has increasingly shifted from the consumption

of products and services to the experience of destinations, driven by a growing desire for

authenticity and meaning (Hosany et al., 2022). For this reason, storytelling narratives

must align with the destination’s identity, the chosen theme, and the locations selected

for strategic communication development, considering all actors involved in the process.

In addition to the purchase and consumption of tourism products, visitors seek to

consume the stories behind these offerings. The rising demand for experiences that are

based on the intangible aspects of tourism presents an opportunity to revitalize and adapt

the tourism market. In this regard, creative tourism offers unique experiences based on

direct interaction between residents and visitors, valuing visitors’ self-realization and self-

expression through the development of their creative skills (Marujo et al., 2021). The

use of storytelling to tell these experiences fosters a sense of belonging among the local

community and encourages visitor involvement and interaction. This offers tourism

providers the opportunity to transform consumers into loyal followers and active

promoters of the tourist experience by involving them in the creative process (Korez-

Vide, 2017).

In tourism promotion, storytelling allows for the design and delivery of more effective

and targeted messages through strategically developed stories and narratives aimed at

specific audiences. Additionally, when properly integrated into a destination’s value

proposition, storytelling establishes a coherent information stream that emotionally

connects consumers with promotional content. This merges the destination’s identity and

authenticity with its advertising communication in a creative manner, contributing to a

more favorable consumer perception of the destination, considering the available tourism

resources and long-term sustainability goals. However, tourism providers must

collaborate continuously to maximize the effects of storytelling and develop coherent

tourism experiences for visitors (Yavuz et al., 2016; Kang et al., 2019).

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

103

Here's where the concept of Tellability arises, which was born in the field of

conversational storytelling, that is, telling stories in oral conversations. For Farran

(2013), this term encompasses all types of narratives that are worth telling by the sender

and, therefore, heard by the receiver. An essential issue for any story, and especially for

storytelling with persuasive objectives, is the narrative interest. In other words, the

interest must remain intrinsic to the narrative so that there is an interconnection and

reciprocity between the story and the viewer. What must be clear is that not everything

that is narrated is newsworthy and, therefore, of interest to the public. Just like in films,

despite showing ordinary scenes from everyday life, what stands out are the impactful,

transcendent, magical, bizarre, different, unusual, or unexpected events. This captures

the audience’s attention and piques their interest. Likewise, stories must tell something

relevant to the audience that somehow connects with them.

Framing the concept of advertising storytelling in the current context, amid the rise of

the Internet, big data, algorithms, artificial intelligence, machine learning, etc., it is

important to reflect on the fact that advertising communication is increasingly

bidirectional. Therefore, brands must provide sufficiently interesting content and

engagement to encourage public response. Furthermore, in this way, the consumer

becomes an active participant in the brand's content, creating, participating, sharing, and

interacting with the message that brands provide, massively increasing their reach and

impact. This change in the traditional structure of communication between a brand and

consumer is beautifully represented by Opresnik (2017) in his article: "From Bowling to

Pinball." For the author, traditional communication worked like bowling, in which a single

message (the big ball) is launched into the market, trying to reach as many consumers

as possible (metaphorically knocking down as many pins) and whose message does not

return to the starting point. In the context of social networks, UCG (User Content

Generator), the era of sharing (Dias & Duarte, 2022), a new format has emerged with

greater relevance for brands: the pinball approach. This time, the messages (possibly

smaller, that is, with smaller budgets) are sent to a market that, upon receiving this

information, begins to comment, like, and share it among its members and, often, start

a "dialog" with the issuing brand that can, this time, return the message to the market,

starting or reinforcing this interactive communication loop. As the public has moved from

listening to stories to participating in them, storytelling presents itself as a valuable

resource that anyone can advertise.

This tool enhances the emotional connection with the story being told. The different

events transmitted translate them into a sensitive world that allows us to identify each

character or scene (Atarama-Rojas et al., 2018). The storytelling technique makes

viewers feel like they are in the shoes of the characters and interact in one way or another

with them, feeling their needs, concerns, and sensations. This is especially relevant when

considering tourist destinations.

Storytelling is also a critical element in building a destination’s identity and strengthening

its brand image in the tourism market. To do so, its approach should incorporate a certain

degree of dramatization, depending on the theme and purpose of the narrative, to

validate visitors’ engagement and interaction with the creative process (Mossberg et al.,

2010). For this practice to be successful, long-term cooperation with all tourism

stakeholders is necessary, and the narratives must be conveyed through experiences,

JANUS.NET, e-journal of International Relations

e-ISSN: 1647-7251

VOL 15 N.º 2, TD2

Thematic Dossier – Place Branding and Public Diplomacy

Special edition on Ibero-American States

February 2025, pp. 94-113

Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

104

places, and characters, organizing all the components of the destination’s consumption

package. The narrative should convey the destination’s core values by incorporating the

locations and themes that reflect the place’s distinctive and authentic attributes (Yavuz

et al., 2016).

After understanding the essential elements of narrative construction and its purpose, one

can understand how storytelling can play a vital role in promoting tourism destinations.

Strategic narrative planning that reflects the destination’s identity, uniqueness, and

authenticity provides a purpose for the visit, positively impacting the tourist experience

and influencing both the subjective domain of the visitor and the promotional, persuasive

intent of the destination. This practice strengthens visitors’ memories of the place while

emotionally engaging them with narrative content (Cao, 2019).

Therefore, tourism communication professionals should be encouraged to use storytelling

dynamics based on narratives about local culture and heritage because these tend to

enhance the attractiveness of the tourist experience and foster emotional bonds with

visitors. Strategic storytelling planning is critical for tourism development because it

helps enhance destinations, communities, and heritage. Narratives stimulate the

inclusion of stories in the visitor’s conception, appealing to their creative and emotional

dimensions. Moreover, they foster interaction with the local community, its values, and

its identity, thereby enhancing and perpetuating the tourist experience in the visitor’s

memory (Liçaj & Matja, 2015). After all, as López and Gil-Casares (2017) remind us, this

was the assumption that led Ashraf Ramy to open an advertising agency in Amsterdam,

called “Narrativity”, whose slogan was: “People do not buy products, but the stories that

these products represent” (p. 79).

Analysis of storytelling applied to the "Can't Skip Portugal" Campaign

As stated by Gertner (2011), the number of publications related to 'place marketing' and

'place branding' has experienced exponential growth in the last two decades, especially

after Anholt´s article on Nation Branding in 1998. Given this development, the reasons

and implications that motivate the success of territorial brands have begun to be

scrutinized. The authors state that one of these factors is storytelling, which several

destinations have begun to use to promote themselves.

For this article, we used a qualitative methodology based on a single case study (Byrne,

2009) of a promotional campaign for Portugal´s tourism. According to Quintela (2021),

the "Portugal brand" emerged in 1999 because of the need to differentiate itself from

other countries. It underwent several strategic changes depending on the different

Governments and political orientations, which resulted in distinct campaigns and

positionings over time. In May 2017, Turismo de Portugal presented the "Can't Skip

Portugal" campaign to promote the country exclusively in digital media.

The campaign was run in 20 countries, with a common characteristic: their citizens have

high purchasing power and, therefore, are better able to take advantage of the multiple

and diverse experiences that Portugal can offer, even in the winter.

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Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

105

Initially, this campaign consisted of four videos, always starting from a common central

narrative idea (Can't Skip Portugal) but varying in the final specification: "Can't Skip New

Beginnings"; "Can't Skip Inspiration"; "Can't Skip Freedom"; and the last one, which

gathers the three stories: "Can't Skip Us". The use of storytelling was justified as this

technique empowers brands and tourism destinations to differentiate themselves from

competitors, thus gaining a positive advantage (Yavuz et al., 2016).

There were three protagonists who “lived” Portugal in many other films: actor James

Palmer (Figure 1), in the role of a top executive but tired of the fast-paced life; a young

French woman (Figure 2), bored with routine life and a German retiree (Figure 3), for

whom getting older is a way of living longer and therefore seeks “new beginnings”.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Source: Canal Youtube: VisitPortugal

The last film in the series brings together the three main characters as they return to the

emotions and regions of Portugal (Figures 4, 5, and 6). The objective is to show, through

these stories, personal but also transversal to so many people, that Portugal is a

destination for everyone who wants to visit and experience intensely everything the

country has to offer.

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Source: Canal Youtube: VisitPortugal

Through these videos[1] - all filmed in the middle of winter (Figure 7) to prove that it is

also possible to have an unforgettable vacation at this time - whose messages are based

on an exciting, positive, and aspirational narrative, the aim is to promote the destination,

approaching and raising awareness of potential tourists through images of nature,

history, culture, and fascinating beauty, but also through the story, which is told by the

three characters looking directly at the camera (see Fig. 1, 2, 3).

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Destinations, Experiences, and Places: The Role of Storytelling in Tourism Advertising

Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

106

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Source: Canal Youtube: VisitPortugal

The strength of these testimonies corroborates the writings of Chronis (2012, p. 445),

who states that “a story transforms what would be an indifferent and unimportant space

into an attractive tourist destination” by involving the intended target audience and

questioning them, directly, about their own lives, ambitions, and aspirations, encouraging

them to follow their dreams, to start again, to travel, to get to know Portugal (Figure 8,

9). This strategy is in line with the arguments of Akgün et al. (2015), who stated that

storytelling helps tourists create bonds of empathy with places, because it generates

positive emotional responses and behavioral intentions toward travel destinations. These

authors also concluded that the "storytelling approach can be used as a marketing tool

in tourism companies, and it may motivate consumers for behavioral intentions such as

word-of-mouth and visit intention" (p.585). Escalas and Stern (2003) corroborated this

by proving that storytelling affects audiences´ feelings and good stories have an impact

on future traveling decision-making. Wirtz et al. (2016) added that empathy, together

with sympathy in advertising communication, plays an important role in consumer

persuasion.

Once the starting point of storytelling is the construction of narratives to create affective

bonds between the stories, their characters, and the audience for whom they are

intended, thus increasing their ability to attribute meanings and facilitate understanding

and assimilation of messages (Barbosa e Souza, 2021), its use to promote Portugal as a

tourist destination is evidently understandable.

Recent studies argue that storytelling works as a key element in valuing tourist

destinations, as today´s tourists are increasingly looking for unique and/or authentic

experiences (Hartman et al., 2019; Su et al., 2020), and this campaign also fulfills this

request. Framed within the theoretical framework of the competitive advantages of

nations by Michael Porter (1993), the competitive identity proposals by Anholt (2007),

and the so-called strategic “niche” generation of place marketing by Moilanen and

Rainisto (2009), the campaign "Can't Skip Portugal" explores the unique characteristics

of Portugal (sea, nature, tradition, gastronomy, history) through an engaging, emotional,

and authentic narrative.

The storytelling structure presented in the different campaign films encompasses

narrative fragments from different testimonies while presenting the elements that the

country intends to highlight. In an almost informal, relaxed way, told in the first person

by each of the participants, Turismo de Portugal manages to involve its target audience

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107

in a way that is simultaneously symbolic and mobilizing. Symbolic, via the emotional

appeal of feelings such as evasion, escape, travel, freedom, dream, belief, and future.

All these elements have a transformative and powerful symbolic charge, which is in line

with the writings of McCabe and Foster (2006), who also understand storytelling as a

way of obtaining symbolic status, stating that the peculiarity of the technique lies in its

ability to offer individuals ways to escape the real. And mobilizing, through an appeal to

individual values, unique experiences, and unrepeatable feelings lived by each of the

characters, who describe their emotions not in a commercial, eminently persuasive way

but, on the contrary, in a fluid, inviting, and truthful way, which captures attention and

facilitates availability to retain the message. As Palacios and Terenzzo (2018, p. 201)

wrote, storytelling “has the ability to create a situation in which the receiver is interested

and has their attention fully focused on the message”.

In line with the findings of Youssef et al. (2018), who conducted 25 semi-structured

interviews with communication practitioners to conclude that, in the context of

destination marketing, storytelling, by involving cognitive, affective, and conative

dimensions, helps to define a destination’s identity and shape a distinct positioning, this

campaign positioned Portugal with a clear branding image of an ideal place for travelers.

Conclusion

Recognition of the financial importance of the tourism industry in recent decades has led

to unprecedented growth in this sector combined with specialization in demand and has

significantly increased competition between destinations. At the same time, the era of

exponential growth in the creation and sharing of information, combined with the

emergence and development of new technologies, has generated an overdose of data

that far exceeds the human capacity to process, understand, or even pay attention.

It is in this context of scarce attention, the multiplicity of channels, excessive information,

and accelerated technological development that organizations, brands, places, and other

advertising entities feel the need to find new ways of connecting with these new

consumers, increasingly dispersed, inattentive, unfaithful, and eager for new things and

experiences, which the tourism industry cannot be left out of.

Therefore, storytelling emerges as a response to many of these needs. Together with a

strategic and holistic vision of communication and business, requiring the integration of

all tourism entities and their respective stakeholders to create coherent value and

positively consolidate the destination´s image among consumers, this approach can

stimulate consumer desires and help visitors not only understand the information but

also interact and engage with it.

If place branding is believed to be a way of making places famous (Anholt, 2010),

storytelling can be seen as a shortcut to accelerate this process by involving people in a

(usually) emotional narrative that touches the human values of the target.

As tourism demand shifts toward transformative, innovative, participatory, and authentic

experiences, storytelling as an advertising tool allows the development of more creative,

more engaging, and more relational communications. In this way, tourist promotional

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Alexandre Duarte, Raquel Soeiro

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communication not only improves the image of the destination and its tourist offers, and

has the potential to connect this imagery to the visitor´s emotional involvement, creating

strong, lasting, and memorable sentimental bonds.

Storytelling reveals itself, from the outset, as a valuable tool for influencing consumer

decision-making through communicating the unique attributes of a destination,

distinguishing its offer from the competition appealingly and engagingly. On the other

hand, it aligns the promotional content with the purpose of the narrative, by considering

themes, images, speech, characters, and all other elements with the dissemination

channel itself, thereby enhancing the strength of the message. The communication

narrative can also be associated with broader destination promotion objectives, including

attracting or retaining visitors, improving cultural heritage, and/or developing, for

example, sustainable tourism practices.

Although the effectiveness of storytelling always depends on several factors, such as the

audience's degree of identification with the narrative, the elements used, the context in

which it is produced, or the media in which it is conveyed, its creative and emotional

aspects, when strategically transmitted through appropriate channels, they contribute

positively to the visitor's involvement, to improve their entire experience, and to increase

the notoriety and future memory of the destination. Storytelling can, therefore, play a

crucial role in developing tourism promotion, offering countless opportunities for this

industry, whether in destinations, products, or experiences, that no operator or

destination can afford to waste.

In short, based on what was previously discussed and analyzed, one can state that the

use of storytelling in the promotion of tourist destinations is an increasingly used

technique whose main objective is to affect the behavioral intentions of tourists but also

to generate greater involvement and empathy with visitors, contributing to destination

branding, as is the case with the "Can't Skip Portugal" campaign, which contributed not

only to increasing the number of visitors to Portugal but also to growing its prominent

position in the global tourism sector.

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