Abstract

Tourism serves as a crucial asset to economies, as they thrive due to the income generated from the tourism industry. This study analyzed the opinions of tourism stakeholders regarding Buea as a destination brand. One theory and three models were utilized to support the literature: Tourism Theory of Change, Aaker’s Brand Equity Model, Keller’s Brand Equity Model, and Konecnik and Gardner’s Destination Brand Equity Model. This research employed mixed methods, including a survey and semi-structured interviews.

A total of 200 tourism stakeholders were surveyed, while the Delegation of Tourism and Leisure, an Ecotourism guard, and the Programme Coordinator of the Environment and Rural Development Foundation (ERuDeF) were interviewed. Key findings indicated that tourism stakeholders frequently visit the tourism sites in Buea. The results were statistically significant at a 0.05 level with a 95% confidence interval.

Furthermore, the findings revealed that 62% of the tourism stakeholders are aware of the sites because they reside in Buea, while others learned about the sites through friends and relatives. Additionally, the results of the One T-test indicated that tourism stakeholders have a significantly positive perception of Buea municipality.

Likewise, the outcome of the One Sample T-test demonstrated that the cost of services and amenities is considerably high in the destination brand. This study suggests that the management of the tourism sites should utilize traditional and social media platforms to raise awareness and increase the visibility of the sites. This will assist in improving statistics on the number of individuals visiting the sites. Furthermore, the tourist sites should be regularly maintained to render them appealing to both tourists and residents.

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