A research on country positioning and tourism development in emerging countries, throughout interviews with native citizens, travelers, immigrants, travel agents and NGO's representatives to understand the different perspectives of the challenge to work tourism in developing countries and in places off-the-radar.

1. How might we help
developing countries
overcome stereotypes
through a mindful
tourism perspective?

2. Why did I made this research?
This research I made as an application proposal for
Kaospilot, based on the idea to erase negative
stereotypes and stigma against countries/places
around the world through marketing and
positioning.
Although nation branding is not that hottest
concept, there are still many challenges to solve
regarding this topic, especially in the case of
developing countries. Personally, it’s an opportunity
to match my passions for travel and discover
different cultures to a career.
Moreover the proposal, I intend to share the insights
obtained and contribute for relevant discussion on
break stereotypes about countries. I believe travel
and exchanges can connect countries, cultures and
people.

3. Firstly, thanks to everyone!!!!
Firstly, I’m grateful to everyone who contributed to
this research during the interviews and all the
friends who gave me nice insights to carry on this
work!Thanks Kaospilot for inspire me to go ahead,
it’s been really worth the effort!
By skype, e-mail, inbox, by phone – all the answers
were important to inspire me to take this research
day and night. I won’t mention names to don’t be
unfair, as there are a lot of persons who contributed.
Without your time and attention, it wouldn’t be
possible!
I hope, with this initiative, to inspire more
discussions about erase negative stereotypes about
places we don’t know and contribute to
travel/tourism industry as alternative to bring up
sustainable economic models in developing
countries.

4. In the last 3 years, I could travel to 14 countries:
living in India, in Egypt and in Serbia, plus
backpacking through Eastern and Central Europe.
Many incredible places, amazing experiences and a
lot of awesome people along the road that helped
me to discover their countries and cultures, totally
different from what I’d see through the news.
Not all Indians are rapists, Egypt wasn’t in a civil
war, Serbia, Bosnia, Ukraine and Russia don’t
resume by wars and conflicts and so on. Would I
have all the discoveries if I had considered all the
negative news and lack of proper information? I’m
sure I wouldn’t.
How did this idea start?

5. And would you travel to...
Iran?
Pakistan?
North Korea?
Israel?
Iraqi Kurdistan?
Colombia?
And so on....
WHY?

6. Why not erase negative
stereotypes?
I had great experiences in countries carried out
by negative news and I’ve been seeing that the
negative image and lack of proper information
inhibit people to travel to these places.
So, why not help to break prejudices against
unknown places? Why not help to more people
discover countries and places as they really are?
As we travel more and more, we not only
discover different cultures, people and
opportunities, but we also discover many
similarities as human beings and feel more
connection to humanity and to the whole
universe.

7. How was the research?
The research was conducted in 2 simultaneous
phases: Qualitative phase and Semiotics phase.
In the Qualitative phase, it was made interviews
with 81 persons, among travelers, expats, NGOs
representatives, natives and travel agents. The
purpose of this phase is to understand the
several perspectives into promote countries
carried out with stigma.
In the Semiotics phase, studies about nation
branding, travel trends, mindful tourism and
analysis based on the answers obtained
throughout the interviews.

8. How did I organize the
insights? Through this
vision board, inspired by
the methods of design
thinking and Dragon
Dreaming. Chaotic, don’t
you think?

9. Details about interviewees
81 persons from 20 countries
43 women, 38 men
Interviees from: Brazil, Germany,
India, USA, Portugal, Ukraine,
Lebanon, Russia, Argentina,
Bosnia, Pakistan, Iran,
Afghanistan, Australia,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Colombia,
Mexico, Chile, Singapore
They traveled to/lived in/worked
in: Bosnia, Morocco, Colombia,
Egypt, Israel, Malaysia, Vietnam,
Myanmar, Indonesia, Turkey, Iran,
North Korea, Pakistan, Paraguay,
Ukraine, Russia, Jordan, Bahrain,
Kazakhstan, Kyrgystan, Ghana,
India, Tunisia, Latvia, Estonia,
India, Mexico

10. Part I: Semiotic phase
Before analyze the answers given by the interviewed
participants, it’s important to pay attention to some
concepts to understand the context of the proposal.
More than marketing and positioning, brand a place
– especially when surrounded by stigma – requires
understand the deep drivers that are critical to
engage societies within a whole nation or in a
certain region.
History, culture, religion, arts, national icons, places,
politics are a little bit of the many factors that
influence the image of a place, and that make the
work of branding exciting and complex.

11. Identity x Image
Identity: what the country really is
Image: how a place is noticed
externally
x
Work to do,
my baby!
 Correct the gap
 Erase stereotypes
 Align image and
identity
 Mobilization of local
forces to build a
proper image
externally

12. Facilities and opportunities
 Globalization and higher
competition
 Easier access to
information
 Cheaper flight tickets
 People travelling more
 Democratization of media
tools
 More facilities for for
activism on civil society
 More demand for authentic
travel experiences
 Opportunities to market places
out of mainstream destinations
 Opportunities to position to
niches
Facilities
Opportunities

13. But...we still feel some barriers...
It’s never been so easy to travel as nowadays,
especially to non-clichéd places. In addition, the same
to get to know with different cultures. Even with all the
facilities and opportunities available, what is still
necessary to do?
Facilities
x
Opportunities
 Erase negative stereotypes
and misconceptions
 Showcase unknown potentials
and attractives of places

14. From stereotypes to mindful
tourism
How to overcome
stereotypes?
Contact with the
concepts nation
branding, cultural
diplomacy, soft
power
Insights into
integrate tourism
programs into a
mindful and
sustainable model
From the initial idea to
overcome stereotypes,
the answers and
insights during the
research guided to the
idea of Mindful Tourism,
as a way to integrate
travelling into connect
people and cultures,
build a sustainable
economic model in
developing countries in
a win-win perspective.

15. Challenges ahead!
 Assess small and emerging countries
coordinate creatively their assets for
branding in absence of diplomatic,
economic and military power
 How to inovate on nation branding and
cultural diplomacy for small and
emerging countries?
 How to develop tourism programs in
developing countries through a mindful
and interdisciplinary perspective: local
government, local cultures and values,
ecology, etc.
Based on the answers
given in the interviews,
it’s possible to point out
some challenges to help
developing countries
overcome struggles
regarding negative
propaganda, in addition
to approach tourism
industry as alternative
channel for a
sustainable
development

16.  How can I help developing countries build alternative
and sustainable economic models throughout tourism
industry?
 How to contribute to the preservation of local cultures
through tourism development?
 How to improve the quality services on tourism
industry in developing countries?
 How to position to women and attend their necessities,
as well as to other niches (explorers, gays/lesbians,
etc.)
Challenges ahead!

17. Part II: Qualitative phase
On next pages, it’s presented the data collected
through the interwiews.
Along the research, it was possible to identify
common drivers among the participants’ answers
and insights of what was decisive for their
experiences in non-clichéd countries.
Important to comprehend that the presented data
express what the participants experienced in
different countries, each one with particular
realities.

18. Travelers/Expats/Natives
In the next section, it’s presented the
insights interviewing travelers, expats
and natives in countries carried out
with negative stereotypes.

19. Reasons to travel
+ 2
persona
Trip
Backpack
Work
Interesting job
description
Project
Tired of the trivial life/routine
To experience a different
culture
New experiences
A different place!
Get out of my comfort zone
Curiosity for the unknown
Challenge myself
See historical places
Humanitarian work
Meaningful experience
Common
reasons

20. How was the experience?
o Prejudices
o Discomforts and
schocks
o Discoveries
o Women’s rights
Regarding the
experience of the
interviewed
persons, it was
noticed these
drivers beside as
the core insights
• Drivers

21. Prejudices
 Felt prejudices existent
on local societies under
skin
 Sexism is common
among women
 For being foreigner
 Desmitifying prejudices
about the country and
its peoples
 Discover other cultures
through daily life
During their experiences, the
interviewed showed to face prejudices
on a double way: in one side to live it for
being different in another place and, in
the other side, to break previous
prejudices as put in direct contact with
the real situation
Break previous prejudicesLived prejudices

22. Discomforts and shocks
 Sexism/sexual harassments
 Fear of what is unfamiliar
 Challenging personally
 Differences on mindset
Discomforts and shocks are
common aspects of living
abroad, as expats/travelers are
exposed to challenging and
unfamilar situations, as well as
to different mindsets.
Among women, harassments
were appointed as a common
cause of discomfort.
Causes of discomforts
and shocks:

23. Discoveries
 “It was different of
everything I’ve seen before”
 “Most different and
interesting experience”
Learning about other
cultures as a source to
comprehend, a first step
for respect and tolerance
and change perceptions
were appointed as core
aspects of discover
lesser-known countries.
While discovering the
place, notice how
concepts and
misconcepts can be
transmitted by media.
Some phrases that
resume the discoveries
mentioned:

24. *Women’s rights*
Considering the cultures in
many developing countries are
mostly conservative and sexist,
women’s rights was noticed as
important factor for women
travelers and expats.
Among the interviewed women,
it’s evident the concerns about
the women’s role in local society
and the experience of face
harassments.

25. *Main concerns about
women’s rights*
 Women’s safety
 Degree of liberty for women
 How women’s rights are respected in the
destination
 Dress code
 Degree of strictions
 How they’re going to fit into local culture

26. Hesitations
o Safety and security
o Health
o Cost of living
o Gender and sexuality
o Concern of their
quality of life
Regarding what
would hesitate
travel to certain
place, safety and
security were the
main answers, with
other topics
decisive to enjoy a
reasonable quality
of life.
• Drivers

27. Safety and security
 Military conflicts
 Wars
 Lack of safety
 Extremist
movements
The interviewed showed
concern with safety and
security when deciding a
destination. In case of
countries carried out with
negative publicity, travelers
show concern about
violence statiscally
comproved, not that one
showed on the news.
Factors that would
make hesitate:

28. Health
 Diseases
 Virus
 Epidemics and
outbreaks
 How hygien is taken
Another factor that was
appointed by the
interviewed is health.
Situation that are threating
to their health such as virus
and diseases – Ebola
outbreak as example – are
also detractors when
choosing a destination.
Factors that would
make hesitate:

29. Costs and quality of life
Cost of living and
cost of travelling
were also mentioned
as decisive about a
destination,
especially to
developing
countries. Beside,
it’s presented other
aspects considering
what quality of life
travelers/expats
would have in the
place.
 Women’s rights: concerns
about strict rules, violence
against women, social
freedom of women
 Acceptance and positioning
regarding homossexuality
Another aspects
considered:

30. What is essential to know?
o It depends on what kind of
trip
o Get to know about the
culture
o Costs
o Extra: safety, language,
hospitality
• Drivers
When asked about the
most essential
information about a
destination, the
answers were closely
related to what would
hesitate to travel.
It depends on what kind
of trip, which determine
what information is
critical.

31. It depends!
Each case is relative!
Depending on factors
like the purpose of the
travel, the political
convictions, the sexual
preference, informations
such as openness to
homossexuality, religion,
political situation of the
country, diet and food
are important to decide
the destination.
 Sexuality
 Food and diet
 Lifestyle
 Religion
 Political
ideology
 Cultural values
Some factors that are
also influential when
deciding a destination:

32. Know about the culture
 What and how to dress?
 How to behave?
 What is socially
accepted and what’s
not?
 History and customs
 Women’s social role
Get to know about the
culture is always among
the main questions of
travelers, especially to
those non-clichéd
destinations.
Women show bigger
concern regarding dress
codes and the social role
of women in local
society.
Mentioned
concerns about
local culture:

33. Other essentials
Aligned to what would
hesitate choose a
destination, get informed
about financial aspects
as cost of living and
currency/exchange were
also mentioned as
essentials.
 Safety
 Language: do local
people speak English?
Any other language?
 Openness to foreigners
Other aspects
mentioned as
essentials:

34. Politics, economy, society
o Understand
before arrive
o It depends on
what kind of
travel
• Drivers When asked if they take
into consideration the
political, economic and
social aspects of the
place they’re going to, it
was pointed out that it
depends on their
objectives and the
situation

35. Understand before arrive
 Comprehend the gravity of
the situation in case of
conflicts and instability.
 Understand the risks
related to the situation in
the destination
 Concerns with factors that
can risk individual safety
The answers given by the
interviewed can be synthesized
on the following topics:

36. It depends on what kind of travel
 Short time: trend to not
consider deeply the political
aspects and economic stability
 Business travel, for example,
tends to require attention to
factors like corruption and
bureaucracies
 Lifestyle and cultural values:
determinant for those who
care about have their sexuality
and political ideology
respected, for example
Depending on the length
and on the purpose of
the travel, as well as
personal values of the
traveler, some aspects
can be taken into
consideration while
others not.

37. Get informed
o Internet
o Friends and
networking
Easier and abundant
information, especially by
internet, is decisive when
searching about non-
clichéd countries. In the
other side, it represents a
great source of
opportunities to promote
and brand lesser-known
places, not always used
properly by tourism
industry stakeholders.
• Drivers

38. Internet
 Google
 Websites in general
 Recent news about the
place
 Videos/movies
 Books
 Cultural life
 Travel guides
Contents about the places:
develop and curate relevant
content is one key activity
to connect with travelers
and promote the place! It’s
also important to pay
attention to search engine
tools when promoting a
place on internet.

39. Difficulties faced in the trips
o Visa
o Find the right
information
o Information
dispersed along
different
sources
 Long time to process
 Bureucracies
 How to extend/renew the
visa
 No representation in my
country
 Immigration proceedments
are confusing
• Drivers
Difficulties related
to visa issues:

40. What helped?
 Contact with someone who
have already been in the
place
 Information is abundant, the
big question is to use the
right tools to find the right
information

41. What were the surprises?
o Broken previous
stereotypes
o Shocks
o Fascinating places
o Discoveries
Among the surprises,
discover the places by
themselves was the main
aspect, seeing what they
woudn’t imagine and
what is not so known.
• Drivers

42. Broken stereotypes
 Desmistifying the
negative publicity
transmitted by the news
 Breaking misconceptions
and generalizations
Along their experiences,
the interviewed pointed
out the discovery of what
the countries/places
really are in comparison
to prejudices and
stereotypes.
Main surprises
regarding previous
stereotypes:

43. Shocks
 Sexual harassments
 Fear due to
stereotypes
 Extorsions and
overcharging prices
 Negative associations
of islamism to
women’s rights
Among the shocks and
negative aspects of
their experiences, the
interviewed pointed out
the following aspects:

44. Discoveries
 Fascinating places
 Self-discovery: news horizons
and perspectives to approach
life
 Development of soft skills and
of flexibility
Discover new places,
develop soft skills while
out of comfort zone and
self-discovery are
mentioned as most
remarkable aspects of
experience, especially in
non-clichéd places.
Main discoveries
mentioned:

45. How to promote?
o Promote more the
attractives
o Access to content
and information
• Drivers

46. Promote the attractives
Increase awareness of what
attractives there are in the
place is critical for erase
stigma and promote places
out of global stage, let the
world know cool things
happening in the country
regarding cultural life,
music, cinema,
innovations, creativity, etc.
 Natural beauty
 Architectonical patrimonies
 Recent history
 Culture
 Cost of living
 Transportation facilities
 Security, although
stereotypes
 Events
Examples to be promoted:

47. Content and information
 Facilitate the access to proper
information about the place
 Promote more the good things!
 Informations shared by travelers are
critical to a bigger reach out and
exchange experiences
 Events and contents to showcase
cultural authencities
What could be improved to erase
negative stereotypes?

48. Organizations
In the next section, it’s
presented the insights
interviewing NGOs and
travel agents, as well as
native citizens from
countries carried out with
misconceptions.

49. Why people hesitate to come?
• Drivers
o Culture
o Security
o Stereotypes/Misconceptions
o Lack of known attractions
When asked about
why people hesitate
to visit the place,
the interviewed
answers converged
to the drivers
Culture, Safety,
Stereotypes and
Lack of known
attractions

50. Culture
Some of the interviewed showed
concerns regarding
misconceptions people overseas
have about the local culture,
normally regarding how is the
culture in relation to dress code,
alcohol comsuption, women
social role, etc.
In some cases, negative PR by
media, movies or any political
incident can contribute for
misconceptions about how open a
place is for foreigners.
Communicate clearly
how open is the
local culture for who
are being targeted:
 Dress code
 Alcohol consumption
 Women’s social role
 Gay friendly or not
 Receptiveness for
foreigners

51. Security
In the case of post-conflict
countries and those associated to
conflicts, like Lebanon, Serbia,
Bosnia & Herzegovina, Israel,
Afghanistan – it’s common the
challenge to desmistify the
associations of violence for
citizens and tourists, even tough
when the places show a high level
of safety. Even when security
level is low, as mentioned by one
interviewed, “it doesn’t mean the
whole country is inside a huge
trouble of having no security at
al”.
Common
misconceptions
regarding safety:
 Ask about the safety
 Impression of a place
as full of violent and
hostile people
 Impression of danger
about a place
 Generalization to the
whole country as
violent when it’s
concentrated in limited
areas

52. Stereotypes
Erase stereotypes is, of
course, one of the
challenges to promote a
place as a destination.
Stereotypes and constant
negative news feed
erroneous perceptions
about a place, making
people ignore the existent
attractives it offers.
Some
misconceptions
mentioned by
interviewees:
 “(...) some think Lebanon is
in a desert(…)”
 “(…) I suppose they believe
that in Siberia there would
be more kind of traditional
rural society(…)”
 “Of course it is not nice of
Media to spread really
wrong information about
Afghanistan. Well, they
think only by having one or
two workers inside a
country they can find out
what is really going on
there”

53. Lack of known attractions
Due to the challenge of erase
stereotypes and
misconceptions, it was
noticed through the interviews
the necessity to invent new
ways to export local legends,
values and ideas to play a role
in a bigger sphere – regional,
national and international.
Moreover, raise awareness of
the past and history of the
local to showcase its unique
attractives.

54. Challenges to promote
• Drivers
o Political issues
o Security
o Raise awareness
Regarding the
challenges to promote
places carried out with
stigma, the
interviewed mentioned
to handle negative
publicity around
political issues,
security and to raise
awareness about what
the place has to offer.

55. Political issues and Security
Political issues and security represent
a complex challenge to promote a
destination as they represent sources
of negative publicity and exaggerated
news. Defeat statistics and news as a
place of conflict and war were common
answers mentioned by the participants.
Related to the questions about what
make people hesitate to go to a place,
generalizing violence to a whole
country/region when concentrated in
limited space is also a big challenge.

56. Raise awareness
Raise awareness of the attractives
the place has to offer is another
common challenge pointed out, as if
people outside don’t know what
there is to do/visit, why go there?
This point is critical for those places
out of mainstream routes and those
far away from central regions like
capitals. The lack of precise
information implies extra efforts like
convince the traveler about the
place and even put your trustness in
risk in case of deception.
Why raise
awareness?
 erase strong
stereotypes about the
place
 People discover what
are the attractives
 Promote experiences
and innovations that
could be shared
 Offer the right and
precise information

57. What could be improved to
promote?
When asked about what
could be improved to
promote their places, the
participants pointed out
answers converging to
brand awareness. As one
participant told: “(...) it’s all
about the brand(...)” People
go to places because of the
image they have in their
minds.
How to reach
awareness?
 Better media
coverage
 Highlight the positive
aspects
 Invest in digital
marketing
 Develop contents for
specific niches

58. What else to improve to promote?
Improve a place’s image doesn’t
limit to work on its brand. It also
involves complementary work on
issues like security, corruption
degree, more involvement of local
public and private sector.
Facilities for foreigners travel,
work and live are also important
steps as immigrants and travelers
can act like ambassadors when
having great experience in a
country.
What else to promote
awareness?
 Partnerships between
public and private
sectors
 Combat corruption
 Facilities for
foreigners work and
live in the country
 Facilities for visa

59. Extra challenges to consider
Regarding what could be
improved to develop the tourism
in their counties, the interviewed
also mentioned aspects related
to poor infrastructure that impact
directly on the touristic potential
and the quality of the travel
experiences in the place.
Along the interviews, it was also
mentioned about the challenge to
be careful when introducing
tourism elements, which when
when surrounded by sudden
wealth breed dissents like cheats
and touts in the place.
 Lack of international direct
flights to the destination
 Bureaucracies and
painstaking visa regime
 Low quality of venue and
local workforce
 No investment protection
for internal and foreigner
investors
 Lack of government support
and corruption
 Lack of official networking
of tourism ministries
 Limited availability of
comfortable environments
Other topics that impact
the tourism industry

60. What attractives are currently
ignored?
• Drivers
o Touristic and
economic appeals
o Human aspects
When asked about
what attractives
and attributes are
ignored because of
misconceptions, it
was possible to
identify 2 groups of
drivers:
Touristic/economic
appeals and Human
aspects.

61. Touristic and economic appeals
Beaches, nature, historical
places, scientific structures,
start up and entrepreneurship
are among the attributes
obscured by misconceptions
regarding the nations of the
interviewed persons.

62. Human aspects
The cultural diversity and
receptiveness to foreigners
are the main human aspects
mentioned among the
answers. Many unknown
places have intense cultural
life and, in some cases,
offer gay friendly and young
environment, for example.

63. Inspiring initiatives
On the next pages, it’s
presented some awesome
initiatives to erase stereotypes
and increase awareness about
stigmatized places discovered
during the research and the
interviews!

64. AFREAKA began in Brazil, in August
2012 through a crowdfunding initiative
on the website, Catarse.
The idea was to completely get away
from the ‘Africa’ stereotype of hunger,
poverty, war and so on.
AFREAKA aims to focus on
individual and collective expressions
of local culture and the values that tie
them together, using text, video,
photography and infographs.
The founders interviewed numerous
artists, intellectuals, and
environmentalists; learned about
innovative initiatives; visited
contemporary art galleries; and
frequented inspiring traditional
communities.
Website:www.afreaka.com.br/english/

65. Being aware of the fact that Iran has a
relatively negative image abroad which
does not correspond at all with the reality
they have encountered throughout their
trips through Iran, Cristian and Audrey
with their kids Emilia and Lucas have
considered initiating an informational and
promotional campaign – Iran is Great -
in Europe starting April 2014 introducing
Iran’s rich culture and civilization,
promoting the cultural, historical, natural
and tourism potentials by motorhome.
Currently, they’re travelling around
Arabic peninsula to continue the
campaign.
Website: www.iranisgreat.com

66. Serbia4Youth is an organization
with an accent on development
of youth travel in Serbia. The main
idea is to present destinations of
Serbia in a new and creative way, to
recreate touristic products and to
offer to young people in order to
encourage more frequent travel in
Serbia. Therefore development
of incoming tourism with the target
group – youth.
Website: www.serbia4youth.org

67. Bem-vindo à Sérvia – Welcome to
Serbia, in Portuguese – was
created in 2011 by Thiago Ferreira,
a Brazilian who was born to live in
Serbia, and he speaks Serbian
fluently!
Living in Belgrade and studying
tourism, he created the blog to show
the touristic attractions existent in
Serbia and to erase misconceptions
many Brazilians have about the
country and other Balkan neighbors.
Nowadays, his blog is the only one
in Portuguese with rich information
about Serbia and the Balkan
countries.
Website: www.bemvindoaservia.com

68. I’m siberian, a campaign inspired
by the legend of Siberia, the most
wild and frosty place in the world.
Acting intuitively and creatively,
inventing new ways to
make Siberia as a symbol entered
the actual important level.
It aims to raise awareness
in Siberia as a place for travel, as a
totally unique place.
Website: imsiberian.com

69. INPRO was an initiative embraced
in 2013 by different people from
different countries, and established
in Poland as a juridical person in
2014.
INPRO aims to educate people and
to make them believe that
international experiences bring
added value to the community.
Its motto is “To live in a smarter
community”.
Website: www.goinpro.org

70. Visit Afghanistan is an awesome
initiative to promote tourism in
Afghanistan throughout their
website and their Facebook page
sharing photos describing the
afghan history and culture, as well
as the daily life in the country.
Website: visitafghanistan.co
Facebook page: Visit Afghanistan

71. For feedbacks,
questions,
whatever...feel free
to contact me in
English, in
Portuguese and in
Spanish!
André FernandesAbout me E-mail: andref.anjos@gmail.com
Born in Brazil to be a
nomad around the
world. My passion:
travel and discover
different cultures!
Settle down? I guess
only when I get
married!