Sustainable Destination Management
Strategies in the OIC Member Countries
75
their own logos to promote the Silk Road in their destinations. In Uzbekistan, the company, Silk
Road Destinations, which organizes Silk Road tours for Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan,
and Kyrgyzstan, has created its own logo.250
Figure 27: The Silk Road Programme Logo
The Umayyad Route, which is supported by the Council of Europe in the context of Legacy of
al-Andalus Route, presents a good example of branding. The route has its distinct logo, which,
as mandated by the “visibility charter” of the Council of Europe, is used in all communications.
The route has also created its own narrative and produced a documentary for the TC to
facilitate storytelling. In the case of the Umayyad Route, the Jordanian partner for the Umayyad
Route, the NGO Cultural Technologies for Heritage and Conservation, analyzed the Umayyad
cultural heritage to tie it to the sites and highlight their significance. 251 In Lebanon, the training
provided to tour guides included storytelling elements from the Umayyad heritage to the
significance of the attractions to the theme.252
Figure 28: The Umayyad Route Logo
In the case of the Holy Family TC, while the Pope visiting to the Holy Family TC sites in Egypt
helped highlight the significance of the corridor, there were no concerted efforts to use the visit
to reinforce the narrative of the corridor beyond the visit. As both Egypt and Jordan seem to be
on the road to formalizing the corridor, branding is of utmost importance at this stage.253
Promotion
The OIC MDTCs have used a variety of tools for promotion, including advertising, holding
events, and creating their own websites. In the case of the Silk Road, UNWTO has led the
promotion effort with its support for Silk Road documentaries and sponsoring participation of
corridor member countries in travel fairs. Several Silk Road documentaries were produced,
250 Please Refer to the Silk Road Case Study for details and references.
251 Ibid.
252 Umayyad Route 8th Bulletin available from the Umayyad Route Website.
253 Please refer to the Holy Corridor case study for more details.