Trademarking Tourism: Destination Branding In Indian Tourism Industry

Abstract

Tourism is so advanced in India that it may now be considered also as India’s backbone. This research specifically highlights a cross disciplinary perspective by establishing the amalgamation between Tourism Industry and Intellectual Property Laws in India. Tourism, both generally and well as legally seems to be constantly viewed in the aspects of ‘social, cultural and political’ perspectives. However, this research narrows down to the interdisciplinary approach to Tourism and Trademark i.e., with respect to ‘Tourism and Destination Branding’.

Destination branding as a concept in itself aims at explaining that each destination has to be ‘trademarked’ in order to establish distinguishability of each country/state to be exhibited as such. Furthermore, this research legally evaluates the collaboration of Tourism Laws and Trademark Legality in India, in furtherance of which the current legal framework of Tourism in India has been considered along with the Trademark scenario in India, thereby establishing the significance of protecting Destination Branding in India’s Tourism Industry.

Destination Branding is popularly highlighted as a status symbol, by the government of various states. However, lacuna persists in the current protection of these destination names and symbols. Destination Branding online and offline includes domain names trademark, image marks and logos of various states. Online platforms in the current research includes social networking sites which involve themselves in advertising these marks. Further, this research has critically evaluated the potential of ‘Destination Branding’ in India along with its shortcomings and benefits that accompanies the collaboration. Further, it has considered the legal framework of Malaysia, Australia and United States of America for a cross-country perspective, more so, it has compared the possibility of adaptation of various laws into the Indian tourism scenario, checking its feasibility thereby establishing the interlink between Intellectual Property Law and Tourism Industry in India. The objective in this research has primarily covered the study of the lacunas existing in the Indian Tourism Industry with respect to Destination Branding and has analyzed the existing potential of protection of Destination Branding under Trademark Law. The results entail the protection of Destination Branding in the Indian Tourism Industry under the context of Trademark Law.

This research has evaluated the requirement of ‘Destination branding’, not only on a surface level but also suggests altercations in the legal framework of Tourism Industry via the concept of ‘Destination Branding’ in India, after having compared the international scenario.