Abstract:
Symbols and Slogans (SaS) are increasingly becoming important in branding tourism
destinations due to their ability to represent ideas, objects, and events. However,
existing studies on tourism focused on potentials, types, benefits, challenges,
development and tourism sustainability with little attention to how cultural SaS could
be used as tools for branding tourism destinations. Therefore, this study examined the
extent to which cultural SaS could be used to brand Ìyámop̣̀ ó Mountain (IM) as a
tourism destination in Ìgbeṭ́ì.
Clifford Geertz’s Symbolic and Interpretive Theory of Culture and Walt Whitman
Rostow’s Modernisation Theory served as the framework, while the mixed methods
design was adopted. Data were obtained through participant observation during three
annual Ìyámop̣̀ ó festivals and Easter Monday Carnivals, focus group discussions
(FGDs), key informant interviews and a survey of tourists. Ten sessions of FGDs were
conducted with Ìyámop̣̀ ó priests, men, women and youths. Twenty-five key informants
comprising one traditional ruler, four priests, a chief and heads of quarters were
purposively selected for interviews and insights on the cultural SaS in Ìgbeṭ́ì, cultural
resources on IM and the extent to which the selected cultural SaS can be used to brand
IM as a tourism destination. Two hundred and twelve tourists were accidentally
selected, and a structured questionnaire was administered to them to determine how
SaS could be used to brand IM. Qualitative data were content-analysed, while
quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics.
The cultural SaS are Àgbélé hill, a rock pedestal depicting a woman carrying a baby
on her back and a load on her head; slogans, which are “Ìgbeṭ̀ ì Ìlú ọye”̣̀ meaning Ìgbeṭ́ì
harmattan city and“Ìgbeṭ̀ ì Olókè meṛ̀ ìndínlógún connoting the climatic condition and
landscape of Ìgbeṭ́ì, respectively. The IM, a rock believed to be a woman who rescued
Ìgbeṭ́ì forebears during wars, is a tourist site attracting tourists annually for
sightseeing, mountaineering and participation in carnivals and Ìyámop̣̀ ó annual festival
that involve sacrifices and rituals to renew the covenant between Ìyámop̣̀ ó deity,
ancestors and the members of the community. The cultural resources on IM that attract
tourists include Ilé Ìyámop̣̀ ó, Ilé Ṣàngó, Odò orogún meta ̣́ , relics of a defensive wall
and stones, and Ìyámop̣̀ ó shrine. Àgbélé symbol (AS) and the slogan Ìgbeṭ́ì ìlú ọyẹ̀ can
brand IM due to their aesthetic values. The respondents were 56.6% male, 84.4% were
non-traditional believers, 75.0% had formal education, and 3.8% were foreigners.
Most of the tourists (82.4%) sampled identified AS as useful for branding IM.
Additionally, 73.0% were attracted to IM by the AS, while 77.8% opined that AS
brands IM and 74.0% believed that AS brands other tourism resources on IM.
Similarly, 68.3% agreed that the slogan Ìgbeṭ̀ ì Ìlú ọye”̣̀ communicated information
about the beauty and climatic condition of IM as an attractive tourism destination;
77.8% agreed with the slogan branded IM, while 68.8% believed that it advertises
other tourism resources.
Cultural symbols and slogans in Ìgbeṭ́ì promote IM as a tourism destination.
Therefore, it is recommended that tourism destinations everywhere should be branded
by employing cultural symbols and slogans as brands.
