Abstract
Research about place brands, their development, and their strategic brand management is of increasing interest. Being the second-largest global industry, the tourism and travel industry is strongly growing and competition among places is rising. Branding is at times perceived as the only differentiator between dif- ferent places. The brand identity must therefore be considered for the long-time survival and a sustainable competitive advantage of the place. Different scholars develop models for strategic place brand manage- ment and come to similar, yet different findings. All need further research and validation. The BIDP frame- work of Botschen et al. (2017) follows an interdisciplinary approach for place development. This frame- work is further validated with a multiple case study analysis of four different places where the BIDP was applied. Detailed insights about its application and a cross case synthesis are presented. This research work contributes to the research gap of missing reliable and applicable models or frameworks for strategic place brand management and identifies specific success factors that should be considered for implement- ing the BIDP process. In the current post-pandemic period, this study is even more relevant: the Italian recovery and resiliency plan invests on tourism, particularly that in rural areas, and with tourists becoming more and more attentive and mature in their vacation selection, a consistent place brand management can make the difference