Branding Huntington Beach, Surf City USA®: Visitors, residents, and businesses

This study examines the branding of surfing culture for tourism purposes in Huntington Beach (HB), Surf City USA®, since the early twentieth century. After discussing previous works on tourist area life cycles, this study taps into the place branding theory to show surfing integration within the local growth strategy of the city. Results suggest that stakeholders of tourism development not only aim at attracting visitors, but also residents and...