The influence of branding on tourist interest in Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism

Products in the form of services, such as ecotourism, rarely create branding for their business. As branding is important to increase tourist interest to visit, this research aims to identify the branding activities carried out by the manager and analyse the branding of Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism in relation to the interest of tourists visiting. Data collection was through interviews with two key informants and questionnaires distributed to 80 tourists from December 2022-January 2023. The analytical methods used were descriptive qualitative and Structural Equation Modeling with the Partial Least Square methods. Based on research, the ecotourism manager created the brand using a logo and social media to disseminate information about Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism. The three variables used to explain branding in this study, namely brand personality, brand positioning, and brand relationship, show a positive and significant effect on tourist interests. However, several indicators included in the three variables, such as sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication in brand personality variables, uniqueness in brand positioning, and commitment in brand relationship, have no effect and must be improved to increase tourist interest in Petengoran Mangrove Ecotourism.