**13.1 Limitations of the study and recommendations**

This study has been conceptualised from the rural tourism destination context which may not be applicable to other large tourism destinations such as cities, states, regions and nations branding. Notably, a qualitative single case approach was used. It is suggested that future studies should adopt the multiple case studies approach in rural tourism destinations that are not uniquely positioned like Bario for comparison among the different study destinations. This is important to ascertain if similar results would be obtained. A longitudinal study is recommended because it would provide additional findings on the process involved in developing a destination brand for rural tourism over time.
