Tourism, Culture & Communication, Vol. 3 pp. 165–179 1098-304X/02 $20.00 + .00Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2002 Cognizant Comm. Corp.

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Address correspondence to Joseph A. Ismail, B022B Stone Hall, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907. Tel: (765) 494-4736;Fax: (765) 494-0327; E-mail: ismailj@purdue.edu

A SNAPSHOT IN TIME: THE MARKETING OF

CULTURE IN EUROPEAN UNION NTO WEB SITES

JOSEPH A. ISMAIL, THEODORE LABROPOULOS, JULINE E. MILLS, and ALASTAIR MORRISON

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Cultural tourism is an important area of consumer demand in Europe, and one of the central foci ofEuropean Union (EU) activity. With the increase in the use of the World Wide Web as a tool formarketing tourism destinations, this study evaluates the extent to which EU members market culturethrough their National Tourism Organizations’ (NTO) Web sites. To achieve a final ranking for EUmember countries based on the extent to which culture is marketed, this study utilized the BalancedScorecard approach, Kendal’s Coefficient of Concordance, and Friedman’s two-way NonparametricAnalysis of Variance (ANOVA). The results showed Denmark as the country that makes the mosteffective use of culture in designing and marketing its NTO Web site.

Balanced scorecard European Union Cultural tourism MarketingWorld Wide Web (WWW)

stimulate artistic exploration, inspire festivals, andincrease tourism (Mattingly, 1999).

With the adoption of the Euro in January 1999 asthe unit of common currency, EU members havefocused on the creation of a national identity aroundone culture and one language (Quetgles, 1997).Adding to this argument, Sheehy (1997) reports thatthere is speculation that the EU wants to achieve theunity of all of its nations as one, both ethnically andculturally, by using the Internet. Given this back-ground, this article seeks first to determine the ex-tent to which the Internet can be used as a tool formarketing a country’s cultural products. Second,

A Web site is “entertainment, education, enrichment,and enjoyment. It contains art, music, museums andculture.” (“The Significance of a Website” 2000)

In 1999, most discussions on the new millenniumcentered on speculations as to whether or not therewould be a computer crisis. In Europe, however, thetalk focused around the annual European City ofCulture Award and the designation of nine culturalcapitals, instead of the award going to one city aswas traditional. This high-profile award afforded theawardees, mostly members of the European Union(EU), an opportunity to showcase their culture,

166 ISMAIL ET AL.

using the member states of the EU, this study evalu-ates the extent to which EU members market cul-ture using their National Tourism Organization(NTO) Web sites. Following on the second objec-tive, a comparison of the NTO Web sites of EU coun-tries for differences in technical qualities and mar-keting strategies using the Balanced Scorecardapproach is also conducted (Morrison, Taylor,Morrison, & Morrison, 1999). Since all EU coun-tries are represented on the Web by NTO Web sites,this third approach of comparing the sites wasadapted to determine if there were significant dif-ferences in the approach to marketing culture in thevarious countries.

Cultural Tourism and the Internet

For the past 28 years, the Internet has functionedas a collaboration among cooperating parties andhas become the dominant force in the marketing anddistribution of many products and services, withexpected sales of $240 billion in 2001 (Abramson& Hollingshead, 1998; Cerf, 1993). In 1998, ap-proximately 1.5 million new Web pages appearedeach day (Chen, 1999; “eGlobal Report,” 1999). Thisdevelopment of the Internet and its growth as a busi-ness tool has created new opportunities for market-ers to target consumers more precisely (Sivadas,Grewal, & Kellaris, 1998). Often referred to as “mi-cro marketing,” the Internet has allowed for busi-nesses to more clearly define their markets based oninterests and preferences. This is critically impor-tant, as the focus of control in electronic commercehas shifted from sellers to buyers, thus making itmore difficult to influence consumers, although theymay be easier to reach (Buhalis, 1998).

Tourism is one product that has definitely foundits niche on the Internet. The number of U.S. travel-ers using the Internet for travel-related purposes in-creased by 141% from 29 million in 1996 to 70 mil-lion in 1998 (Travel Industry Association of America,1999). The World Tourism Organization contendsthat the Internet is the ideal medium for promotingtravel and tourism destinations and products. Tour-ism entities currently use the Internet for sales pro-motion, and distribution, while consumers are us-ing the Internet to search for information on traveldestinations and products, and to consummate salesor deals (World Tourism Organization, 1999).

Though tourism and travel may be big businesson the Internet, the niche marketing of specific tour-ism products is a relatively new topic. Cultural tour-ism on the Internet is one of these niche-marketingopportunities that requires more detailed analyses.As such, very little information exists regarding theevidence, impact, and promotion of cultural tour-ism using the Internet. With the growth in electroniccommerce, the ability to market one’s culture usingthe Internet is becoming more important. With over1 billion international trips in 2000, and a large per-centage of holidays being planned online, the issueof marketing culture via the Internet and as a tool toimprove e-commerce initiatives has become ex-tremely important.

A major problem in analyzing the marketing ofcultural tourism online is the vast scope of mean-ings implied by the terms “culture” and “culturaltourism.” Many researchers, notably Tomlinson(1991) and Richards (1996), have discussed the hun-dreds of definitions that exist for the term culture.Richards (1996) contends that the solution beingproposed is not to seek an all-embracing definition,but to concentrate on the way in which the term isbeing used. Adapting this guideline for the purposesof this research, Silberberg’s (1995) definition ofcultural tourism is utilized. Silberberg defines cul-tural tourism as “visits by persons from outside thehost community motivated wholly or in part by in-terest in the historical, artistic, scientific or lifestyle/heritage offerings of a community, region, group orinstitution.” Using this definition, marketing cultureon the Internet in this initial analysis is being viewedas a product, allowing for a more objective analysisof Web site contents. Table 1 presents examples ofthe cultural tourism products as defined bySilberberg (1995).

Table 1

Examples of Cultural Tourism Products

Component Generic Examples

Historic Castles, historic museums, and historicvillages/communities.

Artistic Art galleries, performing arts venues and eventsScientific Industrial museums and tours, science centersLifestyle Food, entertainment, sports venues and events,

laws/regulationsHeritage Traditions, customs

MARKETING OF CULTURE IN EU NTO WEB SITES 167

Benefits of Marketing Culture on the Internet

Consumers buy meanings and marketers commu-nicate meaning through products and advertise-ments. Many of these meanings are culture based(Cox, 1999). Nicovich and Cornwell (1998) con-tend that the Internet is an interactive mediator be-tween cultures, so much so that it may become thebridge between differing cultures. The Internet mayplay a key role in marketing culture, with the pack-aging of culture beginning well away from the cul-tural sites. Often, cultures are reduced to a two-di-mensional world through the use of glossy brochures(Robinson, 1999). However, with the Internet, pro-moters of cultural tourism now have the opportu-nity to use an interactive medium to depict andpresent their cultures to the world.

According to Business Times (“The Significanceof a Website,” 2000), Web sites, one of the mostprominent aspects of the Internet, are not onlysources of entertainment, education, enrichment, andenjoyment, but they also contain art, music, muse-ums, and culture. By using Web sites, culture can bedepicted more realistically for potential tourists. Forexample, Web sites can show a streaming video of anative dance, give a short tour of a cultural attrac-tion such as a museum (often referred to as “virtualreality”), as well as introduce snippets of local mu-sic. In addition, promoters are able to provideInternet discussion groups, enabling potential tour-ists to become familiar with local customs, trends,and laws (Quelch & Klien, 1996). The Web, in es-sence, presents marketers with the opportunity toshowcase the country’s historical, artistic, scientific,lifestyle, and heritage offerings.

The e-commerce world views the Internet as themedium by which two traditional marketing mod-els are united: the mass marketing, unidirectionalinformation flow, and the bidirectional personal andrelationship marketing providing faster responses topersonal questions. This uniting of the two market-ing models gives cultural tourism an opportunity torealize greater success in communications. Not onlycan tourists “visit” cultural attractions through vir-tual reality, but they are also given the opportunityto ask questions and receive feedback before actu-ally visiting the attractions. This translates into ben-efits for destination marketers, as the ability to viewand form an opinion about a cultural attraction can

increase the tourist’s desire to visit the destinationwhere it is located. Potential visitors are also giventhe opportunity to make better-informed decisionsconcerning their destination choices and what theywould like to do upon arrival.

In developing cultural tourism products, packag-ing and promotion is crucial. Promotion increasestourists’ motivation to participate in cultural activi-ties, while packaging increases the tourists’ expo-sure to a culture. The Internet is a medium that isable to provide both promotion and packaging inone place, thereby creating the opportunity to de-sign superior cultural tourism products. In short, theInternet increases the destination marketer’s abilityto effectively promote and sell cultural tourism prod-ucts.

Silberberg (1995) states that the concept of pack-aging, partnership, and marketing to create culturalopportunities in one place or at one time is crucialto creating a cultural tourism destination. This au-thor also contends that the better the cultural prod-uct, the greater the likelihood that residents willspend money within a region or country. Culturaltourism plays an even more important role due tothe ability of cultural tourism products to attract orincrease the length of stay of long-haul tourists to adestination. In general, the Internet often outper-forms traditional media in return on investment(Loro, 1999). The increased return on investmentmay be attributed to the fact that the typical Internetuser is generally categorized as influential, affluent,and highly educated, thus having a greater spendingpower (Kasavana, Knutson, & Polonowski, 1997).This matches well with the established profile ofcultural tourists as comprising predominantly well-educated members of higher socioeconomic groups(Richards, 1996). However, it must be realized thatInternet usage is becoming increasingly pervasivethroughout all socioeconomic groups, especially indeveloped countries (Edmondson, 1997).

In addition to creating motivation or desire forcultural tourism products, the Internet also provideseasy access to the product. Parsons, Zeisser, andWaitman (1998) state that the Web offers a power-ful combination of two-way interactivity, seamlesstransactions, addressability, on-demand availability,and customization. In support of this argument,Gretzel, Yuan, and Fesenmaier (2000) contend thatusing these features leads to greater and more pro-

168 ISMAIL ET AL.

found relationships with visitors as well as creatinggreater personalization of tourism services.

Before the Internet, potential visitors to a desti-nation had to visit a travel agency, request informa-tion from the NTO, buy a guidebook, or visit a li-brary. With the Internet, the information on culturalactivities and resources at a destination is morereadily accessible. In fact, a wider market is createdwith the search engines, proliferation of banner ad-vertisements, reciprocal linking (where companiesare connected to each other through hyperlinks),third-party promotions, and recommendations. Inaddition, users can accidentally be taken to a Website. Table 2 gives an overview of the strengths ofthe Internet in comparison to the traditional mediafor marketing culture.

The Role of NTOs in Promoting Culture

In order to examine the extent to which EU mem-ber countries display culture, the Web sites of theNTOs were examined. NTOs were chosen, as theyare the primary organizations marketing countries’tourism to other nations. In addition, all EU mem-bers maintain a NTO site. NTOs play a critical rolein marketing a country’s cultural tourism products,as the distribution of a country’s promotional mate-rials to individual consumers is often carried out byNTOs. In previous research, Morrison, Braunlich,Kamaruddin, and Cai (1995) identified the commonobjectives of NTOs. These include increasing theavailability of the tourist products through packag-ing, securing maximum promotional exposure, andplaying a leadership role in the development of pro-

motional materials and partnerships for the destina-tion. Braunlich, Morrison, and Feng (1995) statedthat the official information disseminated by NTOshas a high degree of credibility with potential visi-tors to destinations.

Traditionally, the role of NTOs has mainly been apassive one, with NTOs acting as “order-takers” andsending out literature about the country upon request.Over the years, this role has changed and many NTOsnow play a dominant role in the marketing and devel-opment of the tourism products that countries pos-sess. To keep pace with the demands of potential visi-tors, many NTOs have offices in other countries.However, the distribution of literature to potential visi-tors continues to be a mainstay activity of NTOs(Morrison et al., 1995). NTOs are faced with the con-temporary challenge of ensuring that they not onlyhave the resources for effectively marketing the des-tination, but that they also meet the needs of potentialtourists in an increasingly time-sensitive manner.

The Internet may prove to be the ideal solutionfor many NTOs, as tourists requiring “real-time”information are no longer satisfied with requestinginformation and waiting on its arrival in the mail.Additionally, the Internet enables the NTO to pro-vide a higher degree of one-to-one marketing. Ac-cording to Gretzel et al. (2000), the Internet enablesNTOs to blend publishing, real-time communica-tions, broadcast, and narrowcast, as it attracts atten-tion, creates a sense of community, and acts as amass-market medium as well as personalized rela-tionship builder at the same time.

The European Union

In 1946, Winston Churchill called for the coun-tries in Europe to formulate a “kind of United Statesof Europe.” Five years later this integration becamea reality. The EU began with six countries: Belgium,Germany, France, Italy, Luxembourg, and the Neth-erlands. In 1973, 22 years later, Denmark, Ireland,and the United Kingdom joined. It was to be an-other 9 years before Greece became a member in1981, followed by Spain and Portugal in 1986, andAustria, Finland, and Sweden in 1995. The EU nowhas 15 members and is preparing to grow by addingcountries from Eastern and Southern Europe.

The general goal of the EU is to promote eco-nomic and social progress, assert the identity of the

Table 2

Strengths of the Internet for Marketing Culture Over Tradi-tional Media in Marketing Culture

Accessibility Provides instant access for a wider market ofpotential visitors.

Interactivity Ability to incorporate music, videos, chat, anddiscussion groups.

Cost savings Cheaper to develop and update than other media.Availability Potential consumers can access the information

24 hours a day.Customization One Web site can be used for mass marketing of

culture as well as providing information for aspecific niche.

Timeliness Consumer inquiries can be responded to in ashorter time frame.

MARKETING OF CULTURE IN EU NTO WEB SITES 169

EU in the international marketplace, and to main-tain and build on established EU law. In addition tothese general goals, the EU works to develop free-dom, justice, and security, as well as citizenship forthe people of country members (The ABC of Euro-pean Union, 2000). The EU has a population of over370 million people, speaking 11 official languages,and numerous dialects. The challenge of uniting suchan ethnically and culturally diverse collection ofnations into a union with a common set of goals, inspite of conflicting national agendas, is enormous(European Union, 1996).

The EU and Cultural Tourism

Tourism has grown into a huge economic phe-nomenon enjoyed by millions. According to theWorld Tourism Organization (2000), “some 664million tourists worldwide traveled to foreign coun-tries, spending U.S. $455 billion in 1999, tourismworldwide is a $3 trillion industry.” In general, theEU is the most dominant force in tourism, with tour-ism contributing 5.5% of the EU’s GDP and account-ing for 6% of employment (“EC Assists Tourism,”1997). NTOs of the EU member countries play avital role in ensuring that this dominance is main-tained.

Several studies have identified cultural tourismas an important area of tourist demand in Europe(Bywater, 1993; Thorburn, 1986). Since its incep-tion in 1951, the EU has maintained an interest intourism and culture, but this focus on culture hasbeen extremely controversial. Member states of theEU have been very reluctant to lose control over theireducational systems, since education is the main wayin which the national culture, official language, his-tory, and geography of the country is passed on toyounger generations. Some member states have ar-gued that EU directives and regulations can seriouslyimpinge on national identities, cultures, and tradi-tions (“Sceptical?,” 2000).

Richards (1996) details the long history of cul-tural tourism in Europe, spanning from the private18th century art collections of royalty to thepostmodernistic influences of the 1950s and 1960s,to the museum boom of the 1980s and 1990s. TheEU is, indeed, a thriving ground for cultural attrac-tions and cultural tourism resources. Collectively,the EU has over 737 international, national, and re-

gional main cultural attractions and resources (IrishTourist Board, 1988), and Table 3 displays a countof the main cultural attractions and resources for eachEU member.

Tourism in Europe is important because of thesize of the industry and its social and economic im-pacts. The increased awareness of the economicimportance of tourism, as well as its connection tocultural and natural heritage, led to the explicit rec-ognition in the Maastricht Treaty of the role of tour-ism for the Union. The first visible initiative underthis Treaty was the declaration of 1990 as the “Eu-ropean Year of Tourism.” In 1992, the “First Plan ofAction in Favour of Tourism” was also launched(Ruzza, 2000).

Further recognizing the significance of culturaltourism, the EU developed the “Culture 2000” pro-gram to support the various cultures of EU mem-bers. Prior to the Culture 2000 program, EU mem-bers debated over the various ways in which cultureshould be promoted in Europe (Peck, 1996). Withthe Culture 2000 program, the EU wanted tostrengthen cooperation between Europeans on acultural level, while respecting and promoting thecultural diversity of its members. Under this pro-gram the EU has allocated approximately $167 mil-lion to 55 different projects, ranging from theater toexhibitions and heritage sites (Legrand, 2000).

Table 3

Inventory of Major Cultural Attractionsand Resources by EU Members

Country Total

Austria Under 10Belgium 80Britain 79Denmark 24Finland Under 10France 94Germany 117Greece 16Ireland 23Italy 216Luxembourg Under 10Portugal 20Spain 55Sweden Under 10The Netherlands 13

Source: Irish Tourist Board (1988) data.Adapted from Richards (1996).

170 ISMAIL ET AL.

The EU and Internet Promotions

Given the recent emphasis placed on culture bythe EU, it stands to reason that promotion of culturewould become integral. The Internet has emergedas one of the mediums through which the EU ismarketing culture. The EU is using the Internet as amarketing tool, as it performs the function of “gapbridging,” enabling countries to be affiliated witheach other yet retain their individual identities. Ac-cording to Sheehy (1997), the EU launched its firstWeb site, “I’M Europe,” in September 1994, andsince then the number of EU institutions and coun-tries developing homepages has rapidly increased.Table 4 gives an overview of annual growth rates inInternet usage of EU member countries.

EU members have taken advantage of the WorldWide Web’s popularity as a source of tourism infor-mation by sponsoring their own NTO Web sites. ThisWeb presence has created a new level of accessibil-ity to these countries, enabling the promotion ofproducts and services to a worldwide audience 24hours a day, 7 days a week (“The Significance,”2000). In order for EU Web sites to be effective asmarketing tools, these Web sites must be technically

sound, effective in their marketing approaches, andmust be customer friendly, catering to a wide rangeof cultures and needs. This study attempted to de-termine to what extent EU member NTOs haveachieved this goal through their NTO Web sites.

The Balanced Scorecard Approach

To ascertain the extent to which EU membersmarket their cultures, a content analysis of EU mem-ber NTO Web sites was carried out, with the databeing collected in the first half of 2000. One of theresearch team members evaluated all the sites. Toensure the accuracy of the data collected, the otherteam members cross-checked the results.

The instrument used for this evaluation was de-veloped based on Morrison et al.’s (1999) adapta-tion of Kaplan and Norton’s (1996) BalancedScorecard (BSC) approach. The original BSC ap-proach was developed as a business performancemeasurement tool to overcome the dominant use ofone-dimensional performance indicators, such asprofit. The basic idea of this approach is that busi-ness performance is multidimensional and this needsto be reflected in measurement approaches. Thus,measurement must be conducted in a more “neutralor balanced” fashion, including summative measuressuch as finances and formative measures such ascustomer satisfaction (Kaplan & Norton, 1996,2000).

Morrison et al. (1999) adapted the BSC approachto evaluate the design and maintenance of hotel Websites. The authors’ approach was to measure Website performance across four balanced perspectives:technical, marketing, internal, and customer. Theyrecognized that Web site performance is also a mul-tidimensional construct and, as such, performancehas to be conceptualized and measured in a way thatreflects a balancing of the dimensions identified ascritical determinants in relation to the issue underconsideration. In this case, the issue under consid-eration is NTO Web sites of the EU countries.

Morrison et al. applied their approach in an evalu-ation of a group of small hotels in Scotland. Theauthors operationalized the four Web site perfor-mance perspectives by first identifying a set of criti-cal success factors (CSFs) for each perspective.Measurements and scales were then developed foreach CSF, and the hotel Web sites were evaluated

Table 4

EU Growth on the Internet

Growth inNumber of Hosts per Hosts

Country Hosts (1999) 1000 People (Annual %)

Britain 1,901,812 38 48Germany 1,702,486 20 42The Netherlands 820,944 50 54France 779,879 10 57Italy 658,307 8 63Finland 631,248 122 29Sweden 594,627 68 46Spain 415,641 10 59Denmark 336,928 60 53Belgium 320,840 30 73Austria 274,173 27 60Portugal 90,757 9 56Greece 77,954 5 65Ireland 59,681 16 36Luxembourg 9,670 45 56

A host is a single machine on the Net. However, the definition of ahost has changed in recent years due to virtual hosting, where a singlemachine acts like multiple systems (and has multiple domain namesand IP addresses). Ideally, a virtual host will act and look exactlylike a regular host. Both are counted equally in this analysis.Source: Internet Software Consortium (www.isc.org)

MARKETING OF CULTURE IN EU NTO WEB SITES 171

through a content analysis. The authors concludedthat their modified BSC approach was effective indifferentiating the performance of the hotels’ Websites. However, they also acknowledged the diffi-culties experienced in measuring the “internal” per-spective.

To determine the marketing effectiveness of EUNTO Web sites based on culture, Morrison et al.’s(1999) approach was amended from the four bal-anced perspectives of technical, marketing, internal,and customer perspectives to include more cultur-ally related items. The added items came from a re-view of literature providing definitions of cultureand the marketing of culture and cultural tourism(Jafari, 1992; Myerscough, 1988; Prentice, 1993;Richards, 1994; Silberberg, 1995; Smith, 1989;Storey, 1993). Thus, the modified BSC approach forthis research consisted of the following four aspects:technical, site visitor relationship (user friendliness),marketing effectiveness, and cultural. A pictorialoverview of the modified BSC approach is shownin Figure 1.

Technical Aspects

The evaluation of technical qualities was con-ducted using objective measures. Specific technicalaspects were evaluated under four categories: LinkCheck, Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)Check, Browser Compatibility, and Load Time. TheLink check included the total number of links andthe number of broken links found in each Web site.The HTML check evaluated how effectively “alttags” were used and the number of HTML language

errors. Browser Compatibility evaluated how the siteappears using different versions of Netscape andInternet Explorer, the two most popular Internetbrowsers. The Load Time check evaluated how longthe homepage took to load under several commonmodem speeds. The load times for all sites werechecked on the same day during peak hours in theUS so that load times were comparable and repre-sentative of peak time performance.

These technical aspects identified by Morrison etal. (1999) are integral for Web site performance andare the most common technical aspects used for theevaluation of Web sites. Load time has been exam-ined in investigations on the impact of waiting timeson consumer’s retrospective evaluations of Web sites.The results show that waiting can negatively affectevaluations of Web sites by consumers (Dellaert &Kahn, 1999).

In order to arrive at an accurate evaluation of eachWeb site, Net Mechanic (www.netmechanic.com),an online service that rates the technical performanceof Web sites, was employed. Net Mechanic uses afive-star rating approach to evaluate each Web site,based on the four previously stated criteria. Eachsite can receive a maximum score of 20 points. NetMechanic contends that 46% of Internet users re-port that they have left Web sites because of site-related problems (personal communication, Decem-ber 18, 2000).

Site Visitor Relationship Aspects

Visitor relationship was evaluated based on fourcriteria: Ease of Navigation, Ease of Contact, At-tractiveness of Site, and General Availability ofTravel and Tourism Links. These are very importantconsiderations in Web site design, from the customerperspective. In support of the importance of site visi-tor relationships, Evans and Wurster (1999) believethat navigation is primary for reaching potential cus-tomers on the Internet. These authors contend thatsites such as www.amazon.com, for example, arenot booksellers but navigators, as they provide cus-tomers with reach, richness, and affiliation. Custom-ers, who find Web sites difficult to navigate, or ex-perience difficulty in getting quick and efficientelectronic responses to inquiries, will click away toa competing site if they are not satisfied immedi-ately (“Design Matters,” 2001).Figure 1. Balanced Scorecard (BSC) aspects.

172 ISMAIL ET AL.

Sites with font sizes that are too small (less than12), fonts that are difficult to read, or graphics thatload too slowly (more than 30 seconds) have diffi-culties in maintaining customers. The General Avail-ability of Travel and Tourism Links was included asthe authors hypothesized that a tourism site shouldhave general links to traditional customer informa-tion, such as a listing of hotels and accommodations,travel and tour agencies, restaurants, and embassiesand consulates, as well as transportation informa-tion. Attractiveness of Site included factors such asclear and uncluttered pages, reinforcing text withpictures, effective background to match content, andthe use of color based on the acceptability criteriastated by computer industry professionals (http://builder.cnet.com/Graphics/Design/).

Evaluating Web sites can be an extremely subjec-tive task. In order to minimize potential subjectiv-ity, the EU NTO Web sites were not evaluated on aLikert scale as was used in the Morrison et al. (1999)BSC approach. Instead, 32 specific attributes wereevaluated and assigned a yes (1) if present and a no(0) if the attribute was not present.

Marketing Effectiveness Aspects

The marketing aspects were also evaluated in anobjective manner, using the “yes/no” approach. Basedon Morrison et al.’s (1999) marketing CSFs, the as-pects included were marketing research and market-ing segmentation. With respect to marketing research,data was obtained regarding whether EU NTO Websites collected information on the visitor’s country oforigin, contact information through guestbook sign-ing, and whether or not the site had a statement en-couraging inquires. Marketing segmentation questionsfocused on whether the site was available in differentversions based on country of origin, and was infor-mation provided specifically for business travelers,couples, honeymooners, families, children, and rec-reation activities.

Cultural Aspects

Cultural aspects of EU Web sites were evaluatedbased on whether or not the Web site had informa-tion on the country’s history, traditions, and customs,laws that would impact visitors, visual and perform-ing arts, information on normal business hours, fa-mous people, places and events, historical buildings,

sites, and attractions, among other variables. Thisevaluation also used the objective “yes/no” approach.The number of different languages available on eachsite was included in the evaluation, as well as whethereach available language had its own unique site. Theavailability of pictures and graphics representing acountry’s culture was an additional aspect of thecultural evaluation.

In keeping with the overall intent of the BSC ap-proach, the technical results yielded by Net Mechanicand from the other three aspects (user friendliness,marketing, and culture) were weighted and then scaledso that each final score was a percentage, with thehighest possible score being 100%. A general over-view and examples of the elements that were used toderive each aspect’s score are shown in Table 5.

Statistical Analysis

Each Web site was ranked from 1 to 15 on eachof the four aspects. Kendall’s Coefficient of Con-cordance was then used to arrive at a final balancedranking for each site. This approach is appropriatewhen the association among three or more vari-ables is to be analyzed. Given the fact that judg-ment decisions had to be made when analyzing Websites, Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance ap-proach is also useful, as it examines interjudge re-liability (Churchill, 1991). The coefficient of con-cordance is calculated as:

( )nnk −=

32

121

sW

where ( )2

1

RRs ∑=

−=n

ii , k is the four aspects, n is

the 15 EU Web sites, and R is the Web site ranks.Using the BSC approach, the country with the low-est overall rank would represent the most highlyranked Web site. It must be noted that when thereare more than seven observations, Kendall’s Coef-ficient of Concordance is approximately chi-squaredistributed calculated as χ2 = k(n – 1)W. A signifi-cant χ2 suggests that there is agreement betweenthe rankings of the four aspects across the EU NTOWeb sites, allowing for a more objective estimateas to which Web sites are doing a good job of mar-

MARKETING OF CULTURE IN EU NTO WEB SITES 173

keting culture and which Web sites have opportu-nities for improvement.

Results

Balanced Scorecard

The results of the BSC approach to evaluating theNTO Web sites of European Union members areshown in Table 6. From the results it can be seenthat Denmark received the best overall ranking, fol-lowed by Spain, then Finland and Holland tied forthird place. A screen capture showing Denmark’sWeb page is shown in Figure 2.

Portugal and Greece received the lowest overallrating. Denmark, Spain, and Belgium had the mosttechnically sound Web sites, with France and Ger-many having some browser compatibility and loadtime problems. Spain was ranked as the Web sitethat was most user friendly, while Holland and Aus-tria conducted the most marketing research andmarketed the most to different segments. Hollanddid the best job of representing cultural aspects ontheir site, followed closely by Ireland and Denmark.Holland, Ireland, and Denmark all offered more than10 different languages, with Holland offering sitesspecially designed for each language.

Kendall’s Coeffcient

The calculated value for Kendall’s coefficient ofconcordance was W= 0.45. This value, though notperfect, is significant and confirmed that Denmarkwas the best country in using culture in the designand marketing of its Web site. In order to determineif there was some level of agreement, orinterjudgment reliability among the rankings acrossall Web sites, a comparison of chi-square versus criti-cal chi-square was performed. As 15 Web sites wereevaluated, W= 0.45 is approximately chi-square dis-tributed with 14 degrees of freedom. Assuming analpha value of 0.05, the critical chi-square value wascalculated at χ2 = 25.36. With the chi-square valueexceeding the critical chi-square, the conclusion canbe drawn that agreement existed among the fourrankings.

To support the above analysis, and determine ifthe numerous ties in rankings had any effect,Friedman’s two-way nonparametric ANOVA wasalso employed using the SAS statistical analysis soft-ware package. Friedman’s two-way nonparametricANOVA is often used to compare data generatedfrom two or more related samples. When conduct-ing this analysis, the PROC RANK procedure in SAS

Table 5

EU Web site Balanced Scorecard (BSC) Aspects

Aspects Factors Examined

Technical Net mechanic testLink check; HTML check; Browser compatibility; Load time

Site visitor relationship Ease of navigation(32 items tested) Example of items tested: Navigation menu, index, or site map, availability of FAQ

Ease of contact (clearly available)Example of items tested: Direct email contact, mailing address, telephone number & fax; Were email responses

prompt (2-day response period given)Attractiveness of site

Example of items tested: Clear and uncluttered pages, color used to improve visual appealAvailability of general travel and tourism links

Example of items tested: Links to shopping, attractions, embassies, and consulatesMarketing effectiveness Marketing research

(12 items tested) Example of items tested: Tracking visitor country; Gathering contact information; Statement encouraging inquiriesMarket segmentation

Example of items tested: Different version of site based on country of origin; Information for specific groupsCultural Language

(15 items tested) English language availability; Site available in four or more languagesInformation availability

History of the country, traditions, and customs; Normal business hours; Famous people, places, or events;Historical buildings, sites, or attractions; The environment and nature; Professional sports and participatingsporting activities; National holidays, festivals, and events

Availability of picture and graphics representing the country’s culture

174 ISMAIL ET AL.

must first be used to assign an average ranking whereties occur in the EU data set. In this analysis, aftercreating an average for tied values, the treatment usedwas the score assigned, and the blocking variableswere each of the four aspects rankings (Technical,Site Visitor Relationship, Marketing Effectiveness,and Cultural). Table 6 shows the results of the analy-sis as well as the overall average of the four aspectrankings. The pertinent chi-square statistic, calcu-lated to determine if there was significant agreementamong the rankings, was 26.83. This chi-square sta-tistic was calculated as [12/(N × N –1)] × SST, whereN was the number of treatments, and SST was thesum of squares treatment produced by the ANOVA(SAS, 1999).

The results of the Friedman’s analysis confirmedthe earlier findings, although some of the rankingschanged slightly. Specifically, when using averagerankings, the last four countries swapped places inthe total ranking. Thus, Portugal had the lowest av-erage rank, followed by France with the second low-est rank. Greece also moved up two spots from theoriginal BSC results. The scores for each of the fouraspects are presented in Table 7 along with therankings. The letters in the right-hand column givean indication of where significant differences in av-erages exist. These rankings are nonparametric innature, and the differences expressed by the lettersare based on the t-test results from the ANOVA,

which assume a normal distribution of the depen-dent variable.

Correlation analysis was then performed to as-sess the relationship between the four balancedscorecard aspects. All correlation coefficients werepositive and statistically significant, but ranged fromlow to high in magnitude. The results showed thatculture was the most significant contributor at 0.91(p < 0.0001), followed by marketing at 0.90(p < 0.0001), to the overall ranking. Correlation washigh between culture and marketing at 0.89(p < 0.0001), and also between technical aspects andfriendliness at 0.49 (p < 0.0609). Correlation amongthe other aspects was low.

Discussion

From the analysis it was evident that EU coun-tries are maintaining their individualism despite thepush for more cultural unification. EU members arechoosing to promote their own cultures and identi-ties through their NTO Web sites, although someare doing so more aggressively and effectively thanothers. The results also show that EU member coun-tries do market their culture, with Denmark doingthe best job of promoting its own culture, as well asmarketing to various cultural groupings. Technicalqualities and marketing strategies also differ widelyamong EU member Web sites, and this may be due

Table 6

Balanced Scorecard Results for European Union Countries NTO Web Site Evaluation

Site VisitorTechnical Relationship Marketing Cultural

Country Web Address Ranking Ranking Ranking Ranking Total

Denmark www.dt.dk 1 5 2 3 11Spain www.tourspain.es 1 1 5 7 14Finland www.mek.fi 3 3 3 6 15Holland www.holland.com 5 8 1 1 15Britain www.visitbritain.com 5 4 4 5 18Ireland www.ireland.travel.ie 4 10 2 2 18Luxemburg www.ont.lu 2 4 6 8 20Austria www.austria-tourism.at 6 12 1 4 23Belgium www.toervl.be 1 7 8 11 27Italy www.enit.it 6 2 10 9 27Sweden www.visit-sweden.com 6 6 7 12 31France www.franceguide.com 7 11 11 10 39Germany www.germany-tourism.de 8 13 9 9 39Portugal www.portugal.org/tourism/index.htm 6 9 12 14 41Greece www.gmor.com/infoxenios 3 14 12 13 42

MARKETING OF CULTURE IN EU NTO WEB SITES 175

to the fact that Internet marketing for NTOs is stillrelatively new.

In comparing the results of this analysis with theamount of major cultural attractions and resourcespossessed by the various countries (Table 3), it was

found that countries with high numbers of culturalattractions and resources did not necessarily usethe NTO Web site to effectively promote them. Italy,with the highest total of 216 major cultural attrac-tions and resources, and Germany with 117, did

Figure 2. Screen captures of Denmark—most culturally aware Web site: Initial screen and second page.

176 ISMAIL ET AL.

not market their cultures very effectively throughtheir NTO Web sites. Italy placed 10th in the over-all results, while Germany placed 13th. France andBelgium, with 94 (third) and 80 (fourth) signifi-cant cultural attractions respectively, placed 10thand 11th, respectively, in the cultural aspectrankings.

In another comparison with Internet growth byEU countries (Table 4), it was noted that a high num-ber of hosts or machines linked to the Internet, aswell as a relatively steady increase in annual growth,did not affect the marketing of culture. Britain (first)and Germany (second) are the two EU countries mosthighly connected to the Internet. Britain and Ger-

Figure 3. Screen captures of Spain—second-most culturally aware Web site.

MARKETING OF CULTURE IN EU NTO WEB SITES 177

many ranked 4th and 13th, respectively, with regardsto cultural marketing on their NTO Web sites. Thesefindings support the position of marketing expertsthat the Internet has “leveled the playing field”among competitive organizations, allowing anyoneto become a dominant force regardless of the highgrowth levels in technical advancements (Ince,2001).

In examining the correlation results, where thetechnical and site visitor relationship aspects werehighly correlated, it must be noted that these resultsare quite realistic. Technically sound Web sites havefaster downloads, and have easy-to-navigate com-ponents, which make them more user friendly. Mar-keting and culture were also expected to be highlycorrelated, since some of the elements present inmarketing are necessary for promoting cultural tour-ism products (e.g., market segmentation).

Bonn, Furr, and Susskind (1998) found thatInternet marketing is well suited for tourism-relatedproducts and services. While there is an abundanceof literature on designing Web sites and the criticalrole that an effective Web site plays, very little re-search has been conducted evaluating tourism Websites. In particular, discussions on cultural tourismin an Internet context are very limited. Future re-searchers might consider replicating this analysis and

comparing the results with those obtained in thisstudy.

Conclusions and Recommendations

Previous research indicates that there is a strongrelationship between marketing culture and businessperformance (Appiah-Adu, Fyall,& Satyendra-Singh, 1999). EU countries can capitalize on themarketing of culture by using their NTO Web sites.Reisinger and Turner (1998) contend that it is im-portant to understand and cater to the cultural dif-ferences of tourists, as this leads to positive tourist-host contact, which in turn enhances tourists’ holidaysatisfaction and repeat visitation.

In this research, the effective use of culture inmarketing the NTO sites is a driving force in theoverall effectiveness of the site, as measured by theBSC approach. As such, every effort should be madeto depict the culture and traditions of the host na-tion. The site design should be based on the missionof the site and the overall goal or objective of theNTO. Examples of such a mission may be to makethe “feel” of the site as close as possible to the ac-tual country, giving visitors a preview of what theirvisit to the country will be like. On the other hand,nonvisitors can also receive a realistic portrayal and

Table 7

Friedman’s Analysis of Web Site Rankings

Means WithSame Letter

Site Visitor Site Visitor Marketing Marketing May Not BeCultural Cultural Relationship Relationship Effectiveness Effectiveness Technical Technical Average Significantly

Country Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Rank Different

Denmark 0.84 3 0.90 6 0.90 3.5 1.00 2 3.625 ASpain 0.62 7 1.00 1 0.50 9 1.00 2 4.750 AFinland 0.65 6 0.93 3 0.80 5 0.89 6 5.000 AHolland 1.00 1 0.74 9 1.00 1.5 0.83 8.5 5.000 ABritain 0.75 5 0.91 4.5 0.70 6 0.83 8.5 6.000 B AIreland 0.89 2 0.67 11.5 0.90 3.5 0.84 7 6.000 B ALuxemburg 0.58 9 0.91 4.5 0.50 9 0.94 4 6.625 B A CAustria 0.77 4 0.65 13.5 1.00 1.5 0.78 11 7.500 B D A CBelgium 0.31 12 0.81 8 0.50 9 1.00 2 7.750 B D A CItaly 0.58 9 0.99 2 0.40 12.5 0.78 11 8.625 B D A CSweden 0.30 13 0.82 7 0.50 9 0.78 13 10.500 B D CGermany 0.58 9 0.65 13.5 0.50 9 0.61 15 11.625 D CGreece 0.25 14 0.58 15 0.20 14.5 0.89 5 12.125 DFrance 0.32 11 0.67 11.5 0.40 12.5 0.72 14 12.250 DPortugal 0.21 15 0.72 10 0.20 14.5 0.78 11 12.625 D

ANOVA Model: df = 17, F = 2.35, p = 0.0124, R2 = 0.48.

178 ISMAIL ET AL.

sensory appeal of the country from visiting the site.It must be emphasized that much of the technicalaspects are “motherhood traits” that should be con-formed to by all sites engaged in the marketing oftourism destinations. Load time, ease of navigation,and overall site maintenance must be continuallyaddressed by NTOs. Some suggestions on incorpo-rating culture in NTO Web sites include the use oflocal music, traditional greetings, as well as picturesof traditional foods, events, and costumes.

McIntosh (1999) has found that there is a “per-sonal, emotive and symbolic context associated withcultural tourism encounters, from which visitorsderive valued insight, appreciation and meaning oflife.” If this process begins for potential touriststhrough visits to the NTO Web site before they actu-ally visit a European destination, then the real expe-rience should be much more meaningful. Nuryanti(1996) also “states that modern tourism is now bestunderstood in the context of the commodificationof the process and contemporary consumer culture.”What better way is there to market culture, then, thanto seize the opportunities presented by the Internet?

The Internet presents an exciting new medium formarketing European culture and cultural tourismattractions. As a medium of communication, it ispotentially superior to the previous methods of pro-moting cultural tourism. The unique qualities of theWorld Wide Web include its ability to provide cus-tomized information for individuals with differentinterests (e.g., differing cultural activities),interactivity, and speed and potential frequency ofupdating information. However, the evidence pre-sented in this research study suggests that EuropeanNTOs are not fully capitalizing on the Web’s uniqueadvantages in cultural tourism marketing. As withother types of destination marketing organizations,several Web sites are better characterized as elec-tronic brochures rather than interactive and custom-ized information and marketing tools. Future ver-sions of European Web sites need to address culturaltourism, not only as a set of important physical sitesand events, but as a motivation for travel and as anactivity that appeals to a distinct market segment orsegments. Furthermore, the Web provides great po-tential for neighboring countries to create new onlinecultural tourism partnerships by linking related cul-tural attractions and activities. Given the preponder-ance of important cultural sites and attractions within

Europe, it is crucial that NTOs and their local part-ners quickly develop greater mastery of the newworld of digital marketing.

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