Bachelor thesis

Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe

An in-depth analysis
Student: Student number: Bachelor program: Sabrina Kamann 040494 International Tourism Management and Consultancy

DESTINATION MARKETING ORGANIZATIONS IN EUROPE

An in-depth analysis

Commissioned by

Destination Marketing Association International

(DMAI)

Bachelor thesis Breda, 21st of May 2008

Name: Sabrina Kamann Student number: 040494 Bachelor program: ITMC NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences NHTV Supervisor: Sjef van Hoof

Commissioner: DMAI Company supervisor: Titta Rosvall-Puplett

I hereby declare that this thesis is entirely the work of Sabrina Kamann. Any other contributors or sources have been either referenced in the prescribed manner or are listed in the acknowledgements together with the nature and the scope of their contribution.

Executive Summary
The background The topic of this thesis is Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe an in-depth analysis and has been provided by Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). This study includes an analysis of Destination Management Organizations in Europe in terms of their funding, structure and educational needs.

The objective This study gives a thorough insight into DMOs in Europe in terms of their corporate organization and governance structure, as well as an analysis of their funding sources and engagement in training and education.

The research questions The research questions used as a guideline for this research are as follows:

1. Where are potential members of DMAI situated? 2. What is the general structure of a destination marketing organisation in Europe? a. Do they have members or partners? b. Do the members or partners have any influence on the decisions made within the DMO? c. If b is applicable, how is the election process managed? 3. What are the funding sources for destination marketing organizations in Europe? 4. What are the educational needs of destination marketing organizations in Europe?

The methodology

Secondary research The research has been conducted using both secondary and primary research: The first step of the research was to perform a mapping, identifying DMOs on a national, regional and capital city level in Europe. Those DMOs identified served as the sample for this research. Having categorized DMOs and identified the most common attributes of DMOs worldwide, that knowledge was used as a theoretical basis for the design of the survey.

Primary research The survey was designed to investigate the structure, funding and educational needs of the DMOs in the sample, including attributes such as overall organizational structure, size, corporate organization, corporate governance, roles and responsibilities, funding sources, annual budget, budget allocation, vocational training, educational needs and trade event attendance.

The analysis The results were analyzed by means of a statistical analysis program called SPSS, first separately and, finally, by testing relationships between several aspects investigated and their level of significance. The results of the analysis have been clarified by means of descriptive statistics and graphs, as well as cross tabulations.

The result The result of this thesis is a profile of the average Destination Marketing Organization in Europe summarized in the following typification:

The average DMO in Europe is a public-private non-profit organization, viewing destination branding and tourism planning and development as their main functions. The public sector is an influential stakeholder of DMOs in terms of Board governance, partnerships and funding. However, DMOs also maintain close ties with the private sector, as partnerships and memberships play an essential role, too. The willingness of DMOs to educate themselves according to developments in the industry is expressed by their increased interest in education and training. DMOs especially indicated interest in traditional functions such as branding and marketing, as well as tourism planning and development and trends and developments in the industry.

Preface
As diverse as Europe itself, as diverse are its tourism destinations, as are the tourists visiting the continent, as are the approaches to tourism development. With so much diversity in a rather small space it is not surprising that those running the tourism industry differ tremendously, as well.

As a conclusion of my studies in the field of International Tourism Management and Consultancy I conducted research on Destination Marketing Organizations in form of my final Bachelor thesis.

Investigating Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe provided me with an excellent opportunity to get a deeper insight into the field and operations of DMOs, but also allowed me to gain a lot of knowledge about the diversity of tourism industry structures in general.

Since this thesis has been commissioned by DMAI, I was able to accomplish an assignment that did not only reflect my career aspirations, but also was the assignment relevant to the business world, which stimulated my motivation and confidence to a great extent.

I would like to thank DMAI and especially my supervisors Titta Rosvall-Puplett, Managing Director of DMAI Europe, and Kristina TSeyen, Deputy Director of DMAI Europe, for their ongoing support, advice and efforts to ensure that I would achieve a successful end result and the excellent opportunities for networking and professional development at the annual DMAI conference in Las Vegas and the CEO forum in Stockholm. I also would like to thank Sandi Talley, Senior Vice President of Business Development & Membership, and Lauren Yanusas, Manager, Business Development & Membership for their feedback and advice.

Besides, I would like to thank my NHTV supervisor Sjef van Hoof for his support, feedback and inspirations. Moreover, I want to express my appreciation for the patience of Christa Barten, NHTV, who helped me a lot when it came to SPSS.

Finally, I want to express my sincere gratitude for my family and friends who have supported me continuously throughout my studies and the process of writing this Bachelor thesis.

Sabrina Kamann Breda, May 2008

List of acronyms
BACD BIT BTTF CEO CRM CTF CVB DMAI DMAP DMO EMITT EU FITUR IACVB IMEX ITB ITM MCI MIBEXPO MICE NTA NTO RTO SPSS STO TTW WTM WTO British Associations of Conference Destinations International Tourism Exchange British Travel Trade Fair Chief Executive Officer Customer Relationship Management Caucasus Tourism Fair Convention and Visitors Bureau Destination Marketing Association International Destination Marketing Accreditation Program Destination Management Organization Eastern Mediterranean International Travel & Tourism Exhibition European Union Feria Internacional de Turismo International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus Worldwide exhibition for incentive travel, meetings and events Internationale Tourismus Brse Intourmarket Independent, global association, communications and event management company Meeting Industry & Business Travel Exhibition and Conference Meetings, incentives, conferences, events National Tourism Authority National Tourism Organization Regional Tourism Organization Statistical Product and Service Solutions State Tourism Organization Travel Trade Workshop World Travel Market World Tourism Organization

Table of content
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY PREFACE LIST OF ACRONYMS CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS..................................................................... 1
Context analysis ................................................................................................................. 2 The commissioner ............................................................................................................ 2 The subject ....................................................................................................................... 3 Structure ............................................................................................................................. 4 Goal and research questions ............................................................................................ 5 Goal of the thesis .............................................................................................................. 5 Possible result .................................................................................................................. 5 Research questions .......................................................................................................... 5 Methodology ....................................................................................................................... 6

CHAPTER 2 SECONDARY RESEARCH ............................................................................. 8

Introduction to the term DMO ............................................................................................ 8 Mapping strategy.............................................................................................................. 11 Theoretical limitations of the mapping ............................................................................. 12 Goal of the mapping ....................................................................................................... 12 Research method ........................................................................................................... 12 Results of the mapping ................................................................................................... 13 Practical limitations of the mapping ............................................................................... 14

CHAPTER 3 PRIMARY RESEARCH ................................................................................ 15

The Survey ........................................................................................................................ 15 Goal of the research ....................................................................................................... 15 Characterization of DMOs................................................................................................ 16 In-depth clarification DMOs ............................................................................................. 16 Structure ......................................................................................................................... 17 Educational needs .......................................................................................................... 23 Funding .......................................................................................................................... 25 Concluding observations................................................................................................. 27 Methodology of the survey .............................................................................................. 28 Data requirements .......................................................................................................... 30 Survey timeline ............................................................................................................... 30 Conclusion........................................................................................................................ 31

CHAPTER 4 - ANALYSIS ................................................................................................. 32

Analysis of research results ............................................................................................ 32 Part 1 Structure............................................................................................................ 32 Part 2 Funding ............................................................................................................. 44 Part 3 Educational needs ................................................................................. 48 Potential relationships ..................................................................................................... 54 Statement 1 .................................................................................................................... 54 Statement 2 .................................................................................................................... 55 Statement 3 .................................................................................................................... 56 Statement 4 .................................................................................................................... 56 Statement 5 .................................................................................................................... 58 Statement 6 .................................................................................................................... 60 Statement 7 .................................................................................................................... 62 Research limitations ........................................................................................................ 66 Theoretical limitations ..................................................................................................... 66 Practical limitations ......................................................................................................... 66 Non-response analysis ................................................................................................... 68

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 69

DMO profile ....................................................................................................................... 70 Suggestions for further research .................................................................................... 73

EPILOGUE .................................................................................................................... 75 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............................................................................................................. 76 APPENDICES ................................................................................................................... I

Organizational chart DMAI ................................................................................................. II Mapping results ................................................................................................................. III Data requirements tables............................................................................................... XIII Sample survey .............................................................................................................. XVIII Accompanying email ................................................................................................. XXVIII First reminder email ..................................................................................................... XXIX Email: Deadline extension ............................................................................................ XXX Second reminder email ................................................................................................ XXXI List of respondents ..................................................................................................... XXXII SPSS codebook ......................................................................................................... XXXIV SPSS outputs .......................................................................................................... XXXVIII Enterprise categorization .............................................................................................. LXI SPSS output for statements ......................................................................................... LXII Non-response analysis ................................................................................................ LXIV

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION TO THE THESIS

The subject of this study is European Destination Marketing Organizations. The topic has been provided by the commissioner, Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI) in Brussels, Belgium.

In writing this thesis a mapping of existing European destination marketing organizations will be made (Convention and Visitor Bureaus and Tourist Offices). The DMOs mapped will be analyzed in terms of their structure, funding and educational needs.

Commissioner
Company: Contact: Position: Address: Destination Marketing Association International Mrs. Titta Rosvall-Puplett Managing Director Avenue de Tervueren 300 Brussels, B-1150 Belgium +32 (0)2 789 23 44 +32 (0)2 743 15 50 trosvall-puplett@destinationmarketing.org

Phone: Fax: Email:

Name and contact details of the student Name: ID code: Address: Sabrina Kamann 040494 Spoorstraat 11 4811BC Breda The Netherlands +31 (0)6 42 624 443 SabrinaKamann@hotmail.com, 040494@nhtv.nl

Mobile: Email:

Context analysis
The commissioner
Destination Marketing Association International is the the worlds largest and most reliable resource for official destination marketing organizations and is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of over 1,300 professionals from 600+ destination marketing organizations in more than 25 countries. (Destination Marketing Association International, n.d.)

DMAI provides its members with educational resources, opportunities for networking and marketing benefits (Destination Marketing Association International, n.d.). Moreover, DMAI offers opportunities for professional development, organisational development and business development.

Destination Marketing Association International was founded in 1914 as the International Association of Convention and Visitor Bureaus (IACVB) to promote sound professional practices in the solicitation and servicing of meetings, conventions and tourism (Destination Marketing Association International, n.d.).

The associations headquarters are located in Washington, D.C., USA. DMAI contracted a global association management company, MCI to develop the European market and run the European office in Brussels, Belgium, for DMAI in January 2007 (Destination Marketing Association International, n.d.). Ever since the opening of its European office, DMAI has partnered with European stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry, such as BACD (British Associations of Conference Destinations), in order to establish and enhance relationships with European destination marketing organizations, convention and visitor bureaus and tourism boards. (Destination Marketing Association International, n.d.)

Mission statement of DMAI

To enhance the professionalism, effectiveness, and image of destination marketing organizations worldwide. (Destination Marketing Association International, n.d.)

The subject
As aforementioned, the subject of the thesis is European destination marketing organizations. Having opened its European office in Brussels, Belgium in January 2007, DMAI is particularly interested in a mapping of European destination marketing organizations and an in-depth analysis of their structure, funding and educational needs. Since it aims at providing DMOs worldwide with strategic advice and support, knowing about the structure and funding patterns of DMOs in Europe is crucial to DMAI. Providing workshops and other opportunities for professional development to industry members, it is also of interest to DMAI to find out about educational needs of DMOs in Europe.

DMAI has released several research publications on this subject containing information on the North American market; however, there are no publications regarding the European market yet. This thesis will provide DMAI and its members with an insight into the European market and the characteristics of European DMOs; the results of the research will be posted on the DMAI website under the resource section, distributed to DMAI Board of Directors in July and presented to the European Advisory Council in October.

Structure
Chapter 1: Introduction to the thesis

Chapter one will provide an insight into the thesis by means of a context analysis, a description of the goal and research questions and an explanation of the overall methodology used.

Chapter 2: Secondary research - The mapping

Chapter two provides an introduction to the term DMOs and defines the term used for this thesis. Besides, it defines the mapping strategy, including a list of the countries in the sample and the methodology used. Moreover the theoretical limitations of the mapping are explained and the results described. The chapter concludes with the practical limitations of the mapping.

Chapter 3: Primary research - The survey

The first aspect in chapter three is a description of the goal of the survey, followed by a categorization of DMOs. The categorization will provide more in-depth information on DMOs and elaborates on the aspects of structure, funding and educational needs. Thereupon, the chapter includes a theoretical framework, outlining the methodology used for the survey and the survey timeline. The chapter is finalized by means of concluding observations.

Chapter 4: The analysis

Chapter four consists of the analysis of the survey results. The first part of the chapter describes the outcomes and clarifies the predominant responses by means of written abstracts and charts. The second part of the chapter aims at establishing relationships between the different aspects subject to the survey. This has been done by means of statements that are examined in terms of their connection. In order to examine statistical significance, SPSS has been used. The chapter concludes with the theoretical and practical research limitations.

Chapter 5: Conclusions

Chapter five summarizes the analysis of the survey results by means of a DMO profile. Moreover, it includes some suggestions for further research and a personal evaluation.

Goal and research questions

Goal of the thesis
The goal of the thesis is for DMAI to get a better insight in European destination marketing organizations.

This goal will be achieved by means of a mapping of destination marketing organizations in Europe. The knowledge obtained through the mapping will be used to develop a database together with DMAI. Besides, the thesis will contain an in-depth analysis of destination marketing organizations in terms of their structure, funding and educational needs, the goal of which is a clear profile of European destination marketing organizations. The results of the analysis will be presented at the DMAI European Advisory Council. The European Advisory Council has been established by DMAI and serves as a consultancy group to the DMAI regarding European affairs and education delivery strategy (Destination Marketing Association International, 2007).

Possible result
Ideally, the outcome of the research will provide DMAI with a clear profile of destination marketing organizations in Europe and can serve as a tool to further develop relationships with destination marketing associations or provide an insight into trends and developments in the industry regarding educational needs.

Research questions
Based on the research topic provided, the following research questions can be formulated: 1. Where are potential members of DMAI situated? 2. What is the general structure of a destination marketing organisation in Europe? a. Do they have members or partners? b. Do the members or partners have any influence on the decisions made within the DMO? c. If b is applicable, how is the election process managed? 3. What are the funding sources for destination marketing organizations in Europe? 4. What are the educational needs of destination marketing organizations in Europe? Please note that the questions listed above reflect the general outline of the research. However, the survey will contain further and more specific questions about aspects relating to the structure, strategic issues, funding and educational needs of destination marketing organizations in Europe.

Methodology
Thesis preparation In order to begin the thesis well prepared and with a broader picture of destination marketing DMAI provided subject related literature; the books to be read prior to my thesis are Fundamentals in Destination Management & Marketing by Rich Harrill, Ph.D. and Destination BrandScience Knapp & Gary Sherwin.
TM

by Duane

i.

Mapping

The mapping of destination marketing organizations in Europe will serve as the basis for all further research to be conducted within the framework of my thesis.

The mapping will be done to gain a clear insight into the locations of potential members for DMAI, therefore, all destination marketing organizations in Europe.

Related research question: 1. Where are potential members of DMAI situated?

Research methods:

Desk research: DMAI database Field research: Internet; websites of DMOs ii. In-depth analysis

a. The survey The in-depth analysis will be conducted by means of a survey. The questionnaire will be designed to gain information on destination marketing organizations regarding their structure, funding and educational needs. It will be distributed to DMOs listed in DMAIs database and to those located within the scope of the mapping.

Related research questions: 2. What is the general structure of a destination marketing organisation in Europe? a. Do they have members or partners? b. Do the members or partners have any influence on the decisions made within the DMO? c. If b is applicable, how is the election process managed? 3. What are the funding sources for destination marketing organizations in Europe? 4. What are the educational needs of destination marketing organizations in Europe?

Research methods:

Field research: Qualitative and quantitative (open and closed questions)

b. The analysis

Having distributed the surveys to the various DMOs in Europe, a follow-up will be undertaken within the duration of the questionnaire. This will be done by means of followup emails. Once the deadline set has been reached, the data will be analysed and a report reflecting all representative results will be composed. The data will be analysed by means of SPSS, which is a software program used for statistical analysis: It enables data management, examines potential relationships between data and allows the prediction of trends and enables strategic management decisions. It can be assumed that the response rate of the survey will be rather high, since the DMOs targeted also benefit from the outcome of this research: DMAI will be able to better fulfil DMOs needs and develop and strengthen relationships, which finally will contribute positively to the benefits DMOs obtain through their membership with DMAI.

CHAPTER 2 SECONDARY RESEARCH

Introduction to the term DMO
By 2012, the Destination Management Organization will be the dominant, most influential and most respected force behind the worlds largest industry, ornot exist at all. (Mintel, 2005)

According to Michael Gehrisch, CEO and President of DMAI, Destination Marketing Organizations, synonymous with Convention and Visitor Bureaus (CVBs), serve as a coordinating entity, bringing together diverse community stakeholders to attract visitors to their area. (Gehrisch, 2005). Moreover, Gehrisch claims all CVBs to have the overall mission of promoting long-term development and marketing of a destination. (Gehrisch, 2005). Gehrisch states that a CVB Creates a brand for the entire community, to get the destination into the publics consciousness, creating a continuous awareness of and demand for the product. (Gehrisch, 2005)

According to the Mintel report Destination Marketing International April 2005, DMOs can be understood as umbrella organizations, comprising the following organizations:

o o o o o

National Tourism organizations Regional/provincial state tourist organizations City tourism organizations Coastal resort organizations Ski or other sport organizations (Mintel, 2005)
Figure 1

According to the World Tourism Organization (WTO), DMOs can be assigned to three different categories: DMOs on a national level, also often called National Tourism Organization (NTO) or Authority (NTA), DMOs on a regional level, Regional Tourism Organizations (RTOs), and DMOs on a local level that serve a city or rather small geographic area (World Tourism Organization, 2007).

In chapter 1 of the book Fundamentals of Destinations Management and Marketing, Bill Geist points out, that CVBs serve two main groups of stakeholders in the industry: The customers, being leisure travelers and group planners, and their clients, members of CVBs or partners or businesses in the areas (Geist, 2005). Depending on each stakeholders characteristics, a CVB or DMO is to provide adequate services in order to fulfill the customers or clients needs and expectations and, therefore, stimulate a positive reputation of the destination.

Despite marketing being the main function of DMOs, Michael Gehrisch claims that there is a general shift in the industry away from a narrow focus on marketing towards a more comprehensive approach emphasizing planning and development, as well as marketing. (Gehrisch, The contemporrary bureau, 2005).

This aspect is also expressed in the Mintel report, stating that DMOs act as facilitators, taking a birds eye view of the destination and fulfilling the role of an umbrella organization. (Mintel, 2005). In the report it is stated that several keynote speakers at the ENTER05 conference claimed that DMOs should be regarded as master planners (Mintel, 2005). This statement accords with the aforementioned shift recognized by CEO Michael Gehrisch.
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The World Tourism Organization also recognizes the increasing roles and responsibilities of a DMO and points out that a DMOs main task should be to lead and coordinate activities under a coherent strategy. They do not control the activities of their partners but bring together resources and expertise and a degree of independence and objectivity to lead the way forward. (World Tourism Organization, 2007). Moreover, the WTO states that though DMOs have typically undertaken marketing activities, their remit is becoming far broader, to become a strategic leader in destination development. (World Tourism Organization, 2007). A more detailed elaboration on the roles and responsibilities of DMOs can be found in chapter 3.

As cited in the Mintel report, Professor D Fesenmaier, described the six main characteristics of DMOs: He claims DMOs to be responsible for the promotion of a destination, while the destination is understood to be comprised of a large number of small enterprises, of which most do not cooperate. Secondly, Fesenmaier points out that DMOs do not own or manage any physical resources beyond, perhaps, a convention centre or similar facility, meaning they cannot claim any ownership rights of the destination itself. Thirdly, he states that DMOs are confronted with the challenge of communicating a consistent image of the destination, in order to ensure the visitors seamless experience. However, he claims that DMOs are not necessarily responsible of selling products, which complicates the aspect of performance management, and, therefore, the success of a DMO. Fesenmaier points out, that DMOs are largely governed by political forces, controlled by boards that are out of touch with the challenges facing the DMOs. Besides he emphasizes on the struggles DMOs face when in terms of acquiring funding schemes and grants to finance their operations (Mintel, 2005).

= Conference organized by the International Federation for Information Technology and Travel & Tourism (IFITT), www.ifitt.org/enter

Taking the aforementioned shift into consideration and in order to clarify the term DMO for the context of this thesis, the following definition has been chosen:

Destination Management Organization Organizations that lead a communitys hospitality and tourism industry and are often a driving force behind local economic development plans. These groups are occasionally called destination marketing organizations, but have moved to a more holistic approach that now includes, research, human resources and technology. (van Harssel, 2005)

In line with the definition chosen, the terms Destination Management Organization and Destination Marketing Organization will be used interchangeably throughout this thesis.

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Mapping strategy
As aforementioned in chapter 1, the first part of this thesis consists of a mapping of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) in Europe.

DMOs of the following types will be included in this research: o o o National Tourism organizations Regional/provincial state tourist organizations Capital city tourism organizations

The mapping will be conducted investigating the DMOs of the following European countries: EU-members Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom Non-EU members A Albania l Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Georgia Iceland Liechtenstein Moldova Monaco Montenegro Norway Russia San Marino Serbia Switzerland Ukraine Vatican City State (European Union, n.d.) Candidate EU countries Croatia Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Turkey (European Union, n.d.)

(European Union, n.d.) 11

Theoretical limitations of the mapping

Due to the limited timeframe allocated to the mapping process the mapping will only include a countrys DMO on a national level, those on the regional level and the capital city level. DMOs listed on websites as regional tourism boards represent the regional level. However, depending on the countrys tourism industry structure, there are provincial DMOs or State Tourism Organizations (STOs) rather than regional institutions. The adequate organizations have been chosen according to the listings on NTO organizations websites and their compliance with the definition of DMOs as mentioned earlier in this chapter.

By means of this holistic approach and the rather broad scope of the research, DMOs of each level will be investigated, ensuring a thorough and representative insight into the DMOs of each country in terms of their structure, funding and educational needs. In some countries, DMOs and CVBs are separate institutions. In that case, the CVBs of a country and the capital city have been mapped as well.

However, another limitation relating to the scope of this research refers to language barriers. The mapping will only be conducted including websites with information provided in English, German or Dutch. This will contribute to the validity of the research in terms of the organizations compliance with the definition of DMOs subject to this thesis.

Goal of the mapping

The goal of the mapping is to obtain contact information of each national, regional and capital city DMO of each country listed above, containing the full name of the DMO, mailing address, website address and telephone numbers. When provided on the website, the mapping will also list contact details of the relevant department (destination marketing, branding).

The information obtained through this mapping will serve as a basis for the second part of this thesis, namely the DMO survey. The DMOs identified through this mapping will be the sample for the survey.

Research method
The mapping has been conducted by means of desk research, using the internet as the primary source. Websites of state tourism organizations, regional tourism organizations, CVBs and tourism boards have been searched in order to obtain the relevant information.

The related research question is: Where are potential members of DMAI situated?

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Results of the mapping

In total the national, regional and capital city DMOs of 49 countries have been mapped, their contact details, consisting of the full name of the organization, postal address, postcode, city, website address, email address and telephone numbers have been obtained. A total of 337 addresses have been found and will serve as the sample for the survey subject to this thesis. The complete mapping results can be found in the appendices on page III.

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Practical limitations of the mapping

Language barriers The main difficulty encountered during the mapping process related to language barriers: Especially websites of regional tourist organizations and DMOs of Eastern or Central European states were in the national language only, so that it was not always clear, whether the particular website represented the desired institution responsible for tourism in that area. Therefore, the information of some regional/provincial DMOs might not be complete or not included in the results of the mapping. Examples of the respective countries are Estonia, Latvia, Poland and several countries not belonging to the European Union, as for instance Russia. Surprisingly, Italy, being one of the countries with the oldest and most developed tourism industry, could only partly exhibit regional DMO websites in languages other than the language of the country.

Different industry structures in different countries This research limitation refers to the different stages of tourism industry development in each country. In Western and Southern European countries, tourism development is rather advanced. Each DMO at each level, national, regional, capital city, has its own website, clearly outlining their DMOs fields of operations and contact details. Therefore, information on those particular DMOs is rather complete. However, countries with a less developed tourism industry, often only seem to have one national department or institution responsible for tourism development, planning and marketing of the destination country. In that case, the only institution available has been included in the mapping. Examples of the respective countries are Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and almost all countries not belonging to the European Union, with Switzerland, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Monaco being the main exceptions and providing complete and informative DMO websites in several languages.

Incomplete websites Not all website guaranteed complete information on the DMO and their contact details. Therefore, not all contact information could be obtained. In some cases, only email contact information was provided on the website. Therefore, not all information on each DMO consists of all contact details described above. Due to the limited timeframe it was impossible to contact every respective DMO. Examples of respective DMO websites are the websites of Greece, Latvia, Romania and most of the non-EU member countries.

Limited timeframe As aforementioned in the section on Limitations of this thesis, a limited timeframe has been allocated to the mapping process. Therefore, only DMOs on a national, regional and capital city level have been included in this mapping. Consequently, the results of this mapping, serving as a basis for the following step of the thesis, will only be representative of a certain amount of DMOs per country, but not all European DMOs.

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CHAPTER 3 PRIMARY RESEARCH

The Survey
The second part of this thesis deals with the analysis of the DMOs identified during the mapping process. This is done by means of a questionnaire that will be distributed to all European DMOs included in the mapping. The questionnaire will investigate aspects relating to the structure, funding and educational needs of Destination Management Organizations in Europe. Each of these aspects will be investigated in detail by means of in-depth questions clarifying the respective attributes.

Goal of the research

The overall goal of this thesis is for DMAI to get a better insight into the structure, funding and educational needs of Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe.

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Characterization of DMOs
This characterization provides an insight into DMOs in terms of their roles and responsibilities. Moreover, it clarifies DMOs in terms of their structure, funding schemes and educational needs based on information obtained from relevant technical literature. This chapter serves as a theoretical basis for the survey.

In-depth clarification DMOs

As already defined in chapter 2, DMOs are Organizations that lead a communitys hospitality and tourism industry and are often a driving force behind local economic development plans. These groups are occasionally called destination marketing organizations, but have moved to a more holistic approach that now includes, research, human resources and technology. (van Harssel, 2005)

The three different categories of DMOs all have similar roles and responsibilities. However, it is often the case that the operations of DMOs on the local level, or sometimes regional level, are subordinate to the operations and decisions of DMOs on the national or regional level. As it is clarified in the table below, DMOs on a national level decide on the overall strategic directions a countrys tourism industry is to pursue. Moreover, it decides on the desired image a country wants to communicate and the related promotional activities. However, tasks such as strategy, research and development take place on all three levels of tourism destination management. Besides, it is remarkable that most responsibilities relating to tourism destination management are being executed on the local level.

Table 1: Typical roles and responsibilities National, provincial/regional, local

National Destination promotion, including branding and image Campaigns to drive business, particularly to SMMEs Provincial/Regional Local

Unbiased information services Operation/facilitation of bookings Destination coordination and management Visitor information and reservations Training and education Business advice Product start-ups Events development and management Attractions development and management Strategy, Research and development (World Tourism Organization, 2007)

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Flanagan, Mangan and OConnor state in the book Tourism Destination Marketing Gaining the Competitive Edge, that the main goal of a Regional Tourism Organization (RTO) is to attract tourists to their specific geographic region (Dr. Flanagan & Ruddy, 2000). This certainly holds true for DMOs on each level and should be an integrated part of the vision and mission statement.

Structure

General structure

There is a plethora of DMO structures, with no widely accepted model.

Steven Pike claims in his book Destination Marketing Organizations (Pike, 2004) that originally, DMOs were government departments or industry association collectives. However, nowadays there are more different types of corporate governance that Destination Management Organizations can adopt. According to the WTO these are:

o o o o o o

Department of single public authority; Partnership of public authorities, serviced by partners; Partnership of public authorities, serviced by a joint management unit; Public authority(ies) outsourcing delivery to private companies; Public-private partnership for certain functions often in the form of a non-profit making company; Association or company funded purely by a private sector partnership and/or trading (World Tourism Organization, 2007)

While each type of governance has its strengths and weaknesses, a public-private partnership seems to have the most advantages for a DMO: The public sector provides a rather secure framework, pursuing long-term approaches and with a greater consideration of quality and a more integral view, whereas the private sector is more dynamic, pursuing a short-term strategy and paying more attention to specific aspects such as sales and customer relationship management (CRM). (World Tourism Organization, 2007)

According to Mr. Tony Rogers, author of the case study Destination Management in the United Kingdom, the most common structure of DMOs in the United Kingdom is that of a public-private partnership (Rogers, 2005). This is also stated by Steven Pike, claiming that a shift towards publicprivate partnerships is noticeable among DMOs (Pike, 2004).

There are also several legal forms a DMO can opt for: The most common legal form DMOs in the United Kingdom opt for is that of a non-profit organization (Rogers, 2005).

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DMO governance Most of the times, a DMO is governed by a Board of Directors. The Boards responsibilities relate to philosophical, legal, and financial aspects of the operation and management of a DMO (Lathrop, 2005).

This implies the following roles and duties: o o o o o o o Defining the purpose of the bureau and establishing its governing principles Providing advice and consent with respect to overall bureau policy and goals Approving the annual operating budget and monitoring the bureaus finances Approving membership structure and fees Providing direction and oversight for the bureaus operations Monitoring the performance of the CEO or president or executive director Representing the bureaus interests among external audiences and serve as advocate for tourism and destination management issues. (Lathrop, 2005)

The Global Governance Press Policy states that The purpose of the Board, on behalf of (identify ownership here), is to see to it that (name of the organization) (1) achieves what it should and (2) avoids unacceptable actions and situations. (Carver & Carver, 1997)

When defining the structure and functions of a board it is essential to consider the composition of board members; A DMOs board should not only consist of representative from the tourism industry, but might also include representatives from other industries, facilitating contacts with the community or other stakeholders at the destination not directly related to tourism. Relationships with representatives are pivotal in attaining a DMOs goals; the more players and supporters of the tourism industry, the more increases the likelihood of asserting the DMOs interests. (Lathrop, 2005)

Steven Pike quotes Poetschke by stating that there are 4 critical success factors relating to the governance of DMOs of globally competitive destinations:

o o o o

A significant level of private sector control over authority spending Understanding of the need to incorporate public sector objectives to achieve a balance between marketing and new product development A dedicated stream that is not subject to annual government control A broad, integrated, mandate encompassing all functions critical to developing a strong tourism industry, such as marketing, education, research and infrastructure development. (Pike, 2004)

These success factors outline the importance of different industry representatives from both public and private sector as board members and clarify their interdependence in achieving the DMOs goal.

As aforementioned, in order to attain optimum efficiency of the Board, its roles and responsibilities need to be clearly defined. This can be done by means of committees, each being responsible for a particular field of operations. According to Carver & Carver in Reinventing your Board, Board committees are any groups set up by the Board, instructed by the Board, or reporting to the Board (Carver & Carver, 1997). Even though committees are a mean to increase the Boards efficiency, they can also negatively

18

impact a Boards operations: Committees can damage the Boards ability to hold its CEO accountable, just as can chairs and treasurers (Carver & Carver, 1997). In order to avoid these situations It is a rule of Policy Governance that board committees may exist only to assist in the boards own job and never to involve themselves in job of staff. (Carver & Carver, 1997). The typical Board committees are:

o o o

Executive Committee Strategic Marketing Resource Development (Lathrop, 2005)

Other aspects worth considering when composing the Board of Directors refer to the size of the Board. Generally speaking, the smaller the Board the more effective it is. However, the amount of Board members finally depends on the characteristics of the particular tourism destination and the number of representatives needed from other industries. (Lathrop, 2005)

Concerning certain governance standards of DMOs, the World Tourism Organization refers to DMAIs Destination Marketing Accreditation Program (DMAP), which is an international accreditation program which provides a platform for official destination marketing organizations to assure their stakeholders that they have achieved certain standards. (World Tourism Organization, 2007). These standards relate to various operational aspects, such as governance, finance, human resources, technology, marketing, visitor services, group services, sales, communications, membership, management and facilities, brand management, destination development, research/market intelligence, innovation and stakeholder relationships (Destination Marketing Association International, 2008).

Governance specific aspects DMAI investigates by means of this program relate to, among others, incorporation, bylaws, vision and mission statement, budget, policy and financial reports.

Partnerships The World Tourism Organization points out that The role of governance in tourism is undergoing a shift from a traditional public sector model, delivering government policy, to one of a more corporate nature emphasizing efficiency, return on investments, the role of the market and partnership between public and private sectors. (World Tourism Organization, 2007) Therefore, it can be stated that partnerships play a pivotal role in the operations of DMOs and, consequently, are a decisive factor of success in achieving the DMOs goals.

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The WTO states that partnerships are formed for different purposes and can take on different forms, differing in terms of involvement and obligations: (World Tourism Organization, 2007) o o o o o Good working relationships (including regular liaison) between two or more partners. Intermittent coordination or mutual adjustment of policies and procedures of partners to achieve common objectives. Ad hoc or temporary arrangements to accomplish a specific task or project. Permanent or regular coordination through a formal arrangement to undertake a specific program of activity. A jointly funded organization, which is a legal entity (e.g. a company), established to deliver an ongoing program of work, with clear defined purpose and objectives. (World Tourism Organization, 2007)

DMAI views partnerships with stakeholders from both the public and private sector as a guarantee for an appropriate standard of a DMO; by urging partnerships with the following institutions and bodies, DMAI includes this aspect as an assessment criterion in their program:

o Government agency(ies) o Business organization(s)/Chamber(s) of Commerce o Economic development agency(ies) o Airport authority(ies) o Port authority(ies) o Lodging association(s) o Parks and recreation authority(ies) o Media o Community leadership organization(s) o Convention center(s) o Sports organization(s) o Arts and cultural organization(s) o Restaurant association(s) (Destination Marketing Association International, 2008) The Association claims that Stakeholder relationships with key organizations are critical for successful DMOs. These relationships can include serving on each others respective boards, participation in coalitions, involvement in joint ventures, financial support, endorsements, regular communication, etc. (Destination Marketing Association International, 2008)

Memberships The trend of DMOs offering various types of commercial memberships is growing and, accordingly, the number of businesses applying for membership with DMOs is increasing. No longer, only stakeholders of the tourism industry become members of a DMO, but any business that feels it might be attractive to individual leisure travelers or convention attendees might join a bureau. (Walters, 2005)

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Membership schemes serve as a source of funding for many DMOs, but also facilitate connections with stakeholders of the tourism industry and other sector. However, in order to make membership with a DMO attractive, a set of benefits should be offered, stimulating the growth in membership applicants. In line with their DMO certification program, DMAI expects destination marketing organizations to compose a set of regulations relating to membership dues and a clear outline of the benefits of membership for each membership category. Moreover, DMAI expects DMOs to stimulate member involvement by means of regular opportunities for member feedback (Destination Marketing Association International, 2008).

Performance management According to the WTO, performance measurement is to be an integrated part of a destination management strategy (World Tourism Organization, 2007).

Managing people in a manner that moves the organization from vision and mission statements to execution by goal planning and goal setting. A systematic cycle of events that, if performed correctly, can produce powerful events. (van Harssel, 2005)

Thus it appears that for every organization, performance management is pivotal in order to attain efficiency targets and objectives. Performance management consists of eight steps, namely: planning, setting performance objectives, performance reporting and accountability, a performance report providing information on problems, progress and plans, performance evaluation, performance coaching, personal and professional development and, finally, continuous improvement (Camner, 2005).

21

Performance can be measured against several objectives, some examples of which are:

o o o o o o o o

Room nights Convention and group bookings Incremental economic impact of visitors to the destination Incremental economic impact of tourism and leisure Leveraging resources through community-based coalitions, partnerships and alliances Refining the infrastructure Developing a formal planning process including a strategic plan (Camner, 2005) Spreading seasonality

Apart from realizing the eight steps of performance management listed above, David Cramner claims that there are further measures an organization should undertake in order to stimulate its performance; these refer to staff motivation, encouragement of independent work attitudes and habits and clarifying bestpractice management implementation and appropriate values (Camner, 2005). He underlines his

statement by quoting Michael Hammer and James Champy in Reengineering the Corporation: Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success (Camner, 2005). This clarifies that creating a stimulating working environment for DMO staff is essential in order to ensure high performance.

Education and the opportunity for further development can be regarded as the facilitator for successful performance. The following abstract on educational needs further elaborates on the importance of effective human resources management within DMOs and its relation to education and training.

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Educational needs

As mentioned in the previous abstract, education and training is essential in the process of performance management. Providing employees with the opportunity to further develop their skills and knowledge usually serves as a valuable tool to motivate and stimulate peoples working attitude and dedication to their work. These aspects directly relate to the general functions realized in human resources management; David Camner claims that in essence, HR (Human Resources) management has three distinct missions: facilitating the achievement of the business purpose of the enterprise, overseeing and linking the human side of the enterprise to the enterprises objectives; and acting as an auditor, ensuring all is legal and in compliance. (Camner, 2005) He points out that personal and professional development contributes to the development of new competencies, skills, talents and knowledge; The fullest development of the human capital of an organization will provide the optimal return on investment (Camner, 2005). This implies that, despite investing in training and education of staff members is a rather costly matter, it may pay off by means of increased efficiency of an organization: Luis R. Gmez-Meja, David B. Balkin and Robert L. Cardy claim in the book Managing Human Resources, Pearson Prentice Hall, 5 edition (2006), that not conducting training can be a costly choice.
th

Steven Pike also adverts to the importance of training and education for DMOs by means of Ritchie & Crouchs theory of comparative and competitive advantage of a destination: The theory distinguishes between endowed resources representing sources of comparative advantage, consisting of natural resources, cultural resources, human resources and goodwill resources, and resources contributing to the competitive advantage of a destination (developed resources, financial resources, legal resources, organization resources, relationship resources and implementation resources) (Pike, 2004). The theory implies that without the efficient use of comparative resources, such as human resources and the skills and availability of the regions labor force, no competitive advantage could be achieved (Pike, 2004). Therefore, it can be stated that education and training as a component of efficient human resources management is essential for a destination to be managed successfully and, indirectly, gain recognition in the market. This holds true for all stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality industry.

Investment in education and training seems to be all the more important for DMOs considering the various challenges faced due to ever changing trends and developments in different markets.

The Mintel report Destination Marketing International April 2005 quotes speakers of the WTO conference by listing the following changes and trends noticeable in the tourism industry: o o o o Long-term growth in consumer desire for emotion-based, personalized experiences Increasing competition, ... Rapid expansion of low-cost air routes Increasing demand for do-it-yourself packaging on the Internet

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From these developments it can be derived that DMOs need to be able to quickly adapt to more prompt changes in the tourism market and be able to serve a more demanding customer. With more countries investing in the development of their tourism industry, competition has become rather high. Moreover, according to the WTO, there is evidence of an emerging new tourist who: is more mobile and critical, less loyal and more price-sensitive. (Mintel, 2005). Therefore, DMOs need to be more creative and resourceful to stand out and attract the travelers attention.

The Mintel report Destination Marketing International April 2005 states that internationalization, cooperation, innovation and digitalization are essential for DMOs when facing the challenges described above. However, these procedures cannot be realized without the necessary skills and knowledge. Especially innovation and digitalization require training and education, ensuring and understanding of the matter and the ability to gain advantage on the competition.

Education and training can take on different forms: It can take place by means of in-house or on-the-job training, external workshops or seminars or by visiting trade events and conventions and can be related to a specific field or cover a broad subject area.

As aforementioned, training and education is an essential investment for every organization. That the financial means available provide the opportunity for such investment is not always given. The following abstract provides information on the funding patterns of DMOs.

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Funding

According to the WTO, the public sector provides the biggest amount of funding for destination marketing organizations (World Tourism Organization, 2007): Having conducted a study on funding models of DMOs the WTO found out that at national level, the (funding) model continues to be governmental, whereas at regional and city levels there is more private sector involvement, typically in the form of publicprivate partnerships. (Mintel, 2005)

The Mintel report Destination Marketing International April 2005 points out that two different funding models can be distinguished, each reflecting either only public or private involvement: Figure 2: Full state intervention
2

Figure 3: Full private sector intervention

The same with the general structure of a DMO, a public funding model brings larger resources with it, whereas the fully privately-led model seems to be rather advantageous when it comes to reacting and adapting to changes in the industry.

Please note that both figures have been created based on information from Mintel, Destination Marketing International April 2005

25

Despite those two models being the most typical funding schemes for DMOs, the Mintel report states that countries with a rather developed tourism industry make use of both funding sources from the public and the private sector, and, therefore, neither of both sectors is dominant regarding any of the functions executed. (Mintel, 2005)

Funding for DMOs in the United States of America is mainly obtained through bed taxes or hotel transient occupant taxes (Rogers, 2005). However, this does not hold true for the United Kingdom. The main funding sources, irrespective of being a public or private sector body, are as follows:

o Local authority or municipality o Central government o European Union (if applicable) o Regional government or agency o Membership fees o Commercial activities o Private sector sponsorship o Other (Rogers, 2005) Steven Pike states in his book Destination Marketing Organizations (2004) that most DMOs obtain the biggest percentage of their budget from the government and are, therefore, rather dependent on governmental institutions. Pike states: Given the long term uncertainty of political commitment towards tourism, the over reliance of government funding has been a concern to many DMOs (Pike, 2004). He advises DMOs to seek alternative sources of funding instead (Pike, 2004).

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Concluding observations

From the theory provided above it can be concluded that there are many different aspects influencing the character of each individual DMO. Destination Marketing Organizations can be structured and managed in very different ways, from low state involvement to DMOs belonging to government institutions. Resulting from that, funding schemes and available budgets can differ tremendously. Therefore, priorities are set differently, human resources are managed differently and education and training is valued differently in each DMO.

Therefore, it can be stated that there is no standard typology for DMOs yet.

27

Methodology of the survey

The method chosen for this research is that of a self-administered questionnaire approach (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007). This field research uses primary sources by means of a questionnaire that is distributed electronically over the internet.

Sample characteristics The sample of DMOs used for conducting this research amounts to 337 potential respondents, of which all have been identified during the mapping. Using the internet and email as the distribution channel for this research, it is ensured that the survey is distributed efficiently and on time. Besides, this approach enables the research to be conducted among a rather large sample, geographically scattered.

Term of the survey and approach The term of the survey is 3 weeks. In order to achieve the highest response rate possible, a reminder strategy will be applied. This implies that, depending on the number of responses received at that stage, 1-2 weeks after the survey has been distributed, the DMOs in the sample will be reminded by means of a reminder email. If need be, the deadline will be extended. A second reminder email will be distributed and follow-up calls will be made, stimulating more responses. A detailed overview of the actual survey timeline can be found on page 30.

Internal structure The survey is structured according to the topics being examined: It is divided into three parts, namely structure, funding and educational needs. Each part consists of several sub-questions, clarifying different aspects relating to the respective subject. The exact subjects investigated can be found in the data requirement tables in the appendices.

The questionnaire is in English and mainly consists of closed questions, whereas a minority of open questions is used to clarify the respective aspects referred to in each question. The questions investigate three different types of variables: opinion, behavior and attribute (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Types of variable, 2007). This approach will facilitate the opportunity to create a thorough and comprehensive picture of DMOs in Europe. However, most questions are formulated to collect data of an attribute or behavior character, investigating facts relating to the structure and funding of DMOs; the way processes are handled (behavior) and what characteristics the organization possesses (attribute) (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Types of variable, 2007). In some cases, especially relevant to the set of questions relating to educational needs, the questions are designed to seek answers indicating the personal opinion of the respondent.

28

Analytical tools The survey will be analyzed by means of SPSS. Frequency tables will be used in order to analyze the most common schemes and cross tabulations will be used to investigate possible relationships between different variables. A SPSS codebook explaining all relevant tests, the value tables used for the interpretation of the results and the meaning of the different codes used for the graphs can be found in the appendices on page XXXIV.

Scales of measurement The majority of the variables will be measured at nominal level, since mainly categories with no intrinsic ranking will be used (SPSS). This implies that most of the questions will neither interrogate aspects requesting evaluations, nor any numeric answers.

However, there will be very few variables being measured at scale level: These variables related to aspects such as annual budget in Euros, number of full-time employees and part-time employees and the number of members.

Besides, the ordinal measurement level applies to one variable in this research, since it examines the attitude of the respondents towards the barriers for a DMO providing training and education for its employees.

Scope and demonstration of the result The main purpose of this research is to explore the European tourism market and identify characteristics of DMOs in Europe. The result of the survey will be rather descriptive. However, since this research includes an examination of possible relationships between variables, too, the result of the questionnaire might provide a more comprehensive rather than purely descriptive insight into DMOs in Europe.

The results of the survey will be used to describe the predominant answers of the participants of the survey. Thereupon, potential relationships between variables will be analyzed. Based on the respective contents a general profile of DMOs in Europe will be created.

29

Data requirements

In order to design a complete and representative questionnaire data requirement tables have been composed, providing a clear overview of the research objective, the type of research, the investigative questions and required variables. Each table relates to a different subject and a separate part of the questionnaire. The tables can be found in the appendices on page XIII.

Survey timeline

Originally the term of the survey was to be 3 weeks, including a round of follow-up emails and follow-up phone calls. Due to the very low response rate in the first week after the distribution of the survey, a first reminder email was sent out after ten 10 days. Not having received a sufficient number of responses on the day of the deadline, it was decided to extend the deadline for one week. An email was sent out informing the contacts in the sample of this extension. During the last week of the term of the survey follow-up calls were made to DMOs in those countries that showed a very low response rate. This selection was made due to the limited time available until the final deadline. A list of the countries contacted by means of follow-up calls can be found below.

EU members: Bulgaria Estonia Germany Hungary Ireland Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Poland United Kingdom

Non-EU members: Albania Andorra Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Georgia Iceland Moldava Monaco San Marino Macedonia

Apart from the follow-up calls, a second reminder email was distributed among the sample 2 days prior to the final deadline. The initial email distributed together with the survey and the reminder emails can be found in the appendices on page XXVIII.

An overview of the survey timeline and the different actions can be found in the following table.

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Table 2: Survey timeline First distribution EU members Non-EU members Candidate countries 4 March 2008 5 March 2008 6 March 2008

Deadline

20 March 2008 20 March 2008 20 March 2008

First reminder email 14 March 2008 17 March 2008 17 March 2008

Deadline extension email 20 March 2008 20 March 2008 20 March 2008

New deadline 28 March 2008 28 March 2008 28 March 2008

Second reminder email 26 March 2008 26 March 2008 26 March 2008

Followup call 25 28 March 2008 25 28 March 2008 25 28 March 2008

A couple of those DMOs contacted by means of a follow-up call indicated that they would complete the survey during the first week of April. Despite the fact that responses received during the first week of April violate the deadline, they will be included in the analysis in order to increase the representativeness of this research.

Conclusion
Generally speaking it can be stated that the willingness of DMOs to cooperate and participate in the survey was rather low. Please see below for an overview of the reactions to the survey:

Table 3: Overview of survey response Count Sample size 337 Participants3 61 Refusals 23 No reaction 253

In % 100% 18.1% 6.8% 75.07%

A detailed analysis of the survey results can be found in chapter 4 Analysis.

A list of respondents can be found in the appendices on page XXXII.

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CHAPTER 4 - ANALYSIS
Analysis of research results
Please note that the number of respondents to each of the questions can be found in the appendices under SPSS output.

Part 1 Structure

1. Structure The first question investigated the most common structures among Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe:

As it can be derived from the pie chart shown below, the majority of DMOs within this sample are set up as a partnership between public and private bodies, operating as non-profit organization. The second most common structure of DMOs is that of a government agency, followed by DMOs operating as publicprivate for-profit organizations and private non-profit organizations. Other structures mentioned by the respondents to this question were that of a regional agency, a city council, a public, regional agency and a city office. However, despite these dissenting designations, the additional structures mentioned by the respondents can be categorized as public sector bodies. Therefore, it can be concluded that the public sector plays an essential role among DMOs in Europe. However, a partnership between the public and private sector is still the most widespread structure.

Figure 4: Structure of a DMO

Structure of DMO
Government agency Public-private partnership non-profit Public-private partnership for-profit Private non-profit organization Private for-profit organization Other Missing

10,91% 20,00% 10,91%

3,64%

7,27%

7,27%

50,91%

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The results described above correspond to the categorization of DMO provided in chapter 3: The shift towards public-private partnerships among DMOs (Pike, 2004) can be confirmed in relation to DMOs in Europe, too. Besides, the trend of non-profit organizations being the common legal structure of DMOs in the United Kingdom (Rogers, 2005) can be recognized among DMOs in Europe in general, too.

2. Size The second question requested the respondent to provide information regarding the size of their DMO, by giving the number of full-time and part-time staff employed by the DMO.

On average, a DMO in this sample has 29.93 full-time employees and 5.34 part-time employees. The biggest DMO that participated in this survey had 324 full-time employees; the smallest organization had 1 full-time employee. On the basis of the European Commissions categorization of micro enterprises, small enterprises, medium-sized enterprises (MSEs) (European Commission, 2008) , it can be stated that most of the DMOs within the sample of this survey fall into the category of micro and small enterprises, with less than 10 and 50 employees (both 41%). It should be noted that those DMOs falling into the category of medium-sized and large enterprises are mainly DMOs on a national level, whereas the majority of respondents reflects DMOs on a regional and capital city level. The chart below clarifies the distribution of the different DMOs.
4

Figure 5: Size of DMOs

Size
1,67% 15,00%

Micro Small Medium Large

41,67%

41,67%

The categorization table can be found in the appendices on page LXI.

33

3. Departments The third question investigated the internal organization and management of DMOs in Europe. Every respondent could choose several departments from a number of options provided: The most common departments within a DMO are a Marketing department, Accounting department and a product development department. The departments special interest tourism, human resources, sales, policy, quality management and crisis management are each only present in less than 10% of all organizations in this sample. Therefore, it can be stated that those respective departments are less common among DMOs. Another department frequently mentioned by the respondents to this question is the press and PR department. Moreover, respondents listed logistics, facility management, visitor services,

communications, education, reservations, group travel, study trips, property, construction, tourist information office and reservations as additional departments present in their DMO.

It is remarkable that reasonably new aspects and functions relating to tourism, such as crisis management, special interest tourism and quality management attained rather low percentages in this respect: Traditionally, marketing, accounting and product development can be considered to be the most essential and most common departments within a DMO.

Figure 6: Common departments within a DMO

25,0%
23,11%

20,0%

Percent

15,0%
14,29%
13,03%

10,0%

10,50%

9,66% 7,56% 6,72% 5,0% 5,04% 2,10% 0,0%

Accounting department Crisis Management department Human Resources Management department Marketing department Other departments Policy department Product development department Quality Management department Sales department Special Interest Tourism department

7,98%

departments within DMO

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4. Branding strategy With branding and promotion of the destination being the traditional core functions of a DMO, question 4 aimed at finding out which entity within a DMO is responsible for the creation of branding and marketing strategies. The following definition clarifies what the branding strategy usually implies:

A plan for the systematic development of a brand to enable it to meet its agreed objectives. The strategy should be rooted in the brand's vision and driven by the principles of differentiation and sustained consumer appeal. The brand strategy should influence the total operation of a business to ensure consistent brand behaviors and brand experiences (Yellow Pencil Brand Sharpening, n.d.)

In most cases, it is the marketing departments responsibility to design branding strategies (36.84%). However, in many DMOs, the CEO has to assume this responsibility (21.05%) and in 18.42% of all DMOs that participated in this survey, the Board of Directors are to create promotional strategies.

External consultants and the quality management department have minimal impact on the creation of branding strategies. Other players involved in that matter are internal entities, such as the marketing board, the brand management group, the strategy and communications department, internal communication and campaign advisers, and in a broader sense, the council.

Therefore, it can be concluded that DMOs still assume the responsibility of creating branding and marketing strategies for their destinations, while external authorities seem to have a low impact in this regard. Figure 7: Responsibility for design of branding strategy

Quality_mng_dpt

1,75%

Responsibility for design of branding strategy

Product_dpt

10,53%

Other_dpt

7,02%

Marketing_dpt

36,84%

External_consultants

4,39%

CEO

21,05%

Board_Directors

18,42%

0,0%

10,0%

20,0%

30,0%

40,0%

Percent

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5. DMO governance As elaborated in the categorization of DMOs, most of the times DMOs are governed by a Board of Directors. The graph below shows that this is certainly also the case in European countries. Figure 8: Board governance
80,0% 75,00%

60,0%

Percent

40,0%

20,0%

25,00%

0,0% Yes No

Board governance

6. Board composition As described in the categorization of DMOs, a DMOs success is to great extent dependent on the knowledge available about other industries impacting tourism directly and indirectly, as well as the access to information from both the private and public sector. Therefore, a diverse composition of Board members is advisable for all DMOs governed by a Board of Directors. The chart below clarifies the composition of Boards of Directors of the interviewees:

Figure 9: Board composition

3,39% 7,63%

Composition of Board of Directors Local_other Local_tourism_private Local_tourism_public Local_tourism_semi National_other National_tourism_private National_tourism_public National_tourism_semi Regional_other Regional_tourism_private Regional_tourism_public Regional_tourism_semi

15,25%

24,58%

13,56%

3,39% 1,69% 4,24% 1,69% 3,39% 21,19%

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Most Board members are representatives from the local tourism industry, including stakeholders from both the public (21.19%) and private sector (24.58%). The regional tourism industry appears to be represented by both the public and private sector, as well, whereas the national tourism industry is hardly represented in DMOs Boards of Directors.

Other sectors represented in the Board of Directors are local politicians, university professors, chambers of commerce, hospitality industry representatives and regional development agencies. Moreover, representatives form the meeting and congress industry and airport officials are also mentioned. It becomes obvious that within this list local and regional authorities are predominant, too.

From the results outlined above, it can be derived that the DMOs of European countries have Boards of Directors composed of representatives not only from the tourism industry on the local and regional level, but also other industries. There is no dominance of either the public or the private sector. Therefore, it can be assumed that European DMOs Boards have the suitable circumstances for achieving interdependence between both sectors in order to facilitate the achievement of the DMOs goals.

7. Task of Board of Directors As analyzed before, in some DMOs it is one of the responsibilities of the Board of Directors to create the branding and marketing strategies for their destination. The following chart shows what other tasks and responsibilities Boards of Directors accept: Figure 10: Main task of Board of Directors
Tasks of Board of Directors
Budget_control Executing_strategies Other_task Performance_ measurement Strategic_decisions

27,72%

36,63%

10,89%

4,95% 19,80%

Consistent with the result of the fourth question, it is the most common task of Boards of Directors to make strategic decisions. Moreover, budget control and performance measurement are the core functions of Management Boards among the interviewed DMOs. Therefore, it can be stated that the Boards impact on DMO operations is pivotal and greatly influences the organizations business schemes.

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8. Committees within Board of Directors Typically, in order to reach an optimum level of efficiency and to clarify the tasks of each Board member, the Board consists of several committees (Harrill, 2005). However, this trend cannot be noticed among the DMOs in this sample: Only 11 DMO representatives indicated they have a committee within their Board. Figure 11: Committees within Board of Directors
80,0%

60,0%

Percent

40,0%

77,55%

20,0%

8,16% 0,0% Executive_committee No_committee

8,16% 2,04% 4,08% Other_committee Strategic_marketing_committee Resource_devel._committee

Committees within Board of Directors

9. Management of the Board election process This aspect of the survey aimed at investigating the influence of the different stakeholders on the Board election process: In most cases the Board members themselves are entitled to vote for candidates for a new Board of Directors. However, in not much less of the cases, all stakeholders have the right to vote a new Board of Directors. In 20.45% of the cases only the DMO members get to vote a new Board and in just as many cases, there is no election process as such at all: Some DMOs let politics rule over the composition of a new Board of Directors. In one other case trustees of a DMO get to vote. Generally speaking it can be stated that the voice of all stakeholders involved seems equally important to a DMO as the voice of the Board of Directors. Figure 12: Management of the Board election process
30,0% 29,55% 27,27%

20,0%

20,45%

20,45%

Percent
10,0%

2,27% 0,0% Board_vote DMO_members_vote No_election Stakeholders_vote Company_partners_vote Few_stakeholders_vote Staff_members_vote

Management of the Board election process

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10. Partnerships DMAI views partnerships with stakeholders from both the public and private sector as a guarantee for an appropriate standard of a DMO. Also, as mentioned earlier, the WTO claims partnerships to have a great impact on the operations of a DMO. Consistent with these statements, the results of this survey question show that 70.49% of all DMOs that participated in this survey do have partnerships.
70,49% 29,51%
Existence of partnerships

Yes No

Figure 13: Existence of partnerships

11. Members
Existence of membership patterns
Yes No

The trend of offering commercial memberships to not only players in the tourism industry but also other industry representatives is growing. This trend is also recognizable among DMOs in Europe:

40,00%

More than half of all interviewees indicated that their DMO offers membership. Therefore, it can be
60,00%

concluded that also DMOs in Europe have noticed the benefits of offering membership schemes, as for instance a secure source of funding and the opportunity for intensive networking.

Figure 14: Existence of memberships

12. Number of members The next question investigated the size of the membership programs offered by DMOs in Europe. The maximum number mentioned by the participants was 20000, which caused a rather high average number of members per DMO: 770 members. The majority of interviewees indicated that their DMO had more than 100 members. However; the answers provided did not show any trend in this matter.

39

13. Sectors represented by stakeholders As aforementioned, relations with stakeholders of different industries, by means of memberships or partnerships, facilitate connections to different industry sectors and can, possibly, be a valuable source of information and stimulator for business efficiency.

Members As it is clearly shown in the chart below, the most common sectors represented by the members of a DMO are the tourism and hospitality supply sector and business organizations: Restaurant associations rank highest, followed by lodging associations and chambers of commerce being the most common sectors applying for memberships with DMOs. Membership with DMOs is also popular among convention centers, government agencies, arts and cultural organizations and parks and recreation authorities. This shows that members of a DMO evenly represent the public and the private sector, as well as sectors directly connected to the tourism industry, as well as sector-extern organizations. Partners When it comes to the sectors represented by partners of a DMO, the distribution is more even. Most partnerships of DMOs are with business organizations and chambers of commerce, airport authorities, government agencies and economic development agencies. Moreover, arts and cultural organizations, lodging associations and convention centers form a remarkable part of the partnerships maintained with DMOs. In contradiction to the sectors represented by DMO members, partners of DMOs seem to represent the public sectors to a greater extend, whereas private organizations achieved lower results in this aspect.

From the results described above it can be derived that the average European DMO has relationships with stakeholders from both the public and the private sector. Therefore, it can be stated that industry connections have been utilized favorably. Figure 15: Sectors represented by members of DMOs
Sport_org Restaurant_associations
3,82% 12,74% 3,82% 7,64%
0,64 %

Sectors represented by members of DMOs

Port_authority Parks_recreation Other_sector Media Lodging_association Government_agencies Economic_devel_agency Convention_centers Community_leader_org Business_chamber Art_cultural_org Airport_authority
2,55%

1,27% 12,10% 10,19%

10,83% 7,01% 12,10% 8,28% 7,01%

0,0%

2,5%

5,0%

7,5%

10,0%

12,5%

Percent

40

Figure 16: Sectors represented by partners of DMOs

Sport_org_p Restaurant_p Port_authority_p
3,37% 6,73%
0,4 8%

6,25% 7,21%

Sectors represented by partners

Parks_recreation_p Other_secto_p Media_p Lodging_association_p Government_agencies_partner Economic_devel_agency_partner Convention Community_leader_p Business_org_partner Arts_cultural_org_p Airport_authority_p
5,29%

7,21% 7,69% 9,62% 9,13% 7,69%

11,06% 8,65% 9,62%

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

12,0%

Percent

14. Decision-making process Making strategic decisions was the main task of the Boards of Directors of the majority of DMOs represented in this research. This was confirmed by the outcome of the question regarding the management of the decision-making process. Generally speaking, it seems to be the case in the majority of all DMOs that the Board of Directors has the greatest influence and the power to decide. Letting all staff make decisions was the second most common method of managing the decision-making process in DMOs, whereas in not much less of the cases all immediate stakeholders are entitled to make business decisions. Members and partners themselves seem to have little influence on a DMOs strategic decisions. Other instances mentioned in this context were National Tourism Boards, Marketing Boards and the public sector in general.
5

Figure 17: Management of decision-making process

40,0%

30,0%

Percent

20,0% 34,21%

26,32% 10,0% 15,79%

18,42%

5,26% 0,0%

Decisions Decisions Decisions Decisions made by made by made by made by staff Board of partners only members only only Directors only

Decisions made by all immediate stakeholders

Decisions made by independent institutions

Other

Management of decision-making process

5 Please note that respondents could only choose one option. However, a significant number of participants chose several answers. Therefore, two different SPSS analyses have been done, both confirming each others result. The result of the second analysis with multiple answers can be found in the appendices.

41

15. Roles and responsibilities Marketing and destination branding are the traditional functions of a DMO. However, as described in the chapter on DMO categorization, there is a remarkable shift taking place within this business sector, which implies that a DMOs roles and responsibilities nowadays encompass marketing, as well as planning and development (Gehrisch, 2005). The result of this question clearly shows that the majority of DMOs still consider destination branding as their main role and function. Confirming the trend mentioned before, a great percentage also views planning and development as one of their main responsibilities. A further traditional function of a DMO, other commercial marketing activities and promotion also rank high on the list of the roles of a DMO. Research, product development, visitor services and conference management also seem to be an integrated role of the contemporary DMO, which could be an indicator for the fact that a DMO no longer only deals with the destination as a whole, but also pays attention to the single tourism products, different markets and the visitor experience at the destination. The consulting function, acting as a mediator between different stakeholders of the tourism industry and incorporating a booking channel is still not a common function among DMOs in Europe. Quality management, visitor management, resources management and crisis management got the least number of responses, which shows that these aspects do not seem to be associated with the core roles and responsibilities of the contemporary DMO. Figure 18: Roles and responsibilities of a DMO

Visitor_services Visitor_Mng Resource_Mng Research Quality_Mng Product_development_f

4,83% 1,27% 3,56%

8,40%

9,41%

8,65% 10,94% 0,25% 5,60% 5,60% 11,96% 1,78% 6,11% 7,89% 10,18% 3,56%

Functions of DMO

Planning_development_f Other_functions Mediator_visitor_local_business Mediator_local_business_public Destination_Branding Crisis_Mng Consulting_function Conference_Mng Commercial_promotion Booking_channnel

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

12,0%

Percent

42

16. Roles and responsibilities in the future When comparing the results of the two questions, it becomes obvious that in the future, destination branding should still increase in importance as a function of a DMO. According to the respondents of this question, planning and development should also move further into the focus of a DMO. This is consistent with the shift referred to by Gehrisch (Gehrisch, 2005). The respondents attitude towards research and product development as roles and responsibilities of a DMO has remained rather stable, whereas the function of visitor services has been chosen far less often by the interviewees. However, the assumption that visitor services will be less important in the future should be condemned as untrustworthy: According to the WTO, the emerging new tourist seeks more individual offers, better information about the product and the destination, and better service. Besides, the tourist becomes more more mobile and critical, less loyal, more price-sensitive (Mintel report, 2005). All these aspects can be regarded as an indication for the need for continuous visitor services and more quality management in order to satisfy the emerging tourist. Since quality management encompasses many different approaches, the aspect of visitor

services may be integrated in the different quality management strategies.

Another function that has gained rather low percentages compared to the previous question is that of conference management. However, since a certain part of the respondents in this sample were CVBs, it can be assumed that those, whose core function is conference and meeting management, have not indicated this response option, but have chosen for those functions that they would like to see expanded. The DMO as a mediator between different stakeholders of the industry, as a consultant for tourism stakeholders in the private sector and as a booking channel will not be paid more or less attention that currently. Figure 19: Roles and responsibilities of a DMO in the future

Visitor_services_future Visitor_future Resource_future

0,32%

5,77% 5,45%

Functions of DMOs future orientation

Research_future Quality_future Product_future Planning_future Other_function_future Mediator_visitor_local_future Mediator_local_public_future Destination_future Crisis_future Consulting_future Conference_future Commercial_future Booking_future
4,81% 5,13% 1,60% 6,41% 0,64% 4,49% 4,81% 7,37%

9,29%

9,94% 12,18%

12,82%

8,97%

0,0%

2,5%

5,0%

7,5%

10,0%

12,5%

Percent

43

Part 2 Funding

17. Funding sources According to the WTO, the public sector is the biggest funding sources for DMOs (World Tourism Organization, 2007). However, most countries with a rather developed tourism industry gain financial support and subsidies from both the public and the private sector (Mintel report, 2005).

The chart below clarifies the most common sources of funding for DMOs in Europe: Figure 20: Funding sources
Funding sources of DMO
11,88% Central_gov Commercial EU Hotel_taxes Member_fees Municipality Private_sponsor Regional_gov

15,00%

9,38%

14,38%

7,50%

18,12% 6,88%

16,88%

The biggest percentage of funding for DMOs in Europe is provided by the public sector on the local level: The municipality provides most subsidies for DMOs and the regional government is the third largest funding source. The central government provides 11.9% of all subsidies for DMOs. In this regard, Titta Rosvall-Puplett, Managing Director of the European office, mentioned that the fact that 27.02% of the DMOs in the sample consider their Boards main task to be budget control may relate to the fact that the biggest source of funding for DMOs is the public sector: In order to obtain grants and funding from the public sector, a lot of time is spent on budgets and the related administration (Rosvall-Puplett, 2008).

However, a great proportion of funding for DMOs is provided by the DMOs own operations and efforts: Member fees are the second biggest source of funding, and commercial activities undertaken by the DMO contribute to the financing to a great extent, too.

44

Private sector sponsoring appears to be one of the less commonly used sources of funding for DMOs in the sample. Hotel bed taxes and grants and subsidies from the European Union are the least common sources of funding for DMOs in Europe. However, the statement of the WTO as cited above can be confirmed: The public sector constitutes the biggest source of funding for DMOs in this sample. 18. Annual budget In order to clarify the result of this question, the answers have been grouped and categorized randomly as shown in the pie chart below: Figure 21: Annual budget In most cases the annual budget
Budget_size
4,76% 11,90% 30,95%

<1,000,000 <5,000,000 <10,000,000 <50,000,000 >50,000,000

available of the DMOs in this sample is below 5,000,000

(40.48%). In 30.95% of the cases the DMOs have an annual budget of only 1,000,000 at

11,90%

their disposal. In only ten cases does the budget available

exceed 5,000,000, and only in 2 cases it exceeds 50,000,000.

40,48%

19. Budget allocation This question investigated what functions a DMO allocates most of its budget to; the question requested the respondents to indicate a percentage for each function, if applicable. The graph below shows the sum of all percentages for each function as indicated by the respondents to give an indication of the functions that most money is being spent on.

A DMO allocates the largest proportion of its annual budget to commercial marketing activities and promotion. The second largest share is being allocated to destination branding. While rather large proportions are also allocated to conference management, product development, tourism planning and development and visitor services, all other functions reached rather low percentage rates:

45

Figure 22: Budget allocation cumulative percentages

Based on the low percentage of budget allocated to training, it can be assumed that education is not one of the priorities of DMOs in Europe.

Other aspects and functions mentioned in this context were administration, business expenses, and salaries, hosting function, conference marketing, logistics, touristic investments and PR.

20. Budget allocation in the future In order to identify some potential trends in the industry, the interviewees were requested to indicate what function more money should be allocated to in the future. Figure 23: Budget allocation in the future
Visitor_services_budget_future Visitor_budget_future Training_future Resource_budget_future
1,89% 10,69% 5,66% 8,18% 11,32% 4,40% 3,14% 7,55%

Budget allocation in the future

Research_budget_future Quality_budget_future Product_budget_future Planning_budget_future Other_budget_future Mediator_v_local_future Mediator_local_public_budget_future Destination_budget_future Crisis_budget_future Consulting_budget_future Conference_budget_future Commercial_budget_future Booking_budget_future
4,40% 1,89% 3,77% 3,77% 1,26% 1,26%

16,35%

14,47%

0,0%

5,0%

10,0%

15,0%

20,0%

Percent

46

Consistent with the results of the previous question, the main focus is directed towards promotional activities and destination branding. Moreover, respondents were of the opinion that a greater proportion of the budget should be allocated to the functions of planning and development, as well as research. In relative contradiction to the previous result, respondents indicated that they would like more money to be spent on training and education. In this regard, Titta Rosvall-Puplett, Managing Director of the European Office, added that one can also derive from the results that DMOs are likely to plan on investing more for training in the future, (ref. 19 Budget allocation): training can be ranked as 8
th th

priority in current budgeting

and (ref. 20 budget allocation) as 5 for future budgeting (Rosvall-Puplett, 2008).

Crisis Management, the DMO as a mediator, conference management, the consulting function visitor and resource management were repeatedly not the most common response options chosen.

47

Part 3 Educational needs

Figure 24: Vocational training 21. Vocational training As identified by means of the previous results it can be stated that education and training are not among the most common roles and functions the contemporary DMO deals with. However, the result of this question clearly shows that the majority of DMOs in this sample does either provide training for or in-house offers
43,04% 41,77%

Provision of training and education

In_House No_training Off_the_job

vocational opportunities

off-the-job,
15,19%

external, training. Only 15.19% of the respondents indicated that their DMO does not provide

opportunities for education and training. Nevertheless, since this survey did not investigate how often such training is offered, the efficiency can not be evaluated at this point. Moreover, one should bear in mind that DMOs do not tend to allocate much of their budget towards this aspect either, which may also influence the impression of DMOs attitude towards training.

22. Educational needs topics for training and workshops Providing training and education opportunities for further development of its staff can be pivotal for an organizations success. Camner claims that personal and professional development contributes to the development of new competencies, skills, talents and knowledge; The fullest development of the human capital of an organization will provide the optimal return on investment (Camner, 2005).

In order to get a deeper insight into the educational needs of DMOs in Europe and their various stakeholders, respondents were asked to choose those topics most appealing to them as potential subjects for vocational training.

Please note that the categories displayed in the following graphs represent the labels defined in SPSS and reflect the different variables included in the multiple response set. The meaning of each

abbreviation can be found in the SPSS codebook in the appendices on page XXXIV.

48

Figure 25: Educational needs DMO staff

Visitor_services_edu Visitor_edu Trends_edu Special_edu

3,75%

5,42%

8,33% 4,58% 3,33% 9,58% 7,50% 7,08% 8,33% 1,67% 3,33% 5,00% 10,42% 1,67% 4,17% 5,42% 6,67% 3,75%

Educational needs - DMO staff

Resource_edu Research_edu Quality_edu Product_edu Planning_edu Other_edu Mediator_v_lb_edu Mediator_lb_p_edu Destination_edu Crisis_edu Consulting_edu Conference_edu Commercial_edu Booking_edu

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

12,0%

Percent

DMO staff The subject most appealing to DMO staff is destination branding, a function also achieving the highest number of responses in line with the roles and responsibilities of a DMO. In contradiction to the result of previous question, the demand for training and education referring to research is evident: The second largest percentage in this context belongs to the research function. Besides, DMO employees expressed their interest for training regarding trends and developments in the tourism industry, planning and development and quality management. Unlike planning and development, which has been widely recognized as one of the core functions of a DMO, quality management has not been mentioned frequently throughout this research. However, DMO staff appears to feel the need for further education regarding this matter. Consistent with all other results, the subjects least appealing to DMO staff members were resource management and crisis management.

Other subjects mentioned in this context were customer care, languages and information technologies.

49

Figure 26: Educational needs DMO members

Visitor_services_edu_mem Visitor_edu_mem Trends_edu_mem Special_interest_edu_mem

3,70%

5,56%

8,33% 6,48% 1,85% 2,78% 7,41% 9,26% 6,48% 0,93% 5,56% 2,78% 8,33% 2,78% 2,78% 8,33% 9,26% 7,41%

Educational needs - members

Resource_edu_mem Research_edu_mem Quality_edu_mem Product_edu_mem Planning_edu_mem Other_edu_mem Mediator_v_lb_edu_mem Mediator_lb_p_edu_mem Destination_edu_mem Crisis_edu_mem Consulting_edu_mem Conference_edu_mem Commercial_edu_mem Booking_edu_mem

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

Percent

DMO members The greatest educational need of DMO members related to commercial marketing activities and promotion. Training and education on product development ranked second in the list of topics most appealing to DMO members, followed by trends and developments in the tourism industry, conference management, the booking channel function and quality management. All of these functions typically relate to the supply side of the tourism industry and could be relevant for, e.g. tour operators or similar stakeholders of the tourism industry. A possible connection between these aspects will be investigated later on.

Resource management was opted for least in this context and can, therefore, be considered as unattractive to DMO members.

50

Figure 27: Educational needs DMO partners

Visitor_edu_part V_service_edu_part Trends_edu_part Special_edu_part

4,88% 6,10% 7,32% 6,10% 1,22% 6,10% 8,54% 9,76% 9,76% 1,22% 1,22% 2,44% 10,98% 2,44% 1,22% 6,10% 7,32% 7,32%

Educational needs - partners

Resource_edu_part Research_edu_part Quality_edu_part Product_edu_part Planning_edu_part Other_edu_part Medi_v_lb_part Medi_lb_p_part Destination_edu_part Crisis_edu_part Consulting_edu_part Conference_edu_part Commercial_edu_part Booking_edu_part

0,0%

2,0%

4,0%

6,0%

8,0%

10,0%

12,0%

Percent

DMO partners The majority of the respondents to this question made the assumption that destination branding may be the subject most appealing to DMO partners in regard to training and education. Besides, product development and planning and development ranked high in this matter. Education on quality management and commercial marketing activities and promotion also gained a rather high proportion of all responses.

Resource management and the DMO as a consultant for the private sector gained the least number of votes.

It is evident that DMO employees estimate their partners interests in line with education to be similar to their own.

51

23. Barriers to vocational training As aforementioned in the chapter on educational needs, not conducting training can be a costly matter (Gmez-Meja, Blakin, & Cardy, 2006). The lack of financial means may not always be the only barrier for DMOs to provide vocational training. The chart below clarifies what other factors can hinder the provision of education and training:

Figure 28: Bariers to vocational training

Reasons for not providing training
0,00% 17,14% 8,57% Distance Duration Finances Lack_Staff No_knowledge Other_priorities Other_reason Time

0,00% 8,57%

2,86%

51,43% 11,43%

As anticipated, more than half of all interviewees indicated that lack of finances were the most important barrier to providing vocational training. However, time and, potentially coherent, a lack of staff was mentioned rather often in this context, too. The duration of vocational trainings also cause DMOs to refrain from offering opportunities for training and development for its staff members. However, some of the respondents also indicated that training and education simply are not among their highest priorities. While only a small number of all participants pointed out that they had no knowledge about any training opportunities, distance was regarded to be the least influential barrier.

Summing up the results relating to educational needs it can be stated that despite the fact that the majority of DMOs seem to offer vocational training, not much of the budget is allocated towards that function. However, as alluded to by Titta Rosvall-Puplett in relation to budget allocation currently and in the future, it is likely that DMOs will spend a greater proportion of their budget on education on training (Rosvall-Puplett, 2008). Moreover, the questions relating to educational needs partly attained rather low response rates as opposed to many of the other questions in this survey. In line with the general need for training and education within an organization to increase its efficiency and ensure successful management and to ensure the fullest development of the human capital of an organization (Camner, 2005), it can be stated that European DMOs should be confronted with opportunities for training and development, in order to stimulate their efforts in this matter.

52

24. Trade event and conference attendance Training and education can take on different forms: In some way attending industry events
50,0%

Figure 29: Conference attendance

44,72%

and conferences can also be considered as opportunities for gaining knowledge and
Percent

40,0%

information on the industry.

30,0%

30,08%

Only 1.63% of all respondents never attend a conference or a trade event, whereas the rest of all interviewees indicated they would attend a

23,58% 20,0%

10,0%

conference or trade fair for different reasons:The

1,63%

majority of all participants attend a trade fair to

0,0%

promote the destination, while the second biggest share of all respondents attends such

No_conference Yes_industry Yes_network Yes_promote

Conference attendance

events to network. After all, 25.58% attend a conference to enhance their industry knowledge. This might be an indication for the fact that trade events and conferences are among the most effective and popular tools for gaining industry knowledge and the provision of some kind of opportunity for development.The frequency table below shows a selection of the biggest trade events in Europe and their attendant rate among the DMOs in this sample: Table 4: Most popular trade events
N Examples of trade events in Europe(a) ITB, DE 36 IMEX, DE TTW, CH WTM, UK Vakantiebeurs, NL Ferien_Messe_Wien, A Brussel_Travel_Expo, B Nordic_Travel, FIN Le_Monde, F Philoxenia, GE BIT, I BaltTour, LV REISELIV, N ITM, RUS MIBEXPO, RUS FITUR, E EMITT, TR BTTF, UK MICE_Ukraine, UA Total 33 9 39 32 14 14 15 14 2 29 7 13 13 6 25 4 5 5 315 11,4% 10,5% 2,9% 12,4% 10,2% 4,4% 4,4% 4,8% 4,4% ,6% 9,2% 2,2% 4,1% 4,1% 1,9% 7,9% 1,3% 1,6% 1,6% 100,0% 64,3% 58,9% 16,1% 69,6% 57,1% 25,0% 25,0% 26,8% 25,0% 3,6% 51,8% 12,5% 23,2% 23,2% 10,7% 44,6% 7,1% 8,9% 8,9% 562,5% Responses Percent Percent of Cases N

a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Other trade events frequently mentioned by the interviewees were EIBTM, Spain, CBR, Germany, VIVATTUR, Lithuania and MITT, Russia.

53

Potential relationships
The previous part has described and analyzed the results of the survey. In order to elaborate more specifically the attributes of a DMO in Europe and to be able to create a general profile, this component of the chapter seeks logical relations between different aspects.

Seven statements have been chosen and will be tested in terms of a potential relationship between the two variables.

Statement 1
The structure of a DMO determines whether a DMO is governed by a Board of Directors

As it has been ascertained by means of this survey, the most common structure among DMOs in Europe is that of a public-private partnership, non-profit organization. The second most common structure was found out to be that of a government agency. The table below shows whether there is a relationship between those two most common structures of a DMO and its governance.

Table 5: Relationship: Board governance and most common structures

Most common structures Public-private Government partnership, agency non-profit 26 4 36,4% 10,3% 7 63,6% 17,9% 11 100,0% 28,2% 92,9% 66,7% 2 7,1% 5,1% 28 100,0% 71,8%

Total 30 76,9% 76,9% 9 23,1% 23,1% 39 100,0% 100,0%

Board governance

Yes

No

Total

Count % within Most common structures % of Total Count % within Most common structures % of Total Count % within Most common structures % of Total

This table clearly shows that the majority of all DMOs structured as public-private partnerships, operating as a non-profit organization are governed by a Board of Directors. In contradiction to that, the majority of DMOs being a government agency is not governed by a Board of Directors.

Table 6 shows that statistical significance in this case is evident. Therefore, this result can be regarded as being a reflection of the general DMO sector. Besides, the measure of association indicates that the relationship between both variables is strong :
6

The case processing summary can be found in the appendices.

54

Table 6:Statistical relationship test

Value Nominal by Nominal Phi Cramer's V -,603 Approx. Sig.

,000 ,603 ,000 N of Valid Cases 39 a Not assuming the null hypothesis. b Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

Therefore, the statement can be statistically confirmed: Generally speaking, most DMOs are structured as public-private non-profit organizations and are governed by a Board of Directors. The second most common form of a DMO is that of a government agency, without board governance.

Statement 2
The structure of the DMO is determinant of the size of a DMO

The majority of all DMOs in this sample can be categorized as micro or small sized enterprises. Whether the structure of a DMO is influencing the size of a DMO is shown below :
7

Table 7: Statistical relationship test

Value ,404 Approx. Sig. ,550 ,550

Nominal by Nominal

N of Valid Cases

,286 54 a Not assuming the null hypothesis. b Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

Phi Cramer's V

The results clearly show that there is no statistical relationship between these two variables: The statement can be regarded as false. Therefore, it can be pointed out that the structure of a DMO does not influence the number of staff employed by a DMO. The case processing summary and the cross table can be found in the appendices under SPSS output.

Since the most common structures of DMOs mainly imply public bodies, all response options have been included in this analysis, to guarantee a comprehensive insight in this potential relationship.

55

Statement 3
A DMO allocates most of its budget to what is considered as their core functions

Due to the fact that the aspect of budget allocation has been analyzed by means of Excel, the statistical relationship of these two variables and its significance cannot be investigated by means of the measures used in SPSS. However, from the results of the Excel analysis it can be derived that most DMOs allocate the biggest proportion of their budget to the functions of promotion, including commercial marketing activities, and destination branding, which is consistent with the functions that most DMOs consider their main roles and responsibilities. In that case

it can be stated that there is coherence between those two aspects.

In contradiction to that DMOs seem to allocate less of their budget to the functions of planning and development, research and product development, all of which functions that achieved high numbers of responses in line with the core responsibilities of a DMO.

As aforementioned, the statistical validity of this statement cannot be confirmed and, therefore, the findings should be accepted under reserve. Besides, many different factors, such as the difference in actions relating to each function and the respective expenses, may influence the budget allocation significantly. However, it can be stated that there is a likelihood of these two aspects being interrelated.

Statement 4
The staff members of those DMOs that do not provide vocational training show more interest in different workshop topics

Table 8: Relationship: Number of educational needs indicated and experience with training Count No training provided by DMO Not Applicable applicable 1 2 0 5 0 3 0 7 0 6 0 4 0 1 0 4 0 3 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 39

Number of educational needs indicated

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 9 11 13 15 16

Total

Total 3 5 3 7 6 4 1 4 3 2 1 1 40

56

Table 8 shows that only one of the respondents that indicated to work for a DMO that does not offer any vocational training appointed a workshop topic of interest. Therefore, the statement cannot be confirmed. The symmetric measures table supporting this outcome can be found in the appendices.

From the statement investigation above it can be derived that especially DMO staff familiar with vocational training provided by their employee show an interest in various potential topics for vocational training and workshops. Therefore, the statement above can be disproved.

When looking at the outcome of the question examining the most common barriers to providing vocational training, it became clear that a certain proportion of DMOs in this sample do have other priorities than training. Besides, some respondents indicated that they do not have any knowledge or information on vocational training and the respective opportunities in this matter. When relating the result described before, to the result of the question regarding barriers to training and education, it can be stated that a great proportion of DMOs seems to have not yet dealt with the aspect of training at all. Therefore, it may be advisable to approach DMOs with information on vocational training and the opportunities and benefits entailed.

57

Statement 5
What a DMO considers as its core functions is reflected in their educational needs.

This statement implies that the main roles and responsibilities, as conducted in their daily operations, directly relate to the topics that were indicated to be most important to the respondents. This statement assumes that vocational training is provided to support the development of the skills and knowledge relating to the main functions of a DMO, rather than a mean to give insight into new areas of expertise. The outcome of the test will indicate whether DMO staff indeed prefers training on their areas of expertise, or new subject areas.

In order to test this statement in terms of its representativeness and validity, cross tables based on multiple response sets including the most common answers have been created:

58

Table 9: Relationship: Popular training topics and most common functions

Most common functions of a DMO Product_de Destination_Bran velopment_f ding Research 12 60,0% 9 45,0% 15 75,0% 12 60,0% 14 70,0% 13 65,0% 7 35,0% 7 35,0% 7 35,0% 8 40,0% 20 16 51,6% 16 51,6% 23 74,2% 14 45,2% 20 64,5% 14 45,2% 10 32,3% 14 45,2% 8 25,8% 9 29,0% 31 17 70,8% 12 50,0% 17 70,8% 10 41,7% 19 79,2% 13 54,2% 9 37,5% 8 33,3% 7 29,2% 9 37,5% 24

Most common topics of interest(a)

Planning_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

Planning_de velopment_f 18 64,3% 15 53,6% 18 64,3% 13 46,4% 18 64,3% 14 50,0% 9 32,1% 10 35,7% 9 32,1% 9 32,1% 28

Commercial_pro motion 12 46,2% 14 53,8% 17 65,4% 15 57,7% 14 53,8% 12 46,2% 7 26,9% 11 42,3% 8 30,8% 8 30,8% 26

Total 20

Trends_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

20

Destination_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

25

Quality_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

18

Research_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

23

Product_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

17

Conference_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

12

Commercial_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

16

Mediator_lb_p_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

12

Visitor_services_edu

Count % within $Common_functions

12

Total

Count

38

Percentages and totals are based on respondents. a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

59

The most common function of a DMO is destination branding. When interpreting the crosstab it becomes obvious that 74.2% of all DMOs viewing destination branding as their main responsibility, also expressed interest in vocational training on this subject. The second most common responsibility is promotion, including commercial marketing activities. 42.3% of all interviewees indicated that they would like vocational training on this matter.

The function of tourism planning and development, the third most common function, as a subject for vocational training was popular among 64.3% of all interviewees in this category. Furthermore, product development as a training topic appealed to 65% of all DMOs considering this function as one of their main responsibilities. Finally, research even achieved the highest percentage among this test with 79.2%.

In order to ensure the comprehensiveness of this examination, several other subjects have been included in the test. Nevertheless, from the cross table above it can be derived that there is no preference for training on new areas of expertise relating to the respective core functions among any of the DMOs in this sample. Not even the popular topic of trends and developments in the tourism industry was a predominant choice.

Therefore, it can be pointed out that the statement above is true and indicates that among those DMOs in this sample, the most interesting topics for vocational training directly relate to the core functions of a DMO. For that reason, when informing DMOs on vocational training, training topics relating to the traditional functions of a DMO should be introduced.
8

Statement 6
The educational needs indicated by members depend on the sectors that DMO members operate in

The examination of this statement will show whether there is a connection between the sectors DMO members operate in and their educational needs. Since DMO members can be representatives of the public and private sector, this examination may also be regarded as an indicator for the educational needs of the public and private sector in the tourism industry in general. Multiple response sets subject to the 5 most popular topics indicated by DMO members and the most 5 common sectors represented by members of a DMO are used for the verification of this statement.

The relevance of this statement to the analysis of DMOs in Europe comprises the facilitation of DMOs to provide their members with better service according to their educational needs and interest in the industry.

Please note that no statistical measures analysis was possible, since both variables were multiple response sets.

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Table 10: Relationship: Popular training topics and sectors represented by DMO members
Business_cha mber 6 54,5% 6 54,5% 7 63,6% 7 63,6% 7 63,6% 11 Common sectors represented by members(a) Government_ Lodging_asso Restaurant_as agencies ciation sociations 8 5 8 61,5% 50,0% 66,7% 4 40,0% 6 60,0% 6 60,0% 5 50,0% 10 7 53,8% 8 61,5% 7 53,8% 6 46,2% 13 7 58,3% 7 58,3% 7 58,3% 6 50,0% 12 Convention_c enters 7 70,0% 6 60,0% 6 60,0% 5 50,0% 7 70,0% 10 8 8 9 7

Total 9

Most popular topics members(a)

Product_edu_mem

Destination_edu_mem

Trends_edu_mem

Commercial_edu_mem

Conference_edu_mem

Total
Percentages and totals are based on respondents. a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Count % within $Common_sectors_mem Count % within $Common_sectors_mem Count % within $Common_sectors_mem Count % within $Common_sectors_mem Count % within $Common_sectors_mem Count

15

When interpreting the cross table above it becomes clear that among those members representing business organizations and chambers of commerce, the following topics of vocational training were most appealing: Trends and developments in the tourism industry, commercial marketing activities and promotion and conference management.

Among those members representing government agencies the topics trends and developments in the tourism industry and commercial marketing activities and promotion were the most popular. Lodging associations appear to have an interest in product development and trends and developments in the tourism industry, while restaurant associations also indicated a predominant interest in product development. Convention centers seem to have an increased interest in product development and trends and developments in the tourism industry.

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Taking into consideration that business organizations/chambers of commerce and government agencies represent the public sector and lodging associations, restaurant associations and conventions centers represent the private sector of the industry, the following can be stated:

Public sector representatives express an increased interest for the topics relating to commercialization and marketing of the overall tourism products, whereas private sector representatives are more interested in the actual tourism product related to their sector.

The topic trends and developments in the tourism industry appealed to the private and public sector equally.

Statement 7
The educational needs indicated by partners depend on the sectors that DMO partners operate in

In order to strengthen the representativeness and significance of the statement above, the same investigation will be made based on the answers provided representative of DMOs partners.

The variables with the 5 biggest proportions have been included in multiple response sets of the most common sectors represented by DMO partners and the most popular topics among DMO partners. The cross table can be found on the following page.

The cross table 11 clearly shows that DMO partners being government agencies have a preference for the area of destination branding. Economic development agencies expressed the greatest interest in destination branding and planning and development of the tourism industry.

Airport authorities appear to have the following preferences for the following areas of expertise: booking channel, destination branding, product development and quality management.

Convention centers in this context were estimated to have the greatest interest in product development, while lodging associations considered the topics product development and destination branding as most interesting.

Business organizations and chambers of commerce indicated to be predominantly interested in destination branding.

Summing up it can be stated, that the public sector representatives, consisting of economic development agencies, chambers of commerce and government agencies have a preference for destination branding and planning and development. All of these topics relate to functions contributing to the greater

62

commercialization and more strategic instances of the tourism industry. In this regard, Titta RosvallPuplett added that this may relate to the fact that DMO partners have more of a stake in the DMO and more interest in increasing common goals and objectives than DMO members; DMO members mainly expect something from their membership with a DMO, rather than helping the DMO in achieving its objectives (Rosvall-Puplett, 2008).

The private sector representatives have a predominant interest in product development, directly relating to tourism supply. Other aspects favored were destination branding, quality management and the DMO as a booking channel.

Remarkable in this case is that only small proportions of the partners were expected to show and interest in trends and developments of the tourism industry.

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Table 11: Relationship: Popular training topics and sectors represented by DMO partners
Common sectors represented by partners(a) Economic_dev el_agency_par Airport_authori Lodging_asso tner ty_p Convention ciation_p 2 28,6% 4 57,1% 4 50,0% 4 50,0% 40,0% 6 60,0% 36,4% 5 45,5% 5 50,0% 4 40,0% 4 40,0% 5 50,0% 4 40,0% 10 3 42,9% 7 8 3 42,9% 2 28,6% 3 42,9% 4 57,1% 3 37,5% 4 50,0% 4 36,4% 5 45,5% 11 5 50,0% 4 40,0% 10 3 37,5% 3 37,5% 4 50,0% 3 27,3% 3 27,3% 6 54,5% 4 40,0% 4 40,0% 6 60,0% 4 40,0% 3 30,0% 5 50,0% 5 50,0% 3 30,0% 10 14 6 6 7 5 5 40,0% 6 60,0% 30,0% 6 60,0% 8 4 4

Government_ agencies_part ner Most popular topics among partners( a) Booking_edu_part Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count % within $Common_sectors_partn ers Count 4

Business_org _partner 3

Total 5

Destination_edu_part

Trends_edu_part

Commercial_edu_part

Product_edu_part

Planning_edu_part

Quality_edu_mem

Total

Percentages and totals are based on respondents. a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

64

Since the results of statement 6 and 7 complement each other it can be assumed, that the sector a stakeholder is operating in may have an influence on the topics considered as interesting for educational training.

The results of this investigation may be used as a tool to advise DMOs in Europe regarding the needs and wants of their stakeholders.

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Research limitations
Theoretical limitations

Representativeness of respondents As aforementioned, due to different tourism industry structures, especially in Central European countries, respondents from the respective countries will be underrepresented as opposed to those respondents from countries with a rather developed tourism industry. This aspect will be taken into consideration when analyzing the result of the questionnaire. An overview of the countries and their response rates can be found in the appendices on page LXIV.

Internal validity The internal validity of a questionnaire is crucial in order to obtain representative results. Internal validity refers to the relevance of the questions included in the questionnaire. Having defined what should be achieved by means of this survey; all questions designed can be directly related to one of the three subjects and can, therefore, be considered relevant to this research. (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Assessing validity, 2007)

Practical limitations

Email distribution The contact details of the DMOs in the sample were obtained through the mapping conducted prior to the survey distribution. Since the mapping was undertaken using the internet as the only tool, the information provided by DMO websites was regarded as a valid and accurate source of information. Unfortunately, having distributed the survey for the first time it was noticed that some of the email addresses appeared to be incorrect or no longer in use. Therefore, the number of DMOs in the sample was less than originally anticipated.

Moreover, some DMOs use automated email response systems. This implied that having distributed the survey, automated responses were received, providing basic information on the destination, but no reaction to the survey. Therefore, it can be assumed that the actual survey never reached the respective DMOs.

Another limitation in this regard relates to the fact that using email is a rather impersonal distribution channel, which does not allow room for communicating problems relating to the understating of the survey.

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Absence of email contacts/persons in charge Throughout the several distribution rounds it was noticed that many prior email contacts, from marketing departments or people in charge of handling such enquiries, were absent for the term of the survey.

Follow-up calls The main problem discovered during the round of follow-up calls related to the inaccurateness of phone numbers provided on DMO websites. It was noticed that many phone numbers were no longer in use. Besides, not all DMO websites had telephone numbers provided on their website.

Besides, when calling DMO offices, the general phone number provided on the website was called. When talking to reception or administration, people often refused to put the call through to the person in charge or stated the DMO would not participate in surveys at all.

Language barrier A striking difficulty faced when making follow-up calls was the language barrier. This was especially the case in those countries not being members of the European Union (Albania, Andorra, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova), and Eastern European countries (Poland), and also Greece and Hungary. Contacts from these countries had difficulties understanding the goal behind my research and the research questions itself. Therefore, the response rates from the respective countries are reasonably low.

Misinterpretation of the survey questions This aspect relates to the limitation describe above: If questions were not understood correctly, the question was most likely misinterpreted which may have influenced the response option chosen by the participant. However, since the majority of the potential respondents in the sample appeared to have good English skills, this limitation only has a limited impact on the representativeness of the research results.

Internal situation of DMOs Some DMOs responded to the emails by stating that their internal capacity would not allow the participation in my survey. Apart from the understaffed DMOs, there were also several ones explaining their intensive cooperation with students internally, by means of internships or student projects, so that, consequently, they would not be able to allocate time towards enquiries from other students, too.

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Generalization Due to the limited time available for this research, no differentiation between the individual DMOs could be made:

Operating level The research investigates DMOs on the national, regional and capital city level. However, the analysis itself does not account for these aspects.

Location and state of local tourism industry The sample of this research includes DMOs of all European countries. However, the research does not consider the state of the tourism industry in each country or region. The stage of the destination lifecycle that a destination is currently experiencing may have influenced the respondents answers.

Subjectivity of responses This limitation related to those questions investigating the attitudes of DMO members and partners (educational needs). Since the survey was distributed to DMOs only, and not to their members or partners, the response options were chosen by DMO staff instead of DMO members or partners. Therefore, the answers should be regarded as subjective and only as an indication of the investigated aspect.

Low response rates A certain proportion of the questions in the survey only applied to a few respondents: When participants indicated they did not have any members or partners or were not governed by a Board of Directors, several questions did not apply to them. Therefore, the response rate to the respective questions was limited. However, the result can still be regarded as representative for the DMOs in the sample, since some of the aforementioned aspects were simply not relevant to some respondents in the sample.

Non-response analysis

The concluding observations of chapter 3 show that 6.8% of all DMOs in the sample refused to participate in my survey. The most common reasons provided were: lack of time, lack of staff and privacy policies.

An overview of all respondents can be found in the appendices on page XXXII.

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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that most of the answers correspond to and confirm the categorization of DMOs provided in chapter 3. However, slight differences were noticeable, as well:

DMOs in Europe are typically governed by Boards of Directors. However, despite the fact that the roles and responsibilities of the Board are clearly defined, the majority of the Boards are not subdivided into different committees.

A further difference identified relates to the funding sources utilized by DMOs in Europe. While DMOs in America are typically funded by means of bed taxes or hotel transient occupant taxes (Rogers, 2005), European DMOs obtain most of their funding through municipalities or the regional government. Despite the fact that the funding sources reflects Pikes statement that Given the long term uncertainty of political commitment towards tourism, the over reliance of government funding has been a concern to DMOs (Pike, 2004), DMOs in Europe seem to have precluded this potential threat: Two third of DMOs in Europe are self-financed by means of membership fees.

The essential conclusions of this thesis have been summed up into a general profile of a DMO in Europe.

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DMO profile
Structure The average DMO in Europe is a public-private non-profit organization. It employs less than 10 (41%) or less than 50 staff (41%) and can, therefore, be categorized as micro or small enterprises. The most common departments in a DMO are marketing, accounting and product development. Designing marketing and branding strategies for the destination is the responsibility of the marketing department or Chief Executive Officer.

Board Governance A DMO structured as a public-private non-profit organization is usually governed by a Board of Directors, which is mainly composed of representatives from the public and private sector of the local tourism industry. The main task of the Board of Directors is to make strategic decisions.

The average Board of Directors is not subdivided in committees, but operates as an entity.

When electing new Board members, Board members and all other stakeholders are entitled to vote.

Stakeholders The average DMO has partnerships with predominantly the public sector (Chambers of commerce and government agencies).

The majority of DMOs offers membership schemes, with an average of 100 members per DMO. Most DMO members represent the private sector, namely restaurant and lodging associations, or the public sector, chambers of commerce or government agencies.

Corporate organization Within the average DMO most decisions are made by the Board of Directors.

Roles and responsibilities The European DMO considers destination branding and tourism planning and development as its main functions, while commercial marketing activities and promotion, research and product development are frequent functions, too.

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The functions the European DMO wants to focus on in the future remain to be destination branding and tourism planning and development. However, an additional function seeming to gain importance in the future is quality management.

Funding The most common source of funding for a DMO in Europe is the public sector on a local level: Municipalities and regional government provide the biggest amount of funding. However, a great proportion of DMOs is also self-financed by means of membership fees.

Budget The average DMO in Europe has an annual budget of <5,000,000 and allocates most of it towards the functions of promotion and destination branding, both being considered as the core functions of a DMO. DMOs do not consider allocating the biggest proportion of the budget to other functions in the future.

Educational needs The greater proportion of DMOs provides off-the job vocational training. The training topics most appealing to DMO staff were destination branding and research. DMO staff appears to have an increased interest in those subjects relating to the core functions of their DMO.

DMO members were estimated to have a preference for training on product development and commercial marketing activities and promotion.

The educational needs of DMO partners were assessed to relate to destination branding, tourism planning and development and product development.

There may be a connection between the sector that stakeholders of the tourism industry operate in and their educational needs: Public sector representatives showed an increased interest in training subjects relating to commercialization and marketing, while private sector representatives expressed interest in subjects directly relating to tourism supply and the tourism product. Trends and developments in the tourism industry was a subject favored by all stakeholders examined.

Those DMOs not providing training mentioned finances and time as the major barriers to vocational training.

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Trade events and conferences The average DMO in Europe attends a conference or trade event in order to promote the destination. Only 1.6% of the DMOs never attend a conference.

The most commonly attended trade events in Europe are WTM in the United Kingdom, ITB in Germany and IMEX in Germany.

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Suggestions for further research

The last chapters have reflected the results of the research. However, due to the limited time available for this research, there are many more opportunities for continuative research:

Expand scope and sample size As aforementioned, this research includes European DMOs on a national, regional and capital city level. In order to increase the representativeness and specificity of the outcome, a continuative research could be conducted, including all DMOs in Europe.

Differentiate operating levels Using the results of the mapping as a basis, a further research could be conducted examining the DMOs on each level separately. This may result in a more detailed and specified typology of the national, regional and capital city DMO, facilitating the opportunity to provide even better service.

Differentiate according to stage in destination life cycle By means of a continuative research that considers the different states of development at a tourist destination, differences or similarity between DMOs in Europe could be identified accordingly. The result may facilitate the ability to serve DMOs more efficiently and according to their needs.

Differentiate according to location In order to get a more thorough insight into the DMOs in Europe, one could investigate differences between DMOs per country: The sample should include all DMOs of each country in Europe and analyze the results of each country separately. By doing so, differences between DMO patterns in Europe may become clearer which may contribute to a better understanding of DMOs in each country and, finally, to the provision of better service.

Extend research focus on educational needs Due to the fact that education and training are essential for the success of an organization this aspect may be interesting to conduct research on in more detail. The results of this research have shown that the majority of DMOs in Europe is familiar with vocational training. However, since the results only provide an insight into this subject, one could conduct continuative research regarding the frequency of those trainings and the topics familiar to DMOs. The result of such research may help in designing strategies to approach DMOs in that matter and attract DMOs interest in education and training.

73

Differentiate between leisure tourism and business tourism DMOs Considering that DMOs focusing on business tourism and the MICE industry may have different needs and a different corporate organization than DMOs concentrating on leisure tourism, an in-depth analysis of the differences between those DMOs in terms of their structure, funding and educational needs may be interesting. Together with DMAI a hypothesis may be set and tested by means of this research.

74

EPILOGUE
Writing this thesis for DMAI has been beneficial to both my professional and personal development.

I have gained a lot of knowledge on the different tourism industry structures in the various countries in Europe in general. When conducting the mapping, I realized how varied tourism industries can be and how the various stakeholders impact tourism development differently in many countries. Despite the fact that this aspect created rather challenging circumstances when it came to identifying the appropriate institutions and DMOs, it provided me with additional information and knowledge that I had not expected to gain beforehand.

When it came to analyzing the DMOs in the sample, I was surprised to see that despite the diversity referred to above, there were common structures and patterns recognizable. Even though I had been aware of the role of a DMO and their operations and position within the tourism industry, this research has helped me to better understand a DMOs quintessence.

Moreover, I was able to apply the theory learnt throughout my studies of International Tourism Management and Consultancy and the specialization International Marketing to practice. Besides, I could intensify my skills regarding the statistical analysis program SPSS.

My career aspirations closely relate to the operations of DMOs and I am striving for a career in tourism destination management. Therefore, I certainly benefited from conducting this study, as by gaining more knowledge about his field of expertise, my interests were confirmed and I am eager to gain more knowledge in this matter.

All information and experience obtained by means of this thesis will serve as a valuable basis for my master study in tourism destination management and my further educational career.

DMAI, and especially my supervisor Titta Rosvall-Puplett, has shown great interest, faith and trust in my skills and knowledge, which gave me a lot of confidence and motivation in composing this study.

In writing this thesis I faced an enriching challenge, which has been a truly valuable experience for me.

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Photographic sources:

Cover page:

1.

Eiffel tower Paris France

http://www.visitingdc.com/images/eiffel-tower-paris-france.jpg

2.

Big Ben

http://www.inetours.com/England/London/images/BgBn/Big_Ben_8583.jpg

3.

Akropolis

http://www.bunte-starshots.de/albums/userpics/15167/Akropolis.jpg

4.

From Sweden to Denmark

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/181/463249772_43e3a94381_o.jpg

5.

Greek Islands, Turquoise Myrtos Beach

http://image59.webshots.com/659/1/8/50/2342108500011516490FxgsdM_fs.jpg

6.

Tatras Poland

http://www.flickr.com/photos/ppanas/280677263/

7.

Dusk falls on the fishermen

http://www.flickr.com/photos/acam/186300032/

8.

Cyprus

http://www.tanzreise-zypern.de/images/meer150.jpg

9.

Malta

http://www.malta-photos.com/data/thumbnails/40/0154.jpg

10.

Lone tree

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/131/319873864_d2e4f76a8a.jpg?v=0

11.

Liptovsk Mara

http://www.flickr.com/photos/majkakmecova/2348648500/

12.

Brandenburger Tor

http://cppi.free.fr/willkommen/dossiers/WM/Stadien/brandenburger_tor_n2.jpg

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13.

Brussels Atmoium

http://www.beautifuldaze.org/photos/atom.jpg

14.

Liboa panormama

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jasiot/425089633/

15.

Budapest Szchenyi Chain Bridge

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/154/400704502_1b63911096.jpg?v=0

16.

Hagia Sofia from the Golden Horn, Istanbul

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1414/1466475814_92fd434b85.jpg?v=0

17.

Amsterdam

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bcnbits/1535046496/

18.

Porvoo, own photo

19.

Matterhorn

http://www.weltum.de/weltum/img/alpen_matterhorn.jpg

20. Ireland http://img.stern.de/_content/56/77/567712/Irland1_500_500.jpg

21. Tuscany http://traveldk.com/dkimages/0-tuscany_master.jpg

22. Keila Joa (Estonia) http://www.flickr.com/photos/hommik/2065750824/

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APPENDICES

Organizational chart DMAI

II

Mapping results
EU members
Austria The Austrian National Tourist Office; ANTO Vienna, sterreich Werbung Burgenland Tourismus Krnten Information Niedersterreich Information Obersterreich Tourismus Information Salzburger Land Tourismus Steirsche Tourismus GmbH Tirol Info Vorarlberg Tourismus Wien Tourismus Brussels Brussels International - Tourism & Congress (BI-TC) Toerisme Vlaanderen Office de Promotion du Tourisme de Wallonie et de Bruxelles Bulgaria Bulgarian State Agency for Tourism Cyprus Cyprus Tourism Organisation CTO Information Office Agia Napa CTO Information Office Germasogeias CTO Information Office Kato Pafos CTO Information Office Larnaka CTO Information Office Lefkosia CTO Information Office Lemesos CTO Information Office Pafos CTO Information Office Paralimni Protaras CTO Information Office Platres Czech Republic Czech Tourism Authority

Denmark Visit Denmark Wonderful Copenhagen Head Office Destination Roskilde, Roskilde Lejre Turistbureau VISITEASTDENMARK - stdansk Turisme Bornholms Velkomstcenter Fonden Fyntour VisitNordjylland.dk III

Turistgruppen Vestjylland South-East Jutland Region Tourism Development Organization Estonia Estonian Tourist Board Tallinn City Tourist Office & Convention Bureau Finland Finnish Tourist Board Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau Espoo Convention & Marketing Turku Touring Tampere Convention Bureau Lapland Marketing Ltd Oulu City Tourist Office, Convention and Marketing Congress Vaasa Vaasa Tourist Office Rauma Regional Tourist Information Pori Tourist Office Kokkola City Tourist Office land Tourism Board France French Tourist Authority CRT Aquitaine CRDT D'AUVERGNE CRT Bretagne CRT Bourgogne CRT Champagne-Ardenne CRT Alsace CRT Franche-Comt AGENCE DU TOURISME DE LA CORSE CRT Aude CRT Limousin Rgion des Pays de la Loire CRT Val-de-Loire CRT Lorraine CRT Midi-Pyrns CRT Nord-Pas de Calais CRT Normandie CRT Paris Ile-de-France CRT Picardie CRT Poitou-Charentes CRT de Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur CRT Rhone-Alpes CRT Riviera Cote d'Azur

IV

Germany Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH Berlin Tourismus Marketing GmbH BTZ Bremer Touristik-Zentrale, Gesellschaft fr Marketing und Service mbH Deutsche Zentrale fr Tourismus HA Hessen Agentur GmbH Hamburg Tourismus GmbH Nordrhein-Westfalen Tourismus e.V. Rheinland-Pfalz Tourismus GmbH TMB Tourismus-Marketing Brandenburg GmbH Tourismus Marketing Gesellschaft Sachsen mbH Tourismus Marketing GmbH Baden-Wrttemberg Tourismus Zentrale Saarland GmbH Tourismus-Agentur Schleswig-Holstein GmbH TourismusMarketing Niedersachsen GmbH Tourismus-Marketing Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH Tourismusverband Mecklenburg-Vorpommern e.V. Tourist Information Thringen Greece Greek National Tourism Organisation RTO ARGOSTOLI RTO Arta RTO Chios RTO Gythio RTO Hania Heraklion - Offices of Tourism Directorate RTO IGOUMENITSA RTO IOANNINA RTO Kalamata RTO Kavala RTO Kerkyra RTO Komotini RTO Kos RTO Kozani RTO Lamia RTO Larissa RTO Lefkada RTO Mitilini RTO Mykonos RTO Paros RTO Patra RTO Rethimno RTO Rodos RTO Samos RTO Syros Thessaloniki - -Offices of Tourism Directorate RTO THIRA (SANTORINH) RTO Tripoli V

RTO Volos RTO Zakynthos Hungary Hungarian National Tourist Office Central Danubien Regional Marketing Directorate Balaton Regional Tourist Project Office Southern Plain Regional Marketing Directorate The Lake Tisza Regional Tourist Project Office North Hungary Regional Marketing Directorate Budapest Tourism Office Ireland Tourism Ireland, Northern Ireland Tourism Ireland Belfast CVB Derry CVB Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism Northern Ireland Tourism Board Causeway Coast & Glens Tourism Armagh Down Tourism Partnership Filte Ireland East & Midlands Dublin Tourism Filte Ireland North West Filte Ireland South West Failte Ireland Filte Ireland Italy Italian State Tourism Board Regione Abruzzo - Servizio Sviluppo del Turismo Tourism Region Campania - Redazione Portale Turismo Regione Campania Emilia-Romagno Tourist Authority Agenzia Turismo Friuli Venezia Giulia Regione Ligura Turismo Regione Lombardia, DG Giovani, Sport, Promozione Attivit Turistica Toscana Promozione Trentino S.p.A Rome Tourist Board Latvia Latvia Tourism Riga Tourism Coordination and Information Centre VI

Lithuania Lithuanian State Department of Tourism Luxembourg Office national du tourisme

Malta Malta Tourism Authority Gozo Tourism Association Netherlands, the Nederlands Bureau voor Toerisme & Congressen (Dutch CVB) BBT - Brabant Tourism Bureau Marketing Groningen Fryslan Marketing Marketing Drenthe Gelders Overijssels Buerau voor Toerisme Flevoland Utrecht Toerisme & Recreatie Toerisme Noord-Holland Zuid-Hollands Bureau voor Toerisme Bureau voor Toerisme Zeeland Samenwerkende VVV's in Limburg Amsterdam Toerisme en Congres Bureau Poland Polish National Tourist Office and CVB Warsaw Convention Bureau Convention Bureau, Municipality of Krakow, Promotion and Tourism Department

Portugal Turismo de Portugal Porto and North Tourism Turismo do Alentejo ATA - Associao Turismo do Algarve ATA Associao de Turismo dos Aores Direco Regional do Turismo da Madeira Agncia Regional de Promoo Turistica Centro de Portugal Turismo de Lisboa - Visitors & Convention Bureau Romania Tourism Romania

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Slovakia Slovak Tourist Board Bratislava Culture and Information Centre Bansk Bystrica Culture and Information Centre RTO Mikuls Poprad Tourist Information Centre Information Centre CK Selinan in ilina Information Centre of the Town Koice Trenn Culture and Information Centre Turisticko informan kancelria a cestovn agentra Slovenia Slovenian Tourist Board Slovenian Convention Bureau The Ljubljana Tourist Board and CVB

Spain Instituto de Turismo de Espaa Turismo Andaluz S.A. Turismo de Extremadura Murcia Turstica Instituto de Promocon Turstica de Castilla la Mancha Sociedad de Promocon del Turismo de Castilla y Len Turism de Aragon Turisme de Catalunya La Rioja Turismo Departamento de Cultura y Turismo San Sebastin Tourism Office Direccin General de Turismo - Turismo de Cantabria Sociedad regional de Turismo del Principado de Asturias, Parque Tecnolgico de Asturias Galicia Tourism Turgalicia Turismo de Baleares - Ibatur Promotur Turismo Canarias SA Valencia Tourism and Convention Bureau Turisme de Barcelona Consortium Consorcio Turstico de Madrid

Sweden VisitSweden Swedish Lapland Vsterbotten Turism Jmtland Hrjedalen Turism Hlsingland Turism Mid Sweden Tourism, Mitt Sverige Turism Srmlands Turism Destination rebro Gstrikland Turism VIII

Vstmanlands Kommuner & Landsting (Regional tourism development agency) Uppsala Tourism Region Blekinge - Tourism West Sweden Tourist Board Gotland Tourist Association Region Halland - Tourism East Sweden Tourist Board Position Skane Visit Smaland Stockholm Visitors Board and Congress Stockholm United Kingdom Visit Britain VisitEngland Visit London East Midlands Tourism East of England Tourism Northwest Regional Development Agency Advantage West Midlands - Tourism West Midlands Regional Tourism Team - One North East Tourism South East South West Tourism Yorkshire Tourist Board VisitScotland ConventionScotland VisitShetland VisitOrkney- Kirkwall Visitor Information Centre Stornoway Tourist Information Centre VisitScotland - Highlands VisitScotland - Aberdeen and Grampian VisitScotland - Angus and Dundee VisitScotland - Perthshire VisitottishHeartlands VisitFife Glasgow City Marketing Bureau VisitScotland Ayrshire and Arran The Scottish Borders Tourist Board VisitScotland Dumfries & Galloway Edinburgh Convention Bureau VisitScotland - Edinburgh & Lothians VisitWales - Welsh Assembly Government

IX

Non-EU members
Albania Tourism Albania - The Albanian Institute of Tourism & Environmental Developments Andorra Ministry of Tourism and Environment Tourist office of Ordino Tourist and information department of Sant Juli de Lria Com Tourist office of Andorra la Vella Oficina de Turisme Valls de Canillo Uni pro-turisme d'Escaldes-Engordany Armenia Tourism Armenia - Tourism Information Centre Azerbaijan Tourism in Azerbaijan Belarus Belarus Tourism Bosnia and Herzegovina Tourism Community of FB&H Georgia Departments of Tourism and Resorts

Iceland Icelandic Tourist Board (Head office) Icelandic Tourist Board Iceland Convention and Incentive Bureau The Westfjords Tourist Bureau Northiceland East Iceland Tourist Board South Iceland West Iceland Tourism Visit Reykjavk Liechtenstein Liechtenstein Tourism Moldova Moldova Ministry of Culture and Tourism X

Monaco Direction du Tourisme et des Congrs de la Principaut de Monaco Montenegro The Ministry of Tourism

Norway Innovation Norway - Norwegion Tourist Board Hedmark Tourist Board Hallingdal Reiseliv as. Telemarkreiser AL Visit Orlandet Fjord Norge AS Rogaland Reiseliv Hordaland Reiseliv Trndelag Reiseliv AS Nordland Reiseliv AS Troms Reiseliv AS Finnmark Tourist Board Svalbard Reiseliv Visit Oslo Russia San Marino State office of tourism San Marino Serbia National Tourism Organisation of Serbia

Switzerland Schweiz Tourismus Basel Tourism Ostschweiz Tourismus Schweizer Mittelland Tourismus Luzern Tourismus AG, Region Zentralschweiz Freiburger Tourimusverband Genve Tourisme Graubnden Ferien Office du tourisme du Canton de Vaud Watch Valley Coordination Ticino Turismo Valais Tourisme Zrich Tourismus Bern Tourism XI

Ukraine Vatican City State -

Candidate members
Croatia Croation National Tourist Board The Croation Convention and Incentive Bureau (CCIB) Zagreb Tourist Board & Convention Bureau Tourist Board of the County of Krapina - Zagorje Tourist Board of the County of Varadin Tourist Board of the County of Osijek - Baranja Tourist Board of the County of Vukovar - Srijem Tourist Board of the County of Istria, Istria Convention Bureau Tourist Board of the County of Primorje - Gorski Kotar Tourist Board of the County of Zadar Tourist Board of the County of Sibenik-Knin Tourist Board of the County of Split-Dalmatia Tourist Board of the County of Dubrovnik-Neretva Macedonia Macedonian National Tourism Portal Turkey Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkish Republic Istanbul Convention and Visitors Bureau

XII

Data requirements tables

Overall goal: To get an insight into DMOs in Europe in terms of their structure, funding and educational needs. Data requirements table: Structure
Research objective: To get an insight into DMOs in Europe in terms of their structure. Type of research: Mainly descriptive, even though differences between DMOs of EU-member countries and non-member countries might be examined, if answers differ considerably. Investigative questions Variable(s) required Measure ment level Check include d in questio nnaire

Detail in which data measured

What is the overall structure of DMOs? (attribute)

Structure of DMO

Public (government agency, government department/ministry/chamber), public-private (private organization in partnership with public institution), private (as independent agency, e.g. Marketing Bureau), association Full-time employees, part-time employees Marketing department, Board, Product development department, quality management department, CEO, external consultant, other, namely Marketing, Sales, Research, and Product development, Accounting, Policy, Quality management, human resources, other, namely .. Yes, no Representatives from local tourism industry (private sector, public sector), representatives from national tourism industry (private sector, public sector), and representatives from other local industry sectors (retail sector, hospitality industry, agriculture, industrial sector, other, namely .), representatives from other

Nominal

How many employees work at the DMO?(attribute) Within your DMO, who is responsible for creating marketing and brand strategies for your destination? (behavior) What departments are there within your DMO (attribute) Is your DMO governed by a Board? (attribute)

Number of employees at DMO

Scale

Brand 9 strategy

Nominal

Different departments within DMO Governance of DMO

Nominal

Nominal

How is your Board composed? (attribute)

Composition of Board of DMO

Nominal

Brand strategy = A plan for the systematic development of a brand to enable it to meet its agreed objectives. The strategy should be rooted in the brand's vision and driven by the principles of differentiation and sustained consumer appeal. The brand strategy should influence the total operation of a business to ensure consistent brand behaviors and brand experiences (Yellow Pencil Brand Sharpening, n.d.)

XIII

What is the main task of your Board? (attribute/behavior) Does your Board consist of several 10 Committees ? (attributes) How are Board members elected? (behavior) Does your DMO have any partnerships? (attributes) Does your DMO have any members? (attributes)

Roles and responsibilities of Board Existence of Committees within Board Selection process of Board members Existence of partnerships with DMO? Number of members

national industry sectors (retail sector, hospitality industry, agriculture, industrial sector, other, namely .), community representatives Deciding on strategic measurements, budget control, performance management and evaluation Executive committee, strategic marketing, resource development, other, namely Only Board Members can vote, only partners can vote, only members can vote, , staff members vote, public vote, all members, partners, staff and board members vote Public sector, private sector

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Nominal

Number Government agency(ies), Business organization(s)/Chamber(s) of Commerce, Economic development agency(ies), Airport authority(ies), Port authority(ies), Lodging association(s), Parks and recreation authority(ies), Media, Community leadership organization(s), Convention center(s), Sports organization(s), Arts and cultural organization(s), Restaurant association(s) (Destination Marketing Association International, 2008) Yes, no Educational institutes, Individuals/community members, Government agency(ies), Business organization(s)/Chamber(s) of Commerce, Economic development agency(ies), Airport authority(ies), Port authority(ies), Lodging association(s), Parks and recreation authority(ies), Media, Community leadership organization(s), Convention center(s), Sports organization(s), Arts and cultural organization(s),

Scale

Which sectors do your partners represent? (attributes)

Partnerships within different sectors

Nominal

Does your DMO have members? (attributes)

Existence of membership patterns within DMO

Nominal

Which sectors do your members operate in? (behavior)

Sectors members of DMO operate in

Nominal

Committees = Board committees are any groups set up by the Board, instructed by the Board, or reporting to the Board (Carver & Carver, 1997)

10

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Restaurant association(s) (Destination Marketing Association International, 2008) How is the decisionmaking process within your DMO managed? (behavior) Decisionmaking process within DMO All important decisions made by Board only, partners only, members only, staff only, all immediate stakeholders Product development, Tourism planning, Research, Crisis management, Visitor management, Visitor services information services, Booking channel, destination branding, Intermediate between visitors and local businesses, resource management, Intermediate between local businesses and public sector, Consulting function for private sector, conference and meeting management, Quality management, commercial activities, promotion, other, namely . Product development, Tourism planning, Research, Crisis management, Visitor management, Visitor services information services, Booking channel, destination branding, Intermediate between visitors and local businesses, resource management, Intermediate between local businesses and public sector, Consulting function for private sector, conference and meeting management, Quality management, commercial activities, promotion, other, namely .

Nominal

According to your companys mission and vision, what are the core responsibilities and functions of your DMO? (behavior)

Core responsibilities and functions of DMO

Nominal

According to you personally, what are the main functions of your DMO? (opinion)

Personal view on main functions of DMO, future orientation

Nominal

(Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Designing the questionnaire, 2007)

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Data requirement table: Funding

Research objective: To get an insight into DMOs in Europe in terms of their funding. Type of research: Mainly descriptive, even though differences between DMOs of EU-member countries and non-member countries might be examined, if answers differ considerably. Investigative questions Variable(s) required Measurem ent level Check include d in questio nnaire

Detail in which data measured

How does your DMO obtain funding and grants?(behavior)

Funding sources

Local authority or municipality, Central government, European Union, Regional government or agency, Membership fees, Commercial activities, Private sector sponsorship, Hotel bed taxes, other, namely.

Nominal

What is the annual budget of your DMO? (attribute)

Annual budget

Figure Product development, Tourism planning, Research, Crisis management, Visitor management, Visitor services information services, Booking channel, destination branding, Intermediate between visitors and local businesses, resource management, Intermediate between local businesses and public sector, Consulting function for private sector, conference and meeting management, Quality management, Training and education, other, namely . Product development, Tourism planning, Research, Crisis management, Visitor management, Visitor services information services, Booking channel, destination branding, Intermediate between visitors and local businesses, resource management, Intermediate between local businesses and public sector, Consulting function for private sector, conference and meeting management, Quality management, special interest tourism, Training and education, other, namely .

Scale

What functions does your DMO spend most money on? (behavior)

Budget allocation

Nominal

In your opinion, what function should more money be allocated to? (opinion)

Personal view on budget allocation, future orientation

Nominal

(Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Designing the questionnaire, 2007)

XVI

Data requirement table: Educational needs

Research objective: To get an insight into DMOs in Europe in terms of their educational needs. Type of research: Mainly descriptive, even though differences between DMOs of EU-member countries and non-member countries might be examined, if answers differ considerably. Investigative questions Does your DMO offer further vocational training for skill enhancement? (behavior) Variable(s) required Detail in which data measured Measure ment level Check include d in questio nnaire

Vocational training

Yes (in-house training/on-thejob training, off-the-job training in the country, outside the country) Product development, Tourism planning, Research, Crisis management, Visitor management, Visitor services, Destination Branding, resource management, Consulting, conference and meeting management, Quality management, trends and developments in the tourism and leisure industry, human resources management, sales skills, special interest tourism, other, namely . Lack of financial means, not enough staff, distance, irrelevant subject of trainings, disinterest, disbelief in significance of such trainings, insufficient knowledge of such trainings, duration of trainings, other priorities, other, namely

Nominal

If applicable, vocational training and workshops of which topic are most interesting to your DMO, partners and members? (opinion)

Topic of trainings

Nominal

If applicable, what are the reasons for your DMO not having attended or provided any vocational training?(opinion) Does your DMO send its employees to national or international trade events or conferences to enhance industry knowledge? (behavior)

Reasons for DMO not having attended or provided any vocational training

Ordinal

Trade events and conferences as educational measurements

Yes, namely (list), No

Nominal

(Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, Designing the questionnaire, 2007)

XVII

Sample survey
DMAI survey Investigating DMOs in Europe Dear Sir or Madam, My name is Sabrina Kamann and I am a 4th-year student of NHTV, Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and am currently writing my bachelor thesis. In this regard, I am working on a graduation project for Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). The goal of my thesis is to find out about the structure, funding and educational needs of Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe. As a part of my research I have composed a questionnaire, investigating those aspects. The results of the survey will serve as the basis for my analysis and are crucial for the outcome of my thesis. The survey consists of 24 multiple-choice questions and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. I would greatly appreciate your participation in this survey and would be pleased, if you returned the completed survey before the deadline on 28 March 2008. Your information will be treated confidentially; all results will be presented anonymously. If you are interested in a summary of the results of the survey, please fill in your name and email address at the bottom of the survey document. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me 040494@nhtv.nl or SabrinaKamann@hotmail.com . Thank you very much for your time, I look forward to receiving your completed survey. Kind regards Sabrina Kamann 4th year student International Tourism Management and Consultancy NHTV, Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands

Information on DMAI Destination Marketing Association International is the the worlds largest and most reliable resource for official destination marketing organizations and is dedicated to improving the effectiveness of over 1,400 professionals from 650+ destination marketing organizations in more than 35 countries. DMAI provides its members with educational resources, opportunities for networking and marketing benefits. Moreover, DMAI offers opportunities for professional development, organizational development and business development. For more information on DMAI, please visit www.destinationmarketing.org.

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Please fill in the survey objectively and representative of your organizations culture. Your answers will be treated confidentially. Name of organization: Position within the organization: Country:

1. Structure This part of the survey investigates aspects relating to the structure of your organisation. 1. What is the overall structure of your DMO? (Please tick where appropriate) Government agency Chamber of commerce Division of a chamber Public-private partnership non-profit Public-private partnership for-profit Private non-profit organization Private for-profit organization Private for-profit organization Other, namely

2.

How many employees work at your organization? Full-time employees Part-time employees

3.

What departments are there within your DMO? (several answers possible)

Marketing Sales Product development Accounting Policy Quality Management Human Resources Management Crisis Management Special Interest Tourism Other, namely

XIX

4. Within your DMO who is responsible for creating marketing and branding strategies for your destination? (Please tick where appropriate) Marketing department Product development department Quality Management department Board of Directors Chief Executive Officer External Consultants Other, namely

DMO governance 5. Is your DMO governed by a Board of Directors? (Please tick where appropriate) Yes No (go to question 10)

6. How is your Board composed? (Please tick where appropriate, several answers possible) Representatives from local tourism industry public sector Representatives from local tourism industry private sector Representatives from local tourism industry semi-government agency Representatives from regional tourism industry public sector Representatives from regional tourism industry private sector Representatives from regional tourism industry semi-government agency Representatives from national tourism industry public sector Representatives from national tourism industry private sector Representatives from national tourism industry semi-government agency Representatives from other local industry sectors, namely Representatives from other regional industry sectors, namely Representatives from other national industry sectors, namely

7. What is the main task of your Board of Directors? (Please tick where appropriate) Making strategic decisions Executing strategies Performance measurement and evaluation Budget control Other, namely

XX

8.

Does your Board of Directors consist of several Committees? (Several answers possible)

No, our Board does not consists of any committees Yes, Executive Committee Yes, Strategic Marketing Yes, Resource Development Other, namely

9. How is the Board election process managed? (Please tick where appropriate, several answers possible) Only Board members can vote Only company partners can vote Only DMO members can vote Only staff members can vote All stakeholders can vote Only few stakeholders can vote, namely There is no election process, Board members are appointed differently, namely,

Partnerships and members

Does your DMO have any partnerships? (Please tick where appropriate) No (skip question 13) Yes

10. Does your DMO have any members? (Please tick where appropriate) No (skip question 13) Yes

11. How many members does your DMO have? (Please fill in number)

XXI

12. Which sectors do stakeholders of your DMO represent?(several answers possible) Members Government agency(ies) Business organization(s)/Chamber of commerce(s) Economic development agency(ies) Airport authority(ies) Port authority(ies) Lodging association(s) Parks and recreation authority(ies) Media Community leadership organization(s) Convention center(s) Sports organization(s) Arts and cultural organization(s) Restaurant association(s) Other, namely Partners

13. How is the decision-making process managed within your DMO? (Please tick appropriate) Decisions made by Board of Directors only Decisions made by partners only Decisions made by members only Decisions made by staff only Decisions made by all immediate stakeholders Decisions made by independent institutions Other, namely

where

14. According to your DMOs vision and mission what are the core responsibilities and functions of your DMO? (several answers possible) Product development Tourism planning and development Research Crisis Management Visitor Management Visitor services information services Booking channel Destination Branding Mediator between visitors and local businesses Mediator between local businesses and public sector Resource Management Consulting function for tourism stakeholders in private sector Conference and Meeting Management Quality Management Commercial Marketing activities and Promotion Other, namely

XXII

15. According to you personally, what should your DMO focus on in the future? (several answers possible) Product development Tourism planning and development Research Crisis Management Visitor Management Visitor services information services Booking channel Destination Branding Mediator between visitors and local businesses Mediator between local businesses and public sector Resource Management Consulting function for tourism stakeholders in private sector Conference and Meeting Management Quality Management Commercial Marketing activities and Promotion Other, namely

XXIII

2. Funding This part of the survey investigates aspects relating to the funding of your organisation.

Funding sources

16. From which source does your DMO obtain funding and grants? (several answers possible) Municipality or local authority Central government European Union Regional government or agency Membership fees Commercial activities Private sector sponsorship Hotel bed taxes Other, namely

17. What is the annual budget of your DMO? (Please fill in number)

18. What functions does your DMO allocate most of its budget to? (Please fill in percentages)

Product development Tourism planning and development Research Crisis Management Visitor Management Visitor services information services Booking channel Destination Branding Mediator between visitors and local businesses Mediator between local businesses and public sector Resource Management Consulting function for tourism stakeholders in private sector Conference and Meeting Management Quality Management Commercial Marketing activities and Promotion Training and education Other, namely

% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % %

XXIV

19. In your opinion, what function should more money be allocated to in the future?(several answers possible) Product development Tourism planning and development Research Crisis Management Visitor Management Visitor services information services Booking channel Destination Branding Mediator between visitors and local businesses Mediator between local businesses and public sector Resource Management Consulting function for tourism stakeholders in private sector Conference and Meeting Management Quality Management Commercial Marketing activities and Promotion Training and education Other, namely

XXV

3.

Educational needs

This part of the survey investigates aspects relating to the educational needs of DMOs. Vocational training

20. Does your DMO offer further vocational training for skill enhancement for your staff? (Please tick where appropriate) Yes, in-house/on-the-job training Yes, off-the-job training No (go to question 23) 21. Vocational training and workshops of which topics are the most interesting to ? (several answers possible) Own staff Members Partners Product development Tourism planning and development Research Crisis Management Visitor Management Visitor services information services Booking channel Destination Branding Mediator between visitors and local businesses Mediator between local businesses and public sector Resource Management Consulting function for tourism stakeholders in private sector Conference and Meeting Management Quality Management Special Interest Tourism Trends and developments in the tourism industry Commercial activities and promotion Other, namely

22. What are the reasons for your DMO not to attend or provide vocational training and workshops for its staff? (Please number each of the factors below in order of importance. Number the most important 1, the next 2 and so on. If a factor has no importance, please number it 0) Finances Lack of staff Time Location/distance Duration of training courses/conventions/ Other priorities Insufficient knowledge and information about trainings Other, namely

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23. Does your DMO attend or send staff to national or international trade events or conferences? (several answers possible) No Yes, to enhance industry knowledge Yes, to present and promote destination Yes, to network

Examples: Internationale Tourismus Brse (ITB) , Berlin, Germany IMEX, Frankfurt, Germany TTW, Montreux, Switzerland World Travel Market (WTM), London, England Vakantiebeurs, Utrecht, the Netherlands Ferien Messe Wien, Vienna, Switzerland Brussels Travel Expo, Brussel, Belgium Nordic Travel Fair Matka, Helsinki, Finland Le Monde Paris, Paris, France Caucasus Tourism Fair, CTF, Tbilisi, Georgia Philoxenia, Thessaloniki, Greece International Tourism Exchange (BIT), Milan, Italy BaltTour, Riga, Lativia Norway International Meeting and Travel Fair (REISELIV), Lillestrm, Norway Intourmarket (ITM), Moscow, Russia International Meeting Industry & Business Travel Exhibition and Conference (MIBEXPO), Moscow, Russia FITUR, Madrid, Spain Eastern Mediterranean International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (EMITT), Istanbul, Turkey British Travel Trade Fair (BTTF), Birmingham, England MICE Ukraine, Kiev, Ukraine Other, namely

Thank you very much for your cooperation.....

If you are interested in a summary of the results of this survey, please provide your contact details below. Name: Email address:

XXVII

Accompanying email
Dear Sir or Madam, My name is Sabrina Kamann and I am a 4th-year student of NHTV, Breda University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands and am currently writing my bachelor thesis. In this regard, I am working on a graduation project for Destination Marketing Association International (DMAI). The goal of my thesis is to find out about the structure, funding and educational needs of Destination Marketing Organizations in Europe. As a part of my research I have composed a questionnaire, investigating those aspects. The results of the survey will serve as the basis for my analysis and are crucial for the outcome of my thesis. Please find the respective survey in the attachment. The survey consists of 24 multiple-choice questions and will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. I would greatly appreciate your participation in this survey and would be pleased, if you returned the completed survey before the deadline on 20 March 2008. Your information will be treated confidentially; all results will be presented anonymously. If you are interested in a summary of the results of the survey, please fill in your name and email address at the bottom of the survey document. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me 040494@nhtv.nl or SabrinaKamann@hotmail.com. Thank you very much for your time, I look forward to receiving your completed survey.

Kind regards

Sabrina Kamann 4th year student International Tourism Management and Consultancy NHTV, Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands

XXVIII

First reminder email

Dear Sir or Madam, About 2 weeks ago I have sent you an email including a survey investigating DMOs in Europe. The survey is an essential part of the research for my bachelor thesis and, therefore, I would really appreciate your participation in this questionnaire. I would be very pleased if you returned the completed survey before the deadline on 20 March 2008. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me 040494@nhtv.nl or SabrinaKamann@hotmail.com. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Kind regards Sabrina Kamann 4th year student ITMC NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands

XXIX

Email: Deadline extension

Dear Sir or Madam, About 4 weeks ago I have sent you an email including a survey investigating DMOs in Europe. I am conducting this research as a part of my bachelor thesis Investigating DMOs in Europe an in-depth analysis. Unfortunately, until now I have not received enough responses for my research to be representative. The results of this survey will serve as a basis for the core analysis of my bachelor thesis. Therefore, I would like to kindly ask you to help me out and participate in my survey, it would be highly appreciated. I would be very pleased if you returned the completed survey before the new deadline on 28 March 2008. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me 040494@nhtv.nl or SabrinaKamann@hotmail.com. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Kind regards Sabrina Kamann 4th year student ITMC NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands

XXX

Second reminder email

Dear Sir or Madam, About 4 weeks ago I have sent you an email including a survey investigating DMOs in Europe. The survey is an essential part of the research for my bachelor thesis and, therefore, I would really appreciate your participation in this questionnaire. Unfortunately at this point I have not received any responses from (country) yet and have far too few responses for my research to be representative. Therefore, I would be very pleased if you found the time to complete the survey and returned it before the deadline on 28 March 2008. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me 040494@nhtv.nl or SabrinaKamann@hotmail.com. Thank you very much for your cooperation, Kind regards Sabrina Kamann 4th year student ITMC NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, the Netherlands

XXXI

List of respondents
Andorra National Tourist Office Vienna Tourist Board Tourism Salzburger Land National Tourism Agency of the Republic of Belarus Office de Promotion du Tourisme de Wallonie et de Bruxelles Toerisme Vlaanderen Tourist Board of Osijek-Baranja County Zagreb Tourist Board & Convention Bureau Croatian Convention and Incentive Bureau, Croatian National Tourist Board Istria county Tourist board Cyprus Tourism Organisation Roskilde Lejre Tourist Office Syddansk Turisme VisitNordjylland.dk Visit London Tourism Lapland Helsinki City Tourist & Convention Bureau Tampere Convention Bureau land Tourism Board Comit Rgional du Tourisme de Lorraine Berlin Convention Office BTZ Bremer Touristik-Zentrale Bayern Tourismus Marketing GmbH MB Tourismus-Marketing Brandenburg GmbH, Potsdam Visit Reykjavik Westfjords marketing office Regione Abruzzo Agenzia Turismo Friuli Venezia Giulia APT Servizi Emilia Romagna Riga Tourism Coordination and Information Centre Lithuanian Tourism Association Visit Luxembourg Portuguese Embassy Economic Department Marketing Drenthe Amsterdam Convention Board Tourism Austria Visit Denmark Causeway Coast and Glens Tourism Partnership Fermanagh Lakeland Tourism Derry Visitor and Convention Bureau Region Stavanger BA Resieml Ryfylke Warsaw Convention Bureau ADETURN - Tourism North of Portugal Turismo de Lisboa Visitors and Convention Bureau Edinburgh Convention Bureau Ltd Tourist Organization of Belgrade City of Porpad, regional and tourist development department XXXII Andorra Austria Austria Belarus Belgium Belgium Croatia Croatia Croatia Croatia Cyprus Denmark Denmark Denmark England Finland Finland Finland Finland France Germany Germany Germany Germany Iceland Iceland Italy Italy Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands, the Netherlands, the Netherlands, the Netherlands, the Netherlands/Denmark Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Norway Norway Poland Portugal Portugal Scotland Serbia Slovakia

Slovenian Convention Bureau FUNDACIO DEST MENORCA Turismo Valencia Convention Bureau Uppsala Tourism Swedish Lapland Tourism Smlands Turism Jmtland Hrjedalen Turism Bern Tourism Board Zrich Tourism Basel Tourism Ticino Turismo Istanbul Convention & Visitors Bureau Visit Wales, Welsh Assembley Government

Slovenia Spain Spain Sweden Sweden Sweden Sweden Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland Switzerland Turkey Wales

XXXIII

SPSS codebook
Cramers V: Cramer's V measures the association between the two variables within the table on a scale where 0 represents no association and 1 represents perfect association. Because the value of Cramers V is always between 0 and 1, the relative strengths of significant associations between different pairs of variables can be compared. (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2007) Crosstabs: Crosstabulations (contingency tables) and measures of association. (SPSS)

Frequency tables: Tables of counts and percentages and univariate statistics, including the mean, median, and mode. (SPSS) Scales of measurement: Nominal - A variable can be treated as nominal when its values represent categories with no intrinsic ranking. (SPSS) Ordinal - A variable can be treated as ordinal when its values represent categories with some intrinsic ranking. (SPSS) Scale - A variable can be treated as scale when its values represent ordered categories with a meaningful metric, so that distance comparisons between values are appropriate. (SPSS)

XXXIV

Explanations of abbreviations used for categories in graphs

The following lists provide the meaning of the codes used in the graphs created by means of SPSS: Question 6: Board composition Local_other Local_tourism_private Local_tourism_public Local_tourism_semi National_other National_tourism_private National_tourism_public National_tourism_semi Regional_other Regional_tourism_private Regional_tourism_public Regional_tourism_semi Local, different industry Local tourism industry, private sector Local tourism industry, public sector Local tourism industry, semi public sector National, different industry National tourism industry, private sector National tourism industry, public sector National tourism industry, semi public sector Regional, different industry Regional tourism industry, private sector Regional tourism industry, public sector Regional tourism industry, semi public sector

Question 13: Sectors represented by stakeholders Members Sport_org Restaurant_associations Port_authority Parks_recreation Other_sector Media Lodging_association Government_agencies Economic_devel_agency Convention_centers Community_leader_org Business_chamber Art_cultural_org Aiport_authority

Sports organizations Restaurant associations Port authorities Parks and recreation authorities Other sector Media Lodging associations Government agencies Economic development agencies Convention centers Community leadership organizations Business organizations/chambers of commerce Arts and cultural organizations Airport authority

Partners Sport_org_p Restaurant_p Port_authority_p Parks_recreation_p Other_sector_p Media_p Lodging_association_p Government_agencies_partner Economic_devel_agency_partner Convention Community_leader_org Business_org_partners Art_cultural_org_p Aiport_authority_p

Sports organizations Restaurant associations Port authorities Parks and recreation authorities Other sector Media Lodging associations Government agencies Economic development agencies Convention centers Community leadership organizations Business organizations/chambers of commerce Arts and cultural organizations Airport authority XXXV

Question 15: Roles and responsibilities Visitor_services Visitor_mng Resource_Mng Research Quality_Mng Product_development_f Planning_development_f Other_functions Mediator_visitor_local_businesses Mediator_local_business_public Destination_branding Crisis_Mng Consulting_function Conference_Mng Commercial_promotion Booking_channel Visitor services Visitor management Resource management Research Quality management Product development Tourism planning and development Other functions, roles responsibilities DMO as mediator between visitor and local business DMO as mediator between local business, public sector Destination branding Crisis Management DMO as a consultant Conference management Commercial marketing activities and promotion DMO as a booking channel

Question 16: Roles and responsibilities in the future Visitor_services_future Visitor_future Resource_future Research_future Quality_future Product_future Planning_future Other_functions_future Mediator_visitor_local_future Mediator_local_public_future Destination_future Crisis_future Consulting_future Conference_future Commercial_future Booking_future Visitor services Visitor management Resource management Research Quality management Product development Tourism planning and development Other functions, roles responsibilities DMO as mediator between visitor and local business DMO as mediator between local business, public sector Destination branding Crisis Management DMO as a consultant Conference management Commercial marketing activities and promotion DMO as a booking channel

Question 17: Funding Central_gov Commercial EU Hotel_taxes Member_fees Municpality Private_sponsor Regional_gov Central government Commercial marketing activities and promotion European Union Hotel bed taxes Membership fees Municipality Private sector sponsorship Regional government

XXXVI

Question 20: Budget allocation in the future Visitor_services_budget_future Visitor_budget_future Training_future Resource_budget_future Research_budget_future Quality_budget_future Product_budget_future Planning_budget_future Other_budget_future Mediator_v_local_future Mediator_local_public_budget_future Destination_budget_future Crisis_budget_future Consulting_budget_future Conference_budget_future Commercial_budget_future Booking_budget_future Visitor services Visitor management Training and education Resource management Research Quality management Product development Tourism planning and development Other functions Mediator between visitors and local business Mediator between local businesses, public sector Destination branding Crisis management DMO as a consultant Conference management Commercial marketing activities and promotion DMO as a booking channel

Question 22: Educational needs Destination_edu Research_edu Planning_edu Trends_edu Quality_edu Product_edu Commercial_edu Conference_edu Visitor_services_edu Visitor_edu Special_edu Resource_edu Mediator_v_lb_edu Mediator_lb_p_edu Crisis_edu Consulting_edu Booking_edu Other_edu Destination branding as an educational topic for training Research as an educational topic for training Planning and development as an educational topic for training Trends and developments in the tourism industry as an educational topic for training Quality Management as an educational topic for training Product development as an educational topic for training Commercial marketing activities and promotion as an educational topic for training Conference management as an educational topic for training Visitor services management as an educational topic for training Visitor management as an educational topic for training Special interest tourism as an educational topic for training Resource management as an educational topic for training Mediator between visitors and local businesses as an educational topic for training Mediator between local businesses and public sector as an educational topic for training Crisis management as an educational topic for training The DMO as a consultant as an educational topic for training The DMO as a booking channel as an educational topic for training Other subjects as an educational topic for training

XXXVII

SPSS outputs
Question 1: What is he overall structure of your DMO?
Statistics Structure of DMO N Valid Missing Mode Structure of DMO Cumulative Percent 20,0 70,9 78,2 85,5 89,1 100,0

55 6 4

Valid

Missing Total

Government agency Public-private partnership non-profit Public-private partnership for-profit Private non-profit organization Private for-profit organization Other Total System

Frequency 11 28 4 4 2 6 55 6 61

Percent 18,0 45,9 6,6 6,6 3,3 9,8 90,2 9,8 100,0

Valid Percent 20,0 50,9 7,3 7,3 3,6 10,9 100,0

Other: Regional agency, City Council, public, regional organization, city office.

XXXVIII

Question 2: How many employees?

Statistics Number of Number of full-time part-time employees employees N Valid 59 59 Missing 2 2 Mean 29,93 5,34 Median 11,00 1,00 Mode 2(a) 0 Minimum 1 0 Maximum 324 50 a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown

Number of full-time employees Cumulative Percent 3,4 11,9 16,9 22,0 30,5 33,9 40,7 42,4 49,2 50,8 52,5 54,2 59,3 61,0 64,4 67,8 69,5 76,3 78,0 79,7 81,4 83,1 84,7 88,1 89,8 93,2 94,9 96,6 98,3 100,0

Valid

Missing Total

1 2 3 4 5 7 8 9 10 11 12 15 20 22 24 25 29 30 32 33 40 45 47 50 67 80 106 142 150 324 Total System

Frequency 2 5 3 3 5 2 4 1 4 1 1 1 3 1 2 2 1 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 1 1 59 2 61

Percent 3,3 8,2 4,9 4,9 8,2 3,3 6,6 1,6 6,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 4,9 1,6 3,3 3,3 1,6 6,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 3,3 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 96,7 3,3 100,0

Valid Percent 3,4 8,5 5,1 5,1 8,5 3,4 6,8 1,7 6,8 1,7 1,7 1,7 5,1 1,7 3,4 3,4 1,7 6,8 1,7 1,7 1,7 1,7 1,7 3,4 1,7 3,4 1,7 1,7 1,7 1,7 100,0

XXXIX

Number of part-time employees Cumulative Percent 44,1 57,6 64,4 67,8 72,9 79,7 83,1 84,7 86,4 89,8 91,5 93,2 94,9 96,6 100,0

Valid

Missing Total

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 15 16 37 46 50 Total System

Frequency 26 8 4 2 3 4 2 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 59 2 61

Percent 42,6 13,1 6,6 3,3 4,9 6,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 3,3 96,7 3,3 100,0

Valid Percent 44,1 13,6 6,8 3,4 5,1 6,8 3,4 1,7 1,7 3,4 1,7 1,7 1,7 1,7 3,4 100,0

Statistics Size N

Valid Missing Size

60 1

Valid

Missing Total

Micro Small Medium Large Total System

Frequency 25 25 9 1 60 1 61

Percent 41,0 41,0 14,8 1,6 98,4 1,6 100,0

Valid Percent 41,7 41,7 15,0 1,7 100,0

Cumulative Percent 41,7 83,3 98,3 100,0

XL

Question 3: Departments within DMO

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 1 1,6% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Departments( 60 98,4% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Departments Frequencies Responses N Departments within DMO(a) Marketing department Sales department Product development department Accounting department Policy department Quality Management department Human Resources Management department Crisis Management department Special Interest Tourism department Other departments 55 19 31 34 12 18 16 5 23 25 238 Percent 23,1% 8,0% 13,0% 14,3% 5,0% 7,6% 6,7% 2,1% 9,7% 10,5% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 91,7% 31,7% 51,7% 56,7% 20,0% 30,0% 26,7% 8,3% 38,3% 41,7% 396,7%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

XLI

Question 4: Branding strategy

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 1 1,6% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Branding( 60 98,4% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Branding Frequencies Responses N Responsibility for branding strategy(a) Marketing_dpt Product_dpt Quality_mng_dpt Board_Directors CEO External_consultants Other_dpt 42 12 2 21 24 5 8 114 Percent 36,8% 10,5% 1,8% 18,4% 21,1% 4,4% 7,0% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 70,0% 20,0% 3,3% 35,0% 40,0% 8,3% 13,3% 190,0%

Question 5: Board Governance

Statistics Board governance N Valid 60 Missing 1

Board governance Cumulative Percent 75,0 100,0

Valid

Missing Total

Yes No Total System

Frequency 45 15 60 1 61

Percent 73,8 24,6 98,4 1,6 100,0

Valid Percent 75,0 25,0 100,0

XLII

Question 6: Composition of Board

Case Summary Cases N $Composition( 47 77,0% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Valid Percent Missing N Percent 14 23,0% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Composition Frequencies Responses N Board composition( a) Local_tourism_public Local_tourism_private Local_tourism_semi Regional_tourism_public Regional_tourism_private Regional_tourism_semi National_tourism_public National_tourism_private National_tourism_semi Local_other Regional_other 25 29 4 18 16 4 5 2 2 9 4 118 Percent 21,2% 24,6% 3,4% 15,3% 13,6% 3,4% 4,2% 1,7% 1,7% 7,6% 3,4% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 53,2% 61,7% 8,5% 38,3% 34,0% 8,5% 10,6% 4,3% 4,3% 19,1% 8,5% 251,1%

XLIII

Question 7: Main task of Board of DIrectors

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 15 24,6% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Task( 46 75,4% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Task Frequencies Responses N Tasks of Board of Directors(a) Strategic_decisions Executing_strategies Performance_measureme nt Budget_control 37 11 20 28 96 Percent 38,5% 11,5% 20,8% 29,2% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 80,4% 23,9% 43,5% 60,9% 208,7%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Statistics

Valid Missing

Strategic_deci sions 61 0

Executing_str ategies 61 0

Performance_ measurement 61 0

Budget_contro l 61 0

Other_task 61 0

Strategic_decisions Cumulative Percent 60,7 77,0 100,0

Valid

Yes No Not applicable Total

Frequency 37 10 14 61

Percent 60,7 16,4 23,0 100,0

Valid Percent 60,7 16,4 23,0 100,0

Executing_strategies Cumulative Percent 18,0 77,0 100,0

Valid

Yes No Not applicable Total

Frequency 11 36 14 61

Percent 18,0 59,0 23,0 100,0

Valid Percent 18,0 59,0 23,0 100,0

XLIV

Performance_measurement Cumulative Percent 32,8 77,0 100,0

Valid

Yes No Not applicable Total

Frequency 20 27 14 61

Percent 32,8 44,3 23,0 100,0

Valid Percent 32,8 44,3 23,0 100,0

Budget_control Cumulative Percent 45,9 77,0 100,0

Valid

Yes No Not applicable Total

Frequency 28 19 14 61

Percent 45,9 31,1 23,0 100,0

Valid Percent 45,9 31,1 23,0 100,0

Other_task Cumulative Percent 8,2 77,0 100,0

Valid

Yes No Not applicable Total

Frequency 5 42 14 61

Percent 8,2 68,9 23,0 100,0

Valid Percent 8,2 68,9 23,0 100,0

Question 8: Committees within DMO

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 15 24,6% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Committee( 46 75,4% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Committee Frequencies Responses N Committees withon Board of Directors(a) No_committee Executive_committee Strategic_marketing_c ommittee Resource_devel._com mittee Other_committee 38 4 2 1 4 49 Percent 77,6% 8,2% 4,1% 2,0% 8,2% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 82,6% 8,7% 4,3% 2,2% 8,7% 106,5%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

XLV

Question 9: Election process

Case Summary Cases N $Election( 44 72,1% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Valid Percent Missing N Percent 17 27,9% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Election Frequencies Responses N Management of the Board election process(a) Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Board_vote Company_partners_vote DMO_members_vote Stakeholders_vote No_election 13 1 9 12 9 44 Percent 29,5% 2,3% 20,5% 27,3% 20,5% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 29,5% 2,3% 20,5% 27,3% 20,5% 100,0%

Question 10: Partnerships

Statistics Existence of partnerships N Valid 61 Missing 0 Existence of partnerships Cumulative Percent 70,5 100,0

Valid

Yes No Total

Frequency 43 18 61

Percent 70,5 29,5 100,0

Valid Percent 70,5 29,5 100,0

XLVI

Question 11: Memberships

Statistics Existence of membership patterns N Valid 60 Missing 1 Existence of membership patterns Cumulative Percent 60,0 100,0

Valid

Missing Total

Yes No Total System

Frequency 36 24 60 1 61

Percent 59,0 39,3 98,4 1,6 100,0

Valid Percent 60,0 40,0 100,0

XLVII

Question 12: How many members does your DMO have?

Statistics Number of members N Valid Missing Mean Median Mode Minimum Maximum

37 24 769,73 100,00 2(a) 1 20000 a Multiple modes exist. The smallest value is shown Number of members Frequency 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 37 24 61 Percent 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 60,7 39,3 100,0 Valid Percent 2,7 5,4 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 5,4 2,7 2,7 2,7 2,7 100,0 Cumulative Percent 2,7 8,1 10,8 13,5 16,2 18,9 21,6 24,3 27,0 29,7 32,4 35,1 37,8 40,5 43,2 45,9 48,6 51,4 54,1 56,8 59,5 62,2 64,9 67,6 70,3 73,0 75,7 78,4 81,1 83,8 89,2 91,9 94,6 97,3 100,0

Valid

Missing Total

1 2 6 9 11 12 15 20 23 28 30 31 55 60 77 93 95 100 130 140 150 195 199 200 205 250 341 350 400 420 500 600 1000 2230 20000 Total System

XLVIII

Question 13: Sectors represented by stakeholders

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 28 45,9% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Sector_members( 33 54,1% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Sector_members Frequencies Responses N Sectors represented by members of DMO(a) Government_agencies Business_chamber Economic_devel_agency Airport_authority Port_authority Lodging_association Parks_recreation Media Community_leader_org Convention_centers Sport_org Art_cultural_org Restaurant_associations Other_sector 16 19 4 11 6 19 12 2 11 17 6 13 20 1 157 Percent 10,2% 12,1% 2,5% 7,0% 3,8% 12,1% 7,6% 1,3% 7,0% 10,8% 3,8% 8,3% 12,7% ,6% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 48,5% 57,6% 12,1% 33,3% 18,2% 57,6% 36,4% 6,1% 33,3% 51,5% 18,2% 39,4% 60,6% 3,0% 475,8%

XLIX

Question 14: Decision-making process

Statistics Management of decision-making process N Valid 38 Missing 23 Mode 1 Management of decision-making process Cumulative Percent 34,2 39,5 65,8 81,6 100,0

Frequency Valid Decisions made by Board of Directors only Decisions made by members only Decisions made by staff only Decisions made by all immediate stakeholders Other Total System 13 2 10 6 7 38 23 61

Percent 21,3 3,3 16,4 9,8 11,5 62,3 37,7 100,0

Valid Percent 34,2 5,3 26,3 15,8 18,4 100,0

Missing Total

Multiple answers:
Case Summary Cases N $Multiple_answers 17 27,9% (a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Valid Percent Missing N Percent 44 72,1% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Multiple_answers Frequencies Responses N Multiple answers decision-making process(a) BoD All_Members Staff All_stakeholders Independent_institutions Other 12 7 9 3 3 5 39 Percent 30,8% 17,9% 23,1% 7,7% 7,7% 12,8% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 70,6% 41,2% 52,9% 17,6% 17,6% 29,4% 229,4%

40,0%

30,0%

Percent

20,0%

30,77% 23,08% 10,0% 17,95% 12,82% 7,69% 0,0% 7,69%

l_ Al be em M rs

Multiple answers decision-making process

l_ Al a st h ke de ol rs

D Bo

d In ep en n de

r Pa

er th O

f af St

e tn rs

LI

in t_ t itu st n io s

__

Question 15: Core functions of DMO

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 1 1,6% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Function( 60 98,4% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Function Frequencies Responses N Core functions of DMO(a) Product_development_f Planning_development_f Research Crisis_Mng Visitor_Mng Visitor_services Booking_channnel Destination_Branding Mediator_visitor_local_b usiness Mediator_local_business _public Resource_Mng Consulting_function Conference_Mng Quality_Mng Commercial_promotion Other_functions 34 43 37 7 14 33 14 47 22 22 5 24 31 19 40 1 393 Percent 8,7% 10,9% 9,4% 1,8% 3,6% 8,4% 3,6% 12,0% 5,6% 5,6% 1,3% 6,1% 7,9% 4,8% 10,2% ,3% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 56,7% 71,7% 61,7% 11,7% 23,3% 55,0% 23,3% 78,3% 36,7% 36,7% 8,3% 40,0% 51,7% 31,7% 66,7% 1,7% 655,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

LII

Question 16: Core functions of DMOs, future orientation

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 5 8,2% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Function_future 56 91,8% (a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Function_future Frequencies Responses N Function of DMO future orientation( a) Product_future Planning_future Research_future Crisis_future Visitor_future Visitor_services_future Booking_future Destination_future Mediator_visitor_local_ future Mediator_local_public_ future Resource_future Consulting_future Conference_future Quality_future Commercial_future Other_function_future 31 38 29 5 17 18 15 40 14 15 1 20 16 23 28 2 312 Percent 9,9% 12,2% 9,3% 1,6% 5,4% 5,8% 4,8% 12,8% 4,5% 4,8% ,3% 6,4% 5,1% 7,4% 9,0% ,6% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 55,4% 67,9% 51,8% 8,9% 30,4% 32,1% 26,8% 71,4% 25,0% 26,8% 1,8% 35,7% 28,6% 41,1% 50,0% 3,6% 557,1%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

LIII

Question 17: Funding sources

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 1 1,6% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Funding( 60 98,4% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Funding Frequencies Responses N 29 19 12 24 27 23 15 11 Total 160 a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Sources of funding(a ) Municipality Central_gov EU Regional_gov Member_fees Commercial Private_sponsor Hotel_taxes Percent 18,1% 11,9% 7,5% 15,0% 16,9% 14,4% 9,4% 6,9% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 48,3% 31,7% 20,0% 40,0% 45,0% 38,3% 25,0% 18,3% 266,7%

LIV

Question 18: What is the annual budget of a DMO?

Statistics Annual budget of DMO
N Mean Median Mode Minimum Maximum Valid Missing 42 19 7654153,6 255 2400000,0 000 3000000,0 0 60000,00 68344057, 66

Annual budget of DMO

Frequency Valid 60000,00 135605,75 200000,00 225000,00 400000,00 485000,00 500000,00 530132,92 746109,67 850246,87 900000,00 923762,12 1000000,00 1200000,00 1300000,00 1451164,25 1500000,00 1600000,00 2150000,00 2400000,00 2500000,00 2529882,33 3000000,00 4000000,00 5000000,00 5185965,84 6000000,00 8000000,00 10000000,00 12000000,00 14300000,00 14700000,00 14919006,33 21000000,00 30938518,53 64600000,00 68344057,66 Total Missing Total System 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 42 19 61 Percent 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 4,9 1,6 1,6 1,6 3,3 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 1,6 68,9 31,1 100,0 Valid Percent 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 4,8 2,4 2,4 4,8 2,4 2,4 7,1 2,4 2,4 2,4 4,8 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 2,4 100,0 Cumulative Percent 2,4 4,8 7,1 9,5 11,9 14,3 16,7 19,0 21,4 23,8 26,2 28,6 31,0 33,3 35,7 38,1 42,9 45,2 47,6 52,4 54,8 57,1 64,3 66,7 69,0 71,4 76,2 78,6 81,0 83,3 85,7 88,1 90,5 92,9 95,2 97,6 100,0

LV

Question 20: Budget allocation future

Case Summary Cases N $Budget_future 45 73,8% (a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Valid Percent Missing N Percent 16 26,2% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Budget_future Frequencies Responses N Budget allocation future(a) Product_budget_future Planning_budget_future Research_budget_future Crisis_budget_future Visitor_budget_future Visitor_services_budget_f uture Booking_budget_future Destination_budget_futur e Mediator_v_local_future Mediator_local_public_bu dget_future Resource_budget_future Consulting_budget_future Conference_budget_futur e Quality_budget_future Commercial_budget_futur e Training_future 13 18 17 3 5 7 7 26 2 2 3 6 6 9 23 12 159 Percent 8,2% 11,3% 10,7% 1,9% 3,1% 4,4% 4,4% 16,4% 1,3% 1,3% 1,9% 3,8% 3,8% 5,7% 14,5% 7,5% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 28,9% 40,0% 37,8% 6,7% 11,1% 15,6% 15,6% 57,8% 4,4% 4,4% 6,7% 13,3% 13,3% 20,0% 51,1% 26,7% 353,3%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

LVI

Question 21: Vocational training

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 2 3,3% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Training( 59 96,7% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Training Frequencies Responses N Provision of education and training op.(a) Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. In_House Off_the_job No_training 33 34 12 79 Percent 41,8% 43,0% 15,2% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 55,9% 57,6% 20,3% 133,9%

Question 22: Popular training topics

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent 42 68,9% N Missing Percent 19 31,1% 39 44 63,9% 72,1% Total N 61 61 61 Percent 100,0% 100,0% 100,0%

$Topics_staff(a) $Topics_members( 22 36,1% a) $Topics_partners(a 17 27,9% ) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

LVII

$Topics_staff Frequencies Responses N Training topic of interest to DMO staff(a) Product_edu Planning_edu Research_edu Crisis_edu Visitor_edu Visitor_services_edu Booking_edu Destination_edu Mediator_v_lb_edu Mediator_lb_p_edu Resource_edu Consulting_edu Conference_edu Quality_edu Special_edu Trends_edu Commercial_edu Other_edu 17 20 23 4 9 13 9 25 8 12 8 10 13 18 11 20 16 4 240 Percent 7,1% 8,3% 9,6% 1,7% 3,8% 5,4% 3,8% 10,4% 3,3% 5,0% 3,3% 4,2% 5,4% 7,5% 4,6% 8,3% 6,7% 1,7% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 40,5% 47,6% 54,8% 9,5% 21,4% 31,0% 21,4% 59,5% 19,0% 28,6% 19,0% 23,8% 31,0% 42,9% 26,2% 47,6% 38,1% 9,5% 571,4%

$Topics_members Frequencies Responses N Training topics of interest to members( a) Product_edu_mem Planning_edu_mem Research_edu_mem Crisis_edu_mem Visitor_edu_mem Visitor_services_edu_me m Booking_edu_mem Destination_edu_mem Mediator_v_lb_edu_mem Mediator_lb_p_edu_mem Resource_edu_mem Consulting_edu_mem Conference_edu_mem Quality_edu_mem Special_interest_edu_me m Trends_edu_mem Commercial_edu_mem Other_edu_mem Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. 10 7 3 3 4 6 8 9 6 3 2 3 9 8 7 9 10 1 108 Percent 9,3% 6,5% 2,8% 2,8% 3,7% 5,6% 7,4% 8,3% 5,6% 2,8% 1,9% 2,8% 8,3% 7,4% 6,5% 8,3% 9,3% ,9% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 45,5% 31,8% 13,6% 13,6% 18,2% 27,3% 36,4% 40,9% 27,3% 13,6% 9,1% 13,6% 40,9% 36,4% 31,8% 40,9% 45,5% 4,5% 490,9%

LVIII

$Topics_partners Frequencies Responses N Training topics of interest to partners( a) Product_edu_part Planning_edu_part Research_edu_part Crisis_edu_part Visitor_edu_part V_service_edu_part Booking_edu_part Destination_edu_part Medi_v_lb_part Medi_lb_p_part Resource_edu_part Consulting_edu_part Conference_edu_part Quality_edu_part Special_edu_part Trends_edu_part Commercial_edu_part Other_edu_part 8 8 5 2 4 5 6 9 1 2 1 1 5 7 5 6 6 1 82 Percent 9,8% 9,8% 6,1% 2,4% 4,9% 6,1% 7,3% 11,0% 1,2% 2,4% 1,2% 1,2% 6,1% 8,5% 6,1% 7,3% 7,3% 1,2% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 47,1% 47,1% 29,4% 11,8% 23,5% 29,4% 35,3% 52,9% 5,9% 11,8% 5,9% 5,9% 29,4% 41,2% 29,4% 35,3% 35,3% 5,9% 482,4%

Question 23: Reasons for not providing training

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 33 54,1% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Reasons( 28 45,9% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

$Reasons Frequencies Responses N Reasons for not providing training(a) Finances Lack_Staff Time Duration Other_priorities No_knowledge 18 4 6 3 3 1 35 Percent 51,4% 11,4% 17,1% 8,6% 8,6% 2,9% 100,0%

Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

Percent of Cases 64,3% 14,3% 21,4% 10,7% 10,7% 3,6% 125,0%

LIX

Question 24: Attendance trade events and examples of trade events

Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 2 5 3,3% 8,2% Total N 61 61 Percent 100,0% 100,0%

$Conferences( 59 96,7% a) $Trade_events( 56 91,8% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. $Conferences Frequencies

Responses N Attendence of trade events and reason(a) Total a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1. Case Summary Cases N Valid Percent N Missing Percent 5 8,2% No_conference Yes_industry Yes_promote Yes_network 2 29 55 37 123 Percent 1,6% 23,6% 44,7% 30,1% 100,0%

Percent of Cases 3,4% 49,2% 93,2% 62,7% 208,5%

Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

$Trade( 56 91,8% a) a Dichotomy group tabulated at value 1.

LX

Enterprise categorization

Enterprise category medium-sized small micro

Headcount < 250 < 50 < 10

Turnover 50 million 10 million 2 million

or

Balance sheet total 43 million 10 million 2 million

(European Commission, 2008)

LXI

SPSS output for statements

Statement 1
Case Processing Summary Cases N Board governance * Most common structures Valid Percent 39 63,9% N Missing Percent 22 36,1% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

Statement 2
Case Processing Summary Cases N Size * Structure of DMO Valid Percent 54 88,5% N Missing Percent 7 11,5% Total N 61 Percent 100,0%

LXII

Size * Structure of DMO Crosstabulation

Government agency Size Micro Count % within Structure of DMO % of Total Count % within Structure of DMO % of Total Count % within Structure of DMO % of Total Count % within Structure of DMO % of Total 2 18,2% 3,7% 6 54,5% 11,1% 3 27,3% 5,6% 11 100,0% 20,4%

Public-private partnership non-profit 12 42,9% 22,2% 13 46,4% 24,1% 3 10,7% 5,6% 28 100,0% 51,9%

Structure of DMO Public-private Private nonpartnership profit for-profit organization 3 1 75,0% 5,6% 1 25,0% 1,9% 0 ,0% ,0% 4 100,0% 7,4% 25,0% 1,9% 2 50,0% 3,7% 1 25,0% 1,9% 4 100,0% 7,4%

Private forprofit organization 2 100,0% 3,7% 0 ,0% ,0% 0 ,0% ,0% 2 100,0% 3,7%

Other 2 40,0% 3,7% 2 40,0% 3,7% 1 20,0% 1,9% 5 100,0% 9,3%

Total 22 40,7% 40,7% 24 44,4% 44,4% 8 14,8% 14,8% 54 100,0% 100,0%

Small

Medium

Total

Statement 4
Symmetric Measures

Nominal by Nominal N of Valid Cases

Phi Cramer's V

Value ,562 ,562 40

Approx. Sig. ,317 ,317

a Not assuming the null hypothesis. b Using the asymptotic standard error assuming the null hypothesis.

LXIII

Non-response analysis
The tables below provide an overview of the number of contacts, participants and refusals per country to clarify the composition of the actual group of respondents.

EU members Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Ireland Italy Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden United Kingdom Total in % of sample

Contacts 14 3 1 10 1 9 2 13 23 17 31 7 14 10 2 1 1 2 13 3 8 1 9 3 19 19 29 265 78,63%

Participants 3 2 0 1 0 4 0 4 4 0 0 0 3 1 1 1 1 0 3 1 2 0 1 1 2 4 6 45

Refusals 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 1 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 2 0 3 0 2 17

LXIV

Non-EU members Albania Andorra Armenia Azerbaijan Belarus Bosnia and Herzegovina Georgia Iceland Liechtenstein Moldova Monaco Montenegro Norway Russia San Marino Serbia Switzerland Ukraine Vatican City State Total in % of sample

Contacts 1 6 1 1 1 1 1 9 1 1 1 1 14 1 1 1 14 0 0 56 16,61%

Participants 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 4 0 0 11

Refusals 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 5

Candidate countries Croatia Former Yugoslav Macedonia Turkey Total in % of sample Overal total

Contacts 13 Republic of 1 2 16 4,74% 337

Participants 4 0 1 5 61

Refusals 1 0 0 1 23

Please note that not every email address in the sample was correct. Therefore, the number of actual receivers was smaller. However, all calculations are based on the original sample size.

LXV