7.1. Introduction
In this chapter the results of the field work in Linz during Linz09 are presented, whereby the collected data was analysed in response to the problems surrounding the concept of destination image formation put into question in chapter Two and the postulated conceptual framework.
The data collection and the subsequent data analysis were driven by three fundamental goals. Firstly, to understand the process of Linz’s destination image formation, secondly, to identify the strengths of impact image determinants have on it at different stages of its formation and development, and finally to analyse the importance of the European Capital of Culture in the process of Linz’s image development. As shown in Chapter Six, the common characteristics of Linz’s image were elicited from an online survey and then woven into a questionnaire consisting of both open-ended and closed questions.
The data acquired from the closed questions was analysed quantitatively.
Descriptive statistics were used to describe and characterize the profile (visualised by using tables, charts and cross tables) of the respondents. In addition, different statistical tests (paired t-tests, ANOVAs, MANOVAs and factor analysis) were used to investigate the process of Linz’s destination image formation and its determinants, and to explore their interlocking relationships. Content analysis was employed to examine the data collected from open-ended questions. The data was initially grouped and then counted to uncover most frequently mentioned concerns about Linz’s image or suggestions for its image improvement.
Firstly, the respondents’ profile is presented, followed by a paired t-test investigating the differences in Linz’s image before and after visiting the destination. Then, factor analysis was conducted in order to reduce and group Linz’s “a priori” image components (both affective and cognitive), while
ANOVAs and MANOVAs were also carried out to establish significant relationships between Linz’s “a priori” image and image determinants such as socio-demographic characteristics, reasons to visit Linz, information sources and familiarity with the place.
The same procedure was applied for Linz’s “on situ” image with the inclusion of additional determinants considered as relevant for its formation (such as duration of stay). Next, Linz’s “on situ” image is investigated in terms of intention to revisit or recommend it to other people (loyalty index).
The impact of previous European Capital of Culture Events on respondents’
decision making process and Linz09 on Linz’s image is also explored in detail at the end of this chapter.
7.2. Respondents’ profile
7.2.1. Nationality
The whole sample consisted of 400 respondents, 188 of which were Austrians (47% of the total sample) and 212 were Internationals (53% of the total sample).
The Internationals represented 22 different countries with the following distribution:
Germany 17%, Switzerland 7.3%, Italy (South Tirol12) 5.5%, France 4.3%, Italy 3.5%, Czech Republic 2%, Poland 1.8%, Slovakia 1.5%, Belgium 1.3%, Lithuania 1.3%, Luxembourg 1.3%, Slovenia 1%, Hungary 0.8%, Japan 0.8%, Norway 0.8%, Turkey 0.8%, Great Britain 0.8%, Netherlands 0.5%, Romania 0.5%, Croatia 0.3%, Denmark 0.3% and Russia 0.3%.
Even though the number of respondents who have visited Austria before (63%) outweighed the number of respondents who stated they have not experienced other Austrian destinations before their visit to Linz (37%), Linz
12 South Tyrol is an autonomous Italian province created in 1927 that was originally part of the Austro-Hungarian County of Tyrol until 1918 and the official languages in South Tyrol are German and Italian.
appeared as not a very popular Austrian destination since only 38% of the participants (both Austrians and Internationals) have visited it before.
7.2.2. Gender
In terms of gender both Austrians and Internationals had almost the same gender distribution: from 188 Austrians, 101 were female (54%) and 87 were male (46%) and from 212 Internationals, 114 (46%) were female and 98 (54%) were male. The number of female respondents (53%) who have experienced other Austrian destinations before their visit to Linz slightly exceeded the number of male respondents, while only 49% female respondents visited Linz for the first time at the time of data collection.
7.2.3. Age
In terms of age, the Austrian respondents had the following distribution: 22 were of the age of 18-25 (12%), 22 were of the age of 26-30 (12%), 20 were of the age of 3-35 (11%), 25 were of the age of 36-40 (13%), 22 were of the age of 4-45 (12%), 31 were of the age of 46-50 (16%), 22 were of the age of 5-55 (12%) and 24 were above the age of 56 (13%).
The International respondents, on the other hand, showed slightly different distribution. In terms of age up to the age interval of 41-45: only 6% of the Internationals (12 respondents) were of the age of 18-25, 20 were of the age of 26-30 (9%), 21 were of the age of 31-35 (11%), 23 were of the age of 36-40 (11%), 24 were of the age of 41-45 (11%). For the remaining age distribution intervals, the International respondents showed some larger differences as compared to the Austrian respondents: 42 internationals were of the age of 46-50 (20%), 23 internationals were of the age of 51-55 (11%) and 47 internationals were above the age of 56 (22%). Therefore, it could be concluded that approximately 53% of the international respondents were older than 45 years, compared to only 41% of the domestic respondents.
About 60% of the respondents above 40 years old have previously experienced Austria, but have not visited Linz before.
7.2.4. Education
In terms of educational status, a significant difference between the domestic and the international respondents with higher education was noticed. 19 Austrians were of primary education (10%), 80 Austrians were of secondary education (43%) and 89 Austrians were of higher education (47%). At the same time, in terms of educational status, the International respondents had the following distribution: 10 were of primary education (5%), 62 were of secondary education (29%) and 140 were of higher education (66%).
60% of the international respondents with university degree have not visited Austria before and 64% of all respondents with university degree experienced Linz for the first time during the European Capital of Culture Event.
7.2.5. Professional Status
In terms of professional status, both Austrians and Internationals showed similar distribution. The Austrian respondents had the following professional status: 108 (57%), had full-time jobs, 30 (16%) had part-time jobs, 18 (10%) were students, 22 (12%) were retired and 10 were of other status (e.g.
unemployed at the moment).
At the same time, in terms of professional status, the International respondents had the following distribution: 122 had full-time employment (58%), 35 had full-time employment (16%), 11 were students (4%), 40 were retired (19%) and 4 were of other status (2%). The higher number of retired international visitors corresponds with the age distribution of the internationals – the group of international respondents consists of older respondents as compared to the group of the domestic respondents. 54% of the Internationals who have previous experience with Austria had full-time jobs, 19% were retired,17% had part-time employment and only 7% were students.
7.3. Trip Characteristics
37% of the respondents selected “today”, 39% selected “yesterday” and 25%
selected “two days ago” as their arrival date. The majority of the respondents (76%) who were in Linz for 2-4 days where Internationals (55 %), female (54%), and in full-time employment (59%), with higher education degree (59%) and above 40 years old (57%), which was in harmony with the recent development of the average length of stay (1.8 days) in Linz recorded by Tourmis (2012).
Merely 20% of all respondents stayed in Linz for one week. About 15% of the respondents stated to be in Linz on their own, followed by 25% travelling with their partner/spouse and the highest fraction of respondents (34%) travelled to Linz with their family and relatives.
7.4. Reasons for visiting Linz
76 % of all respondents cited Linz09 as one of their motives to visit Linz where the number of Internationals (58%) slightly exceeded those of the Austrians. The second most frequently cited reason to visit Linz was “having fun” (39% of the total sample) followed by “spending more time with family/friends” (37% of the total sample) and “getting away from everyday life” (35% of the total sample). Female respondents were also more likely to have visited Linz because of the European Capital of Culture Event (57%), whilst 52% of the male respondents were in Linz to “have fun” mainly. 59 % of the respondents who visited Linz mainly because of the European Capital of Culture Event were elderly people (59%), which also corresponds with the high percentage of respondents above 40 years old (57%) who were in Linz because of their “personal interest in culture”. Surprisingly, almost equal number of young (47%) and elderly respondents (53%) said to be in Linz to
“have fun”. 55 % of the respondents who said to be in Linz to “have fun” and 62% of the people who went to Linz because of the European Capital of Culture Event had university degree. The majority of the respondents with
“personal interest in culture” as one of their main reasons to visit Linz were also with higher education (64%).For the majority of the full-time employed
respondents (63%) this was their first visit to Linz and 43% of them relied on friends/relatives’ advice about Linz. 66% of the respondents who collected information concerning Linz from its’ official website www.Linz09.at were in full-time employment. Also the majority of respondents who were in Linz because of the European Capital of Culture Event were in full-time employment (57%), while only 7% were students.
7.5. Holiday description
The majority of respondents described their holiday in Linz as “enjoyable”,
“nice”, “relaxing” and even “educational”. There was a substantial number of answers indicating that Linz was “good value for money” destination since during the European Capital of Culture Event it offered events of international significance. Nevertheless, about twenty of the respondents acknowledged to have experienced a “different type” of holiday in Linz, which might never be repeated in the same way as one domestic, female, respondent above 50 years of age said “it is strange to know that you won’t have the chance to go back to the place if you like it because it will never be the same”.
7.6. Respondents’ spontaneous associations with Linz
Question 8 aimed to gain insights into the spontaneous image of Linz by asking respondents to outline their spontaneous associations with it as a tourist destination. All respondents (400 in total) answered this particular question and the number of given spontaneous associations varied between 1 word (just one respondent) and 9 words (five respondents) with a mean of 4.24 and a mode of 3. 35% of all respondents (54 % female and 46 % male) gave three spontaneous associations, followed by 29 % (49 % female and 51
% male) with four associations and 20% (59 % female and 41% male) with five associations. The nationality of the respondents seems to be in a relationship with the number of given answers since the number of internationals outweighed the number of Austrians within the group of respondents with “one to five” associations. For example, 54% of the participants who had three spontaneous associations were Internationals
and 46% were domestic visitors, whereas from the group of respondents with five spontaneous associations 67% were international respondents and only 33% were nationals. This trend, however, changed within the group of people with “five to nine” associations since for example 71% of those who had seven associations with Linz, 83% who had eight associations with Linz and 100% of those who had nine associations with Linz were domestic visitors.
Another observation concerned previous experience with Linz and number of associations with Linz as a tourist destination. Those who have never visited Linz before were more likely to give three (70%) or four (65%) associations with Linz than those who have already visited it. In other words, the most frequently given number of associations (three and four) was given by first-time visitors to Linz.
Moreover, people tending to revisit Linz were more generous in listing spontaneous associations with Linz as a tourist destination than those who did not express an explicit intention to revisit Linz. 59% within the group of people who have given three associations with Linz, 60% within the “four associations” group and 4% within the “five associations” group demonstrated an intention to revisit Linz.
Respondents’ educational status could be also examined as a factor influencing the number of spontaneous associations with Linz as a tourist destination since respondents with a university degree were more likely to provide at least three spontaneous associations.
Finally, a relationship between respondents’ level of activity and number of associations were uncovered – those who had moderate or high activity level tended to have higher numbers of associations with Linz as a tourist destination. Indeed, 54% from those who gave three associations had a moderate level of activity and 43% had a high level of activity, whereas within the group of participants with four associations with Linz 47% had a moderate level of activity and 50% had a high level of activity.
A content analysis was also performed to analyse the spontaneous associations with Linz and a large variety of completely different from each
other themes emerged (Table 2) and as one female Austrian respondent in the age category 41-50 said“ Linz is just everything someone might need to have a wonderful holiday for a couple of days”.. Another Austrian respondent with the same profile expressed similar sentiment “Linz is amazing...and there are so many things that I could list...”.
Figure 20: Frequency of spontaneous associations with Linz
The most numerous category was “Museums and Galleries” accommodating