Market Myopia in the Development of Hiking Destinations: The Case of Norwegian DMOs

Abstract

The primary purpose of this article was to investigate in what way Norwegian destination marketing organizations (DMOs) in their development of hiking destinations demonstrate a market oriented organizational culture which accommodates for changing consumer behavior. Data was gathered from 18 selected hiking destinations in Norway of which 17 have been involved in a governmentally financed campaign to make Norway an international hiking destination. Empirically the research is based on qualitative interviews with the marketing manager or marketing responsible at the destination DMOs. The findings demonstrate that the DMOs have quite limited understanding of the application of marketing when dealing with hiking as a tourism product, and contrary to the intention, participation in the campaign did not seem to foster market orientation and product development to any significant extent. The findings suggest that the strong attachment to national outdoor traditions has significant influence on the DMOs organizational culture, leading to neglect of consumer preferences and lack of market orientation. The findings add to market orientation theory as the case suggests that environmental conditions can impact the antecedents of market orientation in tourism.