Mind the Culture Gap: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Tourism Destination Websites in Austria and the United Kingdom

Abstract

Websites of destination marketing organisations (DMO’s) are important tools to market tourism destinations to prospective visitors. They provide an abundance of information for tourists and help them plan their visit to the destination or find inspiration for an upcoming vacation. In many cases, website visitors come from other countries and cultures. In order to satisfy the needs of international website visitors, website providers would need to consider diverse cultural backgrounds and different languages when designing, implementing and maintaining a website. The main objective of this master thesis is to analyse the depiction of cultural values on DMO websites in Austria and the United Kingdom. It is then sought to compare them to the perceived cultural values of the respective host country by looking at Hofstede’s and Hall’s cultural frameworks. Moreover, it is aimed to provide a framework for tourism professionals and website developers who oversee and implement the creation of websites for tourism destinations. To establish the foundation of this thesis, an extensive literature review in the field of cross- cultural web design is provided with the aim to support the process of further developing a framework for the analysis of cultural values on the World Wide Web. Drawing on Hofstede’s dimensions and Hall’s high/low context theory this framework seeks to broaden the cross-cultural lens adopted by website providers. The content analysis is going to include 18 DMO websites that represent tourism destinations on three levels: Nations, provinces/countries and cities. The analysis is expected to shed light on website design in Austria and the United Kingdom and increase awareness towards the significance of localized cultural values. It should provide recommendations for professionals who are implementing websites for tourism destinations. Additionally, the study on Austrian and British websites can be of excellent value for tourism managers and destination marketers since both countries welcome many tourists each year.