107 Abstract Although tourist cards and cultural routes have been interesting innovations when they were launched on the international tourism mar- ket, they are rarely implemented in Romanian tourism destinations, especially in an integrat- ed manner. This paper presents a theoretical model regarding the integration of tourist cards in cultural routes, based on the assumption that tourists who are interested in both products have similar demographic and travel characteristics. The research results outline only the infl uence of tourists’ travel characteristics on their interest to buy cultural routes and tourist cards. Leisure travelers should be the main targeted segment, as their probability to buy such products is higher than in the case of business or VFR (visit friends and relatives) tourists. These results can assist the Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) regarding the choice of marketing strat- egies aimed at integrating cultural routes in a tourist card. Keywords: tourist card, cultural route, tour- ism destination, destination management organi- zation, tourists. AN EXAMINATION OF VISITORS’ INTEREST IN TOURIST CARDS AND CULTURAL ROUTES IN THE CASE OF A ROMANIAN DESTINATION Ana ISPAS Cristinel Petrișor CONSTANTIN Adina Nicoleta CANDREA Ana ISPAS (corresponding author) Professor, Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania Tel.: 0040-722-133.054 E-mail: ispasana@unitbv.ro Cristinel Petrișor CONSTANTIN Associated professor, Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania Tel.: 0040-727-392.380 E-mail: cristinel.constantin@unitbv.ro Adina Nicoleta CANDREA Lecturer, Transilvania University of Brașov, Romania Tel.: 0040-744-587.182 E-mail: adina.candrea@unitbv.ro Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences, No. 46 E/2015, pp. 107-125 108 1. Introduction The development of city-based heritage or cultural tourism off erings is a newer trend for East European urban tourism destinations. Cultural tourism’s popularity continues to increase as visitor and local value systems collide (Martin, Sirakaya-Turk and Cho, 2013). To achieve competitive advantage for its tourism industry, a cultural destination must ensure that its overall att ractiveness and the tourist experience are superior to those in the many alternative destinations available (Dwyer and Forsyth, 2011). Local public administrations play a key role in the management of tourist desti- nations as they can strengthen the link between diff erent stakeholders. As represen- tatives of public administrations, Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) can be considered as ‘a mirror of the organizational aspects of tourism destinations’ which should constantly re-engineer and adapt their tourist off er to changing market conditions (Beritelli and Reinhold, 2010, p. 137). In areas with signifi cant cultural heritage, DMOs should create cultural routes, aimed at connecting geographically scatt ered tourism att ractions while enhancing col- laboration and clustering among tourism stakeholders. Currently, most of the cultural routes and the SMEs involved apply a rather fragmented approach in their product/ service information-delivery strategies. There are no established delivery strategies and/or broad-based actions, mapping target audiences are marginal, and investiga- tion of their preferences and motivations is rare (European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010). While these facts can be regarded as drawbacks in cultural routes’ product and service marketing, they also indicate an opportunity for innovative low- cost solutions using modern information technology and marketing tools. Tourist cards can be effi cient promotional and placement tools for cultural routes and provide an integrated approach in their implementation. Using the latest information technol- ogies (e.g., mobile applications), tourist cards can create more value for visitors by staying ahead of the evolving needs of consumers, and providing innovative solutions. In the Romanian city Sibiu there is a Resource Center which was founded as an antenna of the European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR) in Luxembourg. The center is a source of information, advice and exchange of best practices as well as a meeting point which welcomes organizations (associations, federation of associa- tions, public institutions, private operators, etc.), who are interested in the European Cultural Routes and who want to put them into practice in their territory. One of the initiatives of this Romanian Resource Center is the promotion of a cultural route dedicated to the Saxon fortifi ed churches in south-eastern Transylvania. The forti- fi ed churches from the south of Transylvania are remarkable and unique, but most of them are situated in rural areas. The implementation of the cultural route is diffi cult due to the lack of collabora- tion between local authorities as the fortifi ed churches are situated in three diff erent counties. We consider that a possible way to solve this problem is to include the cul- tural route of the Saxon fortifi ed churches in the tourist cards of the main urban des- 109 tinations in southern Transylvania (Brașov, Sighișoara and Sibiu) in order to retain visitors in the region and increase the average length of stay. Recently, the local DMO in Brașov County has launched the idea of implementing a tourist card. We consider this initiative an excellent opportunity to promote the cultural route of the Saxon for- tifi ed churches situated within this region. As neither the tourist card nor the cultural route have been implemented so far in the studied destination, the results of our study can assist destination managers in the pre-testing phase of these two concepts. Incorporating cultural routes in the tourist card may increase their att ractiveness and stimulate regional networking in the tour- ism industry. Consequently, the main goal of this study is to fi nd information regarding: tour- ists’ interest to purchase a potential Brașov tourist card, the appropriate distribution channels for the tourist card, the types of services and facilities that should be includ- ed in the tourist card as well as tourists’ interest in cultural routes. The paper starts with an overview of the research background focused on the role of cultural routes and tourist cards in destination marketing followed by the meth- odology used for research. Further on, the main results of the research are presented and discussed, while the fi nal section includes a series of conclusions. 2. Background Local authorities play an important role in developing policies to promote and shape the development of tourism in their areas. Place marketing has been a defi ning entrepreneurial feature of urban governance (Kavaratz is, 2004), and it is defi ned as a management process (Kotler et al., 1999) which encompasses the att empts of place diff erentiation for competitive advantage over other places. Diff erentiation occurs with the collaboration of all actors and the enclosure of local activities to meet the de- mands of targeted consumers (Ashworth and Voogd, 1994). This is a rather new func- tion of public organizations and the public sector is struggling with such tourism-re- lated responsibilities – including city branding and other place-based strategies. Tourism administration and policy in a region can be substantially infl uenced by tourism policy with the import of ideas with respect to innovation, especially the ex- perience economy, as well as place promotion and greater emphasis on tourism mar- keting than policy capacities in public agencies (Hall and Zapata Campos, 2014). Interest in networks and the role of public-private partnerships in tourism has also refl ected the changes in theory and practice of governance and shifts in the nature of government intervention in diff erent states. Interests in networks as well as com- munity-based approaches to intervention are also of signifi cance in tourism public administration (Hall, 2000). A DMO may best serve to facilitate dialogue among the private sector, public sec- tor, and other stakeholders that may otherwise never collaborate or understand how their decisions reverberate down a destination’s long tourism value chain (Stange et al., 2011). DMOs have evolved so that, especially in countries with a high level of 110 economic activity, their role has changed from that of a public administration model to one based on partnerships involving local authorities and the private sector (Hall, 2000). Ideally, the primary role of a DMO is to act as the coordinating body for many public and private sector organizations with an interest in tourism while other key themes include (Pike, 2008): coordination, strategy, stakeholders, economics, market- ing, product development, lobbying, information provision, protection, research, and the host communities. Flagestad et al. (2005) and Zach and Fesenmaier (2009) believed that a destination management organization (DMO) acts as a link between diff erent actors, plays a de- cisive role and is an essential function for innovation processes. The public adminis- tration literature defi nes innovation within the framework of a public organization as ‘an idea, practice, policy (program), structure, method, product or process perceived as new by an individual or other relevant unit of adoption’ (Khovanova apud Euro- pean Commission and Council of Europe, 2010, p. 48). Generally, innovations in pri- vate and public organizations can take diff erent forms. The confi guration of separate products and services into coherent packages and off erings with greater added value for consumers is considered an innovation (European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010). Another form of innovation (according to the European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010) is the joining of forces between separate actors either from the public or the private sector, independent of locality (municipality, region) in view of providing bett er services or support and development actions in tourism des- tinations. Consequently, we consider that the inclusion of a regional cultural route in a city tourist card might be considered an innovative approach aimed at inducing vis- itors to visit cultural tourist att ractions in the areas surrounding urban destinations. Considering these issues, this section of the paper has two purposes: (1) to provide an overview of the main European cultural routes; and (2) to outline the role of tour- ist cards in destination marketing. 2.1. An overview of the main European cultural routes Due to the fragmented nature of the tourism industry, a substantial degree of co- ordination and collaboration among the variety of diff erent players in destination marketing is required (Hall, 2000; Roberts and Simpson, 1999; Wang and Fesenmaier, 2007). Tourism suppliers need to understand that they should not compete with each other at the destination level; they should join forces and pool resources to devel- op and implement comprehensive marketing strategies which could enable them to compete with other destinations. This is a key problem in diff erent cultural desti- nations, where there are scatt ered providers with limited resources for promotional purposes. We consider that integrating these cultural and services providers (accom- modation, restaurants, artists, artisans, cultural att ractions) in cultural routes benefi ts these stakeholders and increases the destination’s att ractiveness. In tourism terms, a cultural route can be defi ned as a path or route of historical signifi cance that can be presented as a whole with a common thematic denominator 111 (European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010). It can be also a themed route that has a cultural value or an element of cultural heritage as its focus, and that as- signs a key role to cultural att ractions (Puczko and Ratz , 2007). The program of cultural routes was launched by the Council of Europe in 1987 aiming to raise awareness of Europeans about their common heritage, interreligious dialog, protection of the minorities through exchanges between people and ideas, and cultural cooperation as a major resource of democracy. In 1997, the Council of Europe entrusted the EICR to follow up the already elected routes, to co-ordinate and provide technical aid to networks, to initiate new proposals as well as to disseminate information and set up a database that will constitute the memory of the program of the cultural routes. Consequently, there are currently 29 routes which were certifi ed by the EICR, which are presented on a dedicated website (www.culture-routes.lu). These cultural routes are a complex combination of culture, history, tangible and intangible heritage. Their wealth of themes and places weave a rich tapestry depicting Europe’s towns, villages and countryside and crossing its waterways (EICR, 2012). One of the criteria for certifi cation as a cultural route of the Council of Europe is that routes must off er ‘tourist products’ to visitors. The aims of this requirement are threefold (EICR, 2012). Firstly, to ensure that visitors have suffi cient information, can travel to, from and along the route, that they fi nd local food and a place to stay, and possibly something to bring back with them from their unique trip. Secondly, the route should provide a holistic full immersion in the spirit of the particular cultural experience proposed. And last but not least, sustainable, respectful tourism is a prov- en way to promote regional economic and social development around lasting values and authentic heritage. The development of cultural routes starts with creating awareness, visibility and recognition of such routes. Neither the Council of Europe nor the EICR have the ca- pacity to act as fully fl edged DMOs, therefore it is important not to forget the role of national, regional and city marketing organizations and their value for cross-linking and referencing (European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010). Certain Euro- pean best practices have proven that national, regional or local public administrations play a key role in the implementation of cultural routes. A relevant example in this context is the implication of the Spanish public administration in the development of the Routes of the Legacy of al-Andalus. The Legacy of al-Andalus is a foundation created in 1995 by the Government of the Spanish autonomous community of Anda- lusia (Junta de Andalucía), with special participation from the Andalusian Ministry of Tourism, Commerce and Sport, and the Andalusian Ministry of Culture. The foun- dation aims to contribute towards the structuring of intercultural co-operation and dialogue in the Mediterranean by means of the concept of transnational cultural itin- eraries, and by the creation and promotion of the Routes of Al- Andalus in the Iberian Peninsula (European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010). Cultural itineraries and routes are one of its major programs with actions to promote cultural and rural 112 tourism, traditional arts and the protection and restoration of cultural heritage, artic- ulating a supply of cultural and educational tourism, and creating cultural corridors between major Andalusian tourist destinations to promote small and medium towns. Despite their increasing popularity, several of the European cultural routes suff er substantially from ‘missing links’, that are geographically scatt ered networks, which, in some cases, are a result of uneven development of the routes in diff erent countries (European Commission and Council of Europe, 2010). This can prevent visitors from following the entire path of the route and results in poor SMEs development in the ‘missing links’ areas. A possible solution to integrate cultural routes in a destination’s marketing ap- proach is to include them in the off er and facilities of a tourist card. The tourist card can be an effi cient promotional and placement tool. Including cultural routes as tour- ism packages in city tourist cards may increase the visibility of surrounding rural areas and assure a sustainable exploitation of their cultural heritage. As Fuglsang and Sundbo (2006) have suggested, tourist products are mostly be- havioral and dependent on user needs and reaction. Prahalad and Santos (2009) state that customers and users can be involved in product and service development in early stages of the innovation processes by tapping tacit knowledge from them, and businesses can also get inspiration in customers’ new solutions to problems. Thus, we consider that an examination of tourists’ interest in cultural routes is needed before the actual launch of this type of tourism products. 2.2. The role of tourist cards in destination marketing The tourist card is a destination marketing tool which integrates a variety of tour- ism services provided by several operators at a discount inclusive price (Montorsi, 2010). The main off ers included in tourist cards are: free admission or discounts at museums, churches, monuments, free use of public transportation, a guidebook with map and in some cases discounts in restaurants, shops, leisure parks, guided tours, events, car rental, bike rental, urban parking, etc. Tourist cards have proven to be eff ective marketing instruments in worldwide tourism destinations, although there are still international tourists who are less fa- miliar with this concept or reluctant to this idea. Considering the multitude of tourist services and facilities included in a tourist card, the collaboration between public ad- ministrations and diff erent local tourism stakeholders (e.g., museums, theme parks, transport companies, tourism services providers, etc.) is of great importance for the success of such a marketing instrument. Tourist cards are used to commercialize a territory and its resources by bonding together a series of tourist services, commercializing them under just one product and making it possible to market an att ractive and unique local experience. The card gives the holders a series of benefi ts and advantages in terms of time and cost savings, and it is also a very effi cient information medium addressing tourist fl ows to minor sites and att ractions. The combined eff ect is therefore a bett er tourist experience, valoriz- 113 ing the destination and improving the destination’s image; for destination manage- ment the card ensures, instead, a control over tourist fl ows, data collection, and the integration of scatt ered actors (Montorsi, 2010). The European Cities Marketing Association has created a web portal (www.euro- peancitycard.com) for the promotion of 36 tourist cards from 24 European countries as well as a free application for iPhone and Android which allows users to explore the visitor att ractions available in the selected European Cities. In order to have a benchmarking vision of the main European tourist cards, we have analyzed the off ers of the 36 cities, as well as their validity period, prices, dis- counts for children or families, and commissions for the travel industry intermediaries. The main off ers included in the analyzed cards are: free admission or discounts at museums, churches, monuments, free use of public transportation (with the excep- tion of Antwerp, Bruges, Dijon, Nice, Prague, Turku), a guidebook with map (an au- dio guide in Vilnius), and in some cases discounts in restaurants, shops, leisure parks, guided tours, events, car rental, bike rental, urban parking, etc. As the costs of public transportation may increase the price of a tourist card and make it less att ractive for low and medium budget tourists, or tourists may prefer their own car when visiting certain city destinations, it has given tourists the possibility to purchase a discounted card which does not include public transportation (London and Vilnius). Despite the diff erent initiatives in the implementation of tourist cards and cultural routes, there is a lack of interest in the academic literature concerning these tourism marketing tools. According to the authors’ knowledge, tourists’ interest in cultural routes (TICR) and their interest in tourist cards (TITC) have not been investigated, nor the interdependence between these variables and visitors’ demographic and trav- el characteristics. Thus, the present paper aims to fi ll this gap and proposes a theoret- ical model which integrates these variables (TICR and TITC). In addition, the paper aims to assist destination management organizations in their eff orts towards the im- plementation of tourist cards and cultural routes. 3. Research framework and hypotheses The present study aims to examine the tourists’ interest in a city card and a cul- tural route from a Romanian urban destination Brașov, and to provide the DMO in Brașov with useful information concerning: tourists’ interest to purchase a tourist card, the types of services and facilities which should be included in the tourist card, the preferred distribution channels, and tourists’ interest in cultural routes. Consequently, we have conducted a visitor survey, the most usual way of pre-test- ing tourism marketing tools. We have interviewed 431 tourists visiting the city of Brașov, which were approached in their accommodation location based on a random- ly selection and asked to fi ll a questionnaire. It contained 23 questions measured with diff erent nominal, ordinal and interval scales, aiming to provide information about the image of Brașov as a tourist destination, and about certain marketing tools that can be used by the public administration and private operators in order to devel- 114 op local tourism. In this paper we have analyzed the questions concerning tourists’ interest in cultural routes and tourist cards, measured with a binary scale and cer- tain questions measured with the nominal scale, including tourists’ demographics. Collected data was analyzed using SPSS through various univariate, bivariate and multivariate methods. Using frequency distributions we have analyzed respondents’ interest in cultural routes and tourist cards, the types of services and facilities which should be included in the tourist card, as well as the preferred distribution channels. In order to identify and validate various relationships between variables, the cross tabulation and Binary Logistic Regression model were used. Thus, we have formulated two sets of hypotheses that arise from the main scope of our research: one set concerns tourists’ intentions to buy tourist cards and cultural routes, and another one refers to the infl uence of tourists’ demographic and travel characteristics on their interest in tourist cards and cultural routes. Set 1. Hypotheses regarding tourists’ intentions: H1: The majority of the respondents are interested to buy a potential Brașov tourist card. H2: The majority of the respondents are interested to buy cultural routes. H3: Travel agencies are considered the most appropriate distribution channels for the tourist card in the city of Brașov. H4: The types of services and facilities that tourists prefer to be included in the Brașov tourist card are access/discounts at museums, castles, entertainment parks, spa and wellness facilities, and accommodation. Set 2. Hypotheses regarding the infl uence of tourists’ demographic and travel characteristics on their interest to buy tourist cards and cultural routes: H5: Tourists’ demographics have a strong infl uence on tourists’ interest to buy both tourist cards and cultural routes. H6: Travel characteristics have a strong infl uence on tourists’ interest to buy both tourist cards and cultural routes. In case the same demographic and travel characteristics infl uence tourists’ interest to buy tourist cards and cultural routes, we have formulated a fi nal hypothesis: H7: Tourists who are interested in cultural routes are also interested in tourist cards. The demographic characteristics we have considered were: age, marital status, gender, education, monthly income, and the analyzed travel characteristics were: tourists’ visit purpose and their familiarization with tourist cards and cultural routes. Considering the above mentioned hypotheses we have created a theoretical mod- el, which we have tested using the data collected in the research. The model is pre- sented in Figure 1. According to this model we assume that tourists who are interested to buy tourist cards have the same demographic and travel characteristics as those who are inter- ested in cultural routes. We consider that it makes suitable an integration of these marketing tools because they address the same tourist segments. 115 Tourists’ demographics Travel characteristics Interest to buy tourist cards (TITC) Interest to buy cultural routes (TICR) The integration of tourist cards and cultural routes H5 H5 H6 H6 H7 H7 Figure 1: The theoretical model regarding the integration of tourist cards and cultural routes 4. Findings 4.1. Testing the hypotheses regarding the interest to buy TICR and TITC The results of the present research reveal tourists’ poor knowledge of tourist cards as a small percent of the respondents (22.7%) are familiarized with such a concept. In spite of this fi nding, 66% of the respondents would be interested to purchase a tourist card if it would be available in the city of Brașov. However, 14% of the interviewed respondents were undecided, and 20% were not interested in using a tourist card. In order to test the statistical signifi cance of the above results according to our fi rst hypothesis, a t-Student test was computed after the transformation of the initial variable into a binary one with the answers ‘yes’ = 1 and ‘the others’= 0. We have con- sidered a test value of 50%. The results of this test are presented in Table 1. Table 1: One-Sample t- test for the percentage of tourist interested to buy a tourist card Test Value = 0.5 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confi dence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Interest to buy a tourist card 6.839 430 .000 .15661 .1116 .2016 The results of the t-Student test (p<0.05) confi rms the fi rst hypothesis (H1), which states that the majority of the respondents intend to purchase a potential Brașov tour- ist card. We have also investigated tourists’ interest in cultural routes. In this respect, the interview operators have explained the cultural route concept to the respondents. In order to measure this variable we have used a binary scale, and the results revealed that 72% of the respondents were interested in cultural routes. Aiming to verify whether the second hypothesis of the research (H2) is accepted, we have also used the t-Student test (Table 2). Table 2: One-Sample t- test for the percentage of tourist interested in cultural routes Test Value = 0.5 t df Sig. (2-tailed) Mean Difference 95% Confi dence Interval of the Difference Lower Upper Interest to buy cultural routes 10,385 430 ,000 ,22390 ,1815 ,2663 116 The results show that the percentage of tourists interested in cultural routes is signifi cantly higher than 50%, and the second hypothesis (H2) is accepted. This high percentage of tourists interested in cultural routes allowed us to conclude that such tourism products could be developed. A cultural route could become a strong incen- tive for local development in southern Transylvania. Tourists’ interest regarding tourist cards should motivate the local DMO to de- velop such a product, which could have real success in the future. In order to ben- efi t from this opportunity, the local DMO must choose proper marketing strategies meant to promote the card, and place it through the best channels. In this respect, we asked tourists which are the most appropriate distribution channels for a Brașov tour- ist card, giving them multiple choice answers. The results are presented in Table 3. Table 3: Tourists’ preference concerning the main distribution channels of the tourist card Responses Distribution channels N Percent Percent of Cases Tourist information centers 143 24.0% 48.0% Accommodation units 228 38.3% 76.5% Museums 40 6.7% 13.4% Travel agencies 165 27.7% 55.4% Others 19 3.2% 6.4% Total 595 100.0% 199.7% These results indicate that accommodation units are considered the most appro- priate distribution channel for the Brașov tourist card, as this answer was mentioned by 76.5% of the respondents. Thus, the third hypothesis (H3) is rejected. Travel agen- cies and tourist information centers have also recorded a high number of answers, being mentioned by about 50% of the respondents. The fourth hypothesis (H4) is confi rmed as tourists’ opinions regarding the facili- ties which should be included in the tourist card (Table 4) are focused on certain price facilities for accommodation and leisure services (museums, castles, entertainment services, spa and wellness). However, certain respondents are interested in discounts for foods and beverages consumed in local units (23.2%) or discounts for public trans- portation (12.6%). Table 4: The facilities which should be included in the tourist card Facilities Responses N Percent Percent of Cases Access/discounts at museums, castles, entertainment parks, spa and wellness 224 30.9% 78.3% Discounts in accommodation units 224 30.9% 78.3% Discounts in bars, restaurants, coffee-shops 168 23.2% 58.7% Access/discounts for public transportation 91 12.6% 31.8% Others 18 2.5% 6.3% Total 725 100.0% 253.4% Further on, we have tested the infl uence of demographic and travel characteristics on respondents’ interest in both tourist cards and cultural routes. 117 4.2. Testing the infl uence of demographic and travel characteristics on TITC and TICR In order to fi nd the most important determinants of respondents’ intention to buy tourist cards and cultural routes, we have chosen the binary logistic regression model. This model off ers the advantage of using categorical variables as independent factors that infl uence a binary dependent variable (Constantin, Candrea and Ispas, 2012). First, we have analyzed tourists’ intention to buy a tourist card as a dependent variable in relationship with diff erent characteristics of the respondents as indepen- dent variables. These characteristics are: respondents’ awareness concerning tourist cards, the main purpose of their visit and certain demographic characteristics (see Table 5). Table 5: Variables included in the binary logistic model Variables Frequency Are you familiarized with the concept of tourist card? No 333 Yes 98 Visit purpose Leisure 259 Business 94 Visit friends-relatives 56 Other 12 Age 16-24 years 107 25-34 years 144 35-44 years 107 45-54 years 52 55-64 years 9 Over 64 years 2 Marital status Single 103 Married 106 Married with children 82 In a partnership 120 Divorced 10 Education Below high school 5 High school 111 College/Degree 200 Postgraduate and beyond 105 Monthly income Low income 96 Medium income 211 High income 114 Gender Male 217 Female 204 From the total of seven variables (binary and categorical) included in the model only two signifi cant factors have been retained: the familiarization with the tourist card concept (famil) and visit purpose (visit_purp). We have estimated this model using a stepwise approach (Table 6). The visit purpose variable (visit_purp) was transformed into several binary vari- ables according to each response category, and we have obtained the model coef- fi cients (B) presented in Table 6. These new variables have been coded as follows: 118 familiarization with the tourist card concept (FAMIL), leisure (LEIS), business (BUS), visit friends and relatives (VFR). Table 6: Variables in the model equation for TITC B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B) Step 1(a) famil 1.362 .311 19.240 1 .000 3.905 Constant .405 .113 12.823 1 .000 1.500 Step 2(b) visit_purp 13.876 3 .003 visit_purp (leisure) .034 .707 .002 1 .962 1.035 visit_purp (business) -.925 .725 1.630 1 .202 .396 visit_purp (visit friends and relatives) -.241 .750 .103 1 .748 .786 famil 1.437 .318 20.466 1 .000 4.209 Constant .627 .696 .812 1 .368 1.872 a Variable(s) entered on step 1: familiar. b Variable(s) entered on step 2: visit_purp. Considering the above mentioned variables, the binary logistic model has the fol- lowing equation: )241.0925.0034.0437.1627.0exp(1 )241.0925.0034.0437.1627.0exp( )4,3,2,1/1( VFRBUSLEISFAMIL VFRBUSLEISFAMIL xxxxyP ⋅−⋅−⋅+⋅++ ⋅−⋅−⋅+⋅+ == (1) According to the results of equation (1), respondents’ familiarization with tourist cards and leisure visit purpose increases signifi cantly the probability to buy such a card. These results support partially the sixth hypothesis (H6) of our research which states that travel characteristics have a strong infl uence on respondents’ interest to buy tourist cards. In this respect, tourists who are travelling for leisure purposes are mostly interested to buy tourist cards. The probability decreases in the case of busi- ness travelers or those visiting friends/relatives due to the negative values of the ß co- effi cients estimated for these variables. According to the values of the Odd coeffi cients mentioned in Table 6, if a tourist is travelling for leisure purposes, the probability to buy a tourist card is increasing with 3.5% (Exp (B)=1.035). However, if a tourist is trav- elling for business purposes, the probability to buy a tourist card is decreasing with 60.4% (Exp (B)=0.396). Respondents’ familiarization with tourist cards has the stron- gest infl uence on the probability to buy such a product as its Odd coeffi cient is 4.209. Some simulations of tourists’ probability to buy a tourist card are presented in Table 7. Table 7: Simulations of the probability to buy a tourist card Visit purpose Familiarization with tourist cards Yes No Leisure 0.81 0.51 Business 0.62 0.28 Visit friends and relatives 0.77 0.44 Thus, for leisure tourists who are familiarized with tourist cards, the probability to buy such a product is 0.81 while for leisure tourists who are not familiarized with tourist cards, this probability is 0.51 (Table 7). 119 In order to outline the probability for tourists to buy cultural routes according to their demographic characteristics and visit purpose, we have used a logistic regres- sion model, similar to the one applied in the case of TITC, taking into consideration the same variables used in Table 5. In this case, tourists’ familiarization with tourist cards was replaced by their familiarization with cultural routes. Table 8: Variables in the model equation for TICR B S.E. Wald df Sig. Exp(B) Step 1(a) visit_purp 49.201 3 .000 visit_purp(leisure) .434 .686 .400 1 .527 1.543 visit_purp(business) -1.399 .699 4.009 1 .045 .247 visit_purp(visit friends and relatives) .098 .738 .018 1 .895 1.103 Constant 1.099 .667 2.716 1 .099 3.000 a - Variable(s) entered on step 1: visit_purp. According to the results presented in Table 8 only one signifi cant factor has been retained-visit_purp: leisure (LEIS); business (BUS); visit friends and relatives (VFR). Considering the above mentioned variables, the binary logistic model has the follow- ing equation: ))098.0399.1434.0099.1exp(1 )098.0399.1434.0099.1exp( )3,2,1/1( VFRBUSLEIS VFRBUSLEIS xxxyP ⋅+⋅−⋅++ ⋅+⋅−⋅+ == (2) The probability for tourists to buy a cultural route, calculated using equation (2), is higher in the case of leisure travelers (0.61) and lower for business (0.20) or VFR (visit friends and relatives) tourists (0.52). This confi rms the sixth hypothesis; tourists who are travelling for leisure purposes are mostly interested to buy tourist cards and cultural routes. 4.3. The empirical model Considering the results of the two logistic regression analyses we have found that only travel characteristics infl uence TITC and TICR. The infl uence of demographic characteristics on TITC and TICR is not statistically signifi cant, which means that the fi fth hypothesis (H5) is rejected. Thus, the empirical model which resulted from test- ing the second set of hypotheses is presented in Figure 2. Familiarization with tourist cards Travelling for leisure Interest to buy tourist cards (TITC) Interest to buy cultural routes (TICR) The integration of cultural routes in tourist cards Figure 2: The empirical model regarding the integration of cultural routes in tourist cards 120 Considering the fact that leisure travelers are mostly interested to buy cultural routes and tourist cards, we can conclude that this is the main market segment that the DMO should focus on when promoting them. The marketing eff orts for the two products (the tourist card and the cultural route) should be based on proper processes meant to inform tourists regarding the existence of tourist cards and their benefi ts for cultural routes. 5. Discussion The research results reveal the following conclusions regarding respondents’ in- terest in tourist cards (TITC) and cultural routes (TICR): – Tourists’ poor knowledge of tourist cards as a small percentage of respondents (22.7%) are familiarized with such a concept. These results outline the need for a bett er promotion of tourist cards in Romania as most tourists are not familiar with their characteristics and benefi ts. – Considering the fact that 66% of the respondents would be interested to purchase a tourist card if it would be available in the city of Brașov, the local DMO has the opportunity to develop such a product, which can enjoy a real success in the future. As the most likely interest for a tourist card could be shown by well-in- formed tourists, the main marketing actions should be focused on a proper pro- cess meant to inform tourists regarding the existence of tourist cards and their benefi ts. – Accommodation units were considered the most appropriate distribution chan- nel by 76.5% of the respondents while about half of the respondents would prefer travel agencies. Tour operators and travel agencies should be motivated to dis- tribute the tourist card in exchange for a commission between 10-15%, negotiable depending on the sales volume. We recommend that the local DMO should con- sider the distribution using a dedicated webpage or even a tourist card hotline. – As 78.3% of the respondents have shown their interest in price facilities for ac- commodation and leisure services (museums, castles, entertainment services, spa and wellness), we consider that including the Saxon heritage cultural route in the tourist card might make it att ractive for visitors who want to discover Brașov region. – Respondents’ familiarization with tourist cards and leisure visit purpose increase signifi cantly the probability to buy such a card. – As 72% of the respondents have shown their interest in cultural routes we rec- ommend that such a cultural route should be included in the tourist card off er of Brașov city. – The probability for tourists to buy a tourist card and cultural route is higher in the case of leisure travelers. – Travel characteristics infl uence TITC and TICR, while the infl uence of demo- graphic characteristics on TITC and TICR is not statistically signifi cant. 121 Considering the fact that leisure travelers are mostly interested to buy cultural routes and tourist cards, we can conclude that this is the main market segment that the DMO should focus on when promoting them. Based on the results of the present research, the major fi ndings have signifi cant managerial implications for the analyzed tourist destination. We consider that the development of tourism in Brașov should be based on integra- ted marketing initiatives that promote both existing and new tourism products. How- ever, these initiatives cannot be implemented by the local DMO without the collabo- ration of local tourism stakeholders. Although the local DMO has organized monthly meetings with tourism stakeholders, their participation and support seems to be limi- ted, causing diff erent problems in the cooperation framework of the destination. Potential customers’ preferences concerning Brașov tourist card give opportuni- ties for an integrated development of local tourism industry, requiring a strong coop- eration among service providers, which can assure a fair contribution in sustaining the required facilities and discounts. The coordination of this process by the local DMO is very important as it can assure a proper framework of cooperation focused on equal benefi ts for all partners that promote these cards. Fragmentation in the supply chain is a huge problem holding back the cultural routes from packaging an att ractive tourism off er. The creation and marketing of net- works, comprising stakeholders from diff erent geographical locations, across diff er- ent sectors and with diff erent business priorities is a real challenge. Consequently, our recommendation concerning the inclusion of the cultural route of the Saxon forti- fi ed churches in a potential Brașov tourist card might solve this challenge, as the local DMO would be in charge of their promotion. In order to assure the success of a cultural route in southern Transylvania, we have formulated several recommendations for the local DMO which should be in charge of their implementation. These recommendations are based on several good practices found in certain European cultural routes and in previous studies: – The identifi cation of diff erent SMEs from the destinations included in the cul- tural route, which might be interested in off ering diff erent tourism services or local products. As clustering is one way in which SME activity and knowledge exchange can be stimulated, the local DMOs in each of the main urban destina- tions in the region (Brașov, Sibiu and Sighișoara) should play an important role in stimulating cluster development. Incentives could be provided for the estab- lishment of specifi c clusters covering cultural, tourism and business operators at key locations along the fortifi ed churches cultural route. – Raising tourists’ awareness of the cultural heritage in the region through diff er- ent cultural events. In most of the rural communities included in the route there are several traditions and customs especially during the summertime and reli- gious holidays (Easter and Christmas). – Interpretation of the local cultural heritage in the rural communities included in the route (dramatic art, interpretative panels, etc.) in an integrated manner, 122 which may outline the inclusion of the fortifi ed churches in a cultural route and motivate tourists to visit the other churches. – Marketing: A well-defi ned target market is one of the key elements of a market- ing strategy. An effi cient communication is also necessary in order to facilitate easy access by all tourists, and thus avoids wasting time and physical eff ort in searching out that information once they have arrived at the chosen destinations (Ortega and Rodriguez, 2007). Marketing through mobile service off ers the pos- sibility to provide information along the central roads (parking lots, rest areas). In this way, through gift package, prizes and interactive marketing campaigns, tourists’ att ention can be att racted, and they can be interested to visit some of these destinations. This especially applies to the ability to link several smaller destinations, with the purpose of providing substantial benefi ts to tourists. The present research has identifi ed a high interest of tourists to buy cultural routes and tourist cards, especially in the case of leisure travelers. We have also found that well-informed tourists are more likely to buy tourist cards. Thus, we have identifi ed the necessity of a good promotional strategy focused on the segment of leisure trav- elers, using advertising in magazines, guidebooks, leafl ets or the creation of cultural events and tourism fairs. As suggested by Ekinci, Sirakaya-Turk and Preciado (2013), tourism destination marketers should also create travel forums and communities of travelers who visited the destination (in this case, following the cultural route) in order to provide pride for the members, encouraging outside observers to develop and enhance positive images and identity. Ultimately, potential visitors are likely to identify themselves with the groups of travelers who visit the destination (following the cultural route) and create additional positive word-of-mouth communication. Destination marketing strategies should also focus on raising the Internet visi- bility of the cultural route. The European experience in developing cultural routes has shown that these routes had developed their own websites. In this sense, besides their own websites, the use of social media (transmitt ing the information via Face- book, YouTube) as well as a dedicated consumer portal, where both the cultural route and the tourist card can be presented to the potential tourists on a single website, can become powerful marketing instruments for the DMO. A specifi city of Brașov tourism market is the proliferation of small tourism com- panies, characterized by a strong individual business vision. They are reluctant to es- tablish collaborations and build up an integrated system, making the tourist off er too fragmented to be competitive. In the context of a fragmented off er and less coherent marketing eff orts, a tourist card including a cultural route can be a useful marketing tool contributing to an integrated development of Brașov as a tourism destination as diff erent local manufacturers and service providers could benefi t from the inclusion in the cards’ network. Thus, the local companies can have more information about tourism demand and they can improve short and medium terms planning processes, leading to a successful management for both companies and destination. 123 Based on the good practices identifi ed in the specifi c literature and on the results of the survey among the visitors of Brașov, we consider that the best solution for the management and marketing of the destination is a partnership among the local pub- lic administration and tourism operators. The implementation of both the tourist card and cultural route depends to a great extent on the existence of such a collaborative approach. 6. Limitations and future research The results and recommendations included in this paper are meant to assist the DMO in the studied destination in implementing a potential city card as well as pro- moting and improving the cultural route of the fortifi ed churches in southern Tran- sylvania. The study, however, has several limitations that future researches can address. Our research focuses on eff ective visitors in the studied destination instead of poten- tial visitors interviewed in their residence location. Future studies should also identi- fy new segments of potential buyers for cultural routes and tourist cards, considering variables such as: geographical location, ethnicity, current occupation, type of travel- er, length of stay, etc. A huge potential for tourism innovation is represented by the dissemination of information about the products and services that cultural routes are off ering, further research in this area might consider investigating: diff erent marketing, sales and com- munication channels, the partnerships which should be created in order to reach out to the target audiences as well as other types of promotional activities (for example, publicity and events) for awareness-raising purposes. References: 1. Ashworth, G.J. and Voogd, H., ‘Marketing and Place Promotion’, in Ward, S.V. and Gold, J.R. (eds.), Place Promotion: The Use of Publicity and Marketing to Sell Towns and Region, Chichester: John Wiley and Sons, 1994, pp. 39-52. 2. Beritelli, P. and Reinhold, S., ‘Explaining Decisions for Change in Tourist Destinations: The Garbage Can Model in Action’, in Keller, P. and Bieger, T., Managing Change in Tourism: Creating Opportunities – Overcoming Obstacles, Berlin: ESV, 2010, pp. 137-152. 3. Constantin, C.P., Candrea, A.N. and Ispas, A., ‘Tourist Card – Key Instrument for an Integrated Marketing of Urban Tourism Destination. The Case of Brașov, Romania’, Paper presented at the 22nd edition of RESER International Conference, September 20- 22, 2012, Bucharest, Romania. 4. Dwyer, L. and Forsyth, P., ‘Methods of Estimating Destination Price Competitiveness: A Case of Horses for Courses?’, 2011, Current Issues in Tourism, vol. 14, no. 8, pp. 751- 777. 5. Ekinci, Y., Sirakaya-Turk, E. and Preciado, S., ‘Symbolic Consumption of Tourist Des- tination Brands’, 2013, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, no. 6, pp. 711-718. 6. European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR), [Online] available at www.culture -routes.lu, accessed on November 30, 2013. 124 7. European Commission and Council of Europe, ‘Impact of European Cultural Routes on SMEs’ Innovation and Competitiveness. Provisional edition’, 2010, [Online] avail- able at htt p://www.coe.int/t/dg4/cultureheritage/culture/routes/StudyCR_en.pdf, ac- cessed on November 25, 2013. 8. Flagestad, A., Hope, C.A., Nordin, S. and Svensson, B., ‘The Tourist Destination; A Lo- cal Innovation System? The Creation of a Model’, in Keller, P. and Bieger, T. (eds.), In- novation in Tourism – Creating Customer Value, Proceedings of the 55th AIEST Congress, Brainerd, USA, 2005, vol. 47, pp. 199-211. 9. Fuglsang, L. and Sundbo, J., ‘Flow and Consumer Relation in E-based Self-Services: New Provider-Consumer Relations’, 2006, The Service Industries Journal, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 361-379. 10. Hall, C.M., Tourism Planning: Policies, Processes and Relationships, Englewood Cliff s, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 2000. 11. Hall, C.M. and Zapata Campos, M.J., ‘Public Administration and Tourism – Interna- tional and Nordic Perspectives: Introduction to the Special Issue’, 2014, Scandinavian Journal of Public Administration, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 3-17. 12. Kavaratz is, M., ‘From City Marketing to City Branding: Towards a Theoretical Frame- work for Developing City Brands’, 2004, Place Branding, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 58-73. 13. Kotler, P., Asplund, C., Rein, I. and Haider, D.H., Marketing Places Europe: How to At- tract Investments, Industries, Residents and Visitors to Cities, Communities, Regions and Na- tions in Europe, Financial Times: Prentice Hall, 1999. 14. Martin, D., Sirakaya-Turk, E. and Cho, W., ‘International Tourism Behavior in Turbu- lent Times: Introduction to the Special Issue’, 2013, Journal of Business Research, vol. 66, no. 6, pp. 689-691. 15. Montorsi, I., Destination Management: The Case of Wine and Food in Milan and Copenhagen (unpublished Master’s thesis), Centre for Tourism and Culture Management, Copen- hagen Business School, Copenhagen, 2010. 16. Ortega, E. and Rodriguez, B., ‘Information at Tourism Destinations. Importance and Cross-Cultural Diff erences between International and Domestic Tourists’, 2007, Jour- nal of Business Research, vol. 60, no. 2, pp. 146-152. 17. Prahalad, C.K. and Santos, J., ‘New Nature of Innovation’, 2009, [Online] available at htt p://www.tem.fi /fi les/24835/New_Nature_of_Innovation.pdf, accessed on October 14, 2013. 18. Pike, S., Destination Marketing. An Integrated Marketing Communication Approach, Ox- ford: Butt erworth-Heinemann, 2008. 19. Puczko, L. and Ratz , T., ‘Trailing Goethe, Humbert and Ulysses Tourism: Cultural Routes in Tourism’, in Richards, G. (ed.), Cultural Tourism: Global and Local Perspectives, New York: The Haworth Press, 2007, pp. 131-148. 20. Roberts, L. and Simpson, F., ‘Developing Partnership Approaches in Central and East- ern Europe’, 1999, Journal of Sustainable Tourism, vol. 7, no. 3-4, pp. 314-330. 21. Stange, J., Brown, D., Hilbruner, R. and Hawkins, D.E., ‘Tourism Destination Man- agement. Achieving Sustainable and Competitive Results’, 2011, [Online] available at htt p://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/fi les/documents/2151/DMOworkbook_130318. pdf, accessed on October 4, 2014. 125 22. Wang, Y. and Fesenmaier, D.R., ‘Collaborative Destination Marketing: A Case Study of Elkhart County, Indiana’, 2007, Tourism Management, vol. 28, no. 3, pp. 863-875. 23. Zach, F. and Fesenmaier, D.R., ‘Innovation in Tourism: The Case of Destination Mar- keting Organizations’, 2009, E-Review of Tourism Research, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 27-36.