City image and museums: The case of Istanbul

Purpose – Cities, in order to differentiate themselves from their competitors, attempt to manage their image by following strategic place marketing approaches. The purpose of this paper is to identify the perception of Istanbul and to focus on the role of museums related to the formation of city image. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses quantitative research techniques. A structural questionnaire focusing on the image of Istanbul and perception of Istanbul's museums is distributed to museum visitors in Istanbul. Findings – The results reveal that Istanbul is perceived as a culturally rich and exotic city. The respondents consider Istanbul as a brand city and an attractive tourist destination. The general image of the local people is also positive. The perception of second time visitors is more positive compared to first time visitors. Furthermore, the internet is the major source of information used by the travelers. The exoticness of the city and the dynamism pointed out by other research renders Istanbul a lively city, full of energy and offering lots of entertainment. The participants believe that museums are important for city image formation and that the museums in Istanbul are worth visiting. However, the fact that the city is nominated as the European Capital of Culture in 2010 is not acknowledged by the majority of respondents. Istanbul has to exploit this big event in order to promote the city to all potential visitors and business people. Originality/value – The paper provides a preliminary insight to the importance of museums for the city image formation focusing on Istanbul.