A Study of Applying the Lessons of the European Capital of Culture Program to the Marketing of Tainan City

• Main Authors: Po-Wen Wang, 王柏文
• Other Authors: Yan-Dan Lin
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2011
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/20327180760362728204

碩士 === 國立臺北教育大學 === 文化創意產業經營學系 === 99 === Tainan was for many years Taiwan’s main administrative center, and is a city of great historical and cultural richness and distinctiveness. For a period of 203 years, the name “Taiwan” in fact applied to Tainan City. For these reasons, during the recent round of changes to the structure of local administration in Taiwan, Tainan was upgraded to the status of a “special municipality,” in recognition of its historical and cultural importance. Lai Ching-te, the first Mayor of the new special municipality of Tainan City, has set himself the goal of building Tainan into “Taiwan’s Cultural Capital.” The cultural assets of the new special municipality include the respective strengths of both of the formerly separate districts of Tainan City and Tainan County. Besides possessing more historic buildings than more or less any other region in Taiwan, the new Tainan City also embodies impressive diversity in terms of its folk traditions, arts, and popular culture. The key challenge facing the Tainan City authorities in their efforts to “market” the city in the future will be to find ways to leverage Tainan’s historical and cultural strengths to attract tourists (including overseas tourists) and build the city into a true “cultural capital.” Europe has always been a popular destination for tourists from all over the world. The “European Capital of Culture” scheme has now been in operation for 26 years. Through the building of “cities of culture,” the integration of different cultural activities, the creation of value in the cultural and creative sector, and the promotion of international collaboration, the European Capital of Culture program has helped to stimulate tourism and create new business opportunities, while also enhancing the competitiveness and prestige of the participating cities. The program’s success offers a useful model from which Tainan City can learn valuable lessons. The present study begins by using a review of the literature to explore the development of the European Capital of Culture program and its success. The study takes the ideas of marketing theorists Jerome McCarthy, Alastair Morrison and Philip Kotler as its foundation, and examines how the experience of the European Capital of Culture scheme could be leveraged in the formulation of a marketing strategy for Tainan City (including the areas of products, distribution, promotion and collaboration). The final part of the study uses in-depth interviews with government officials, scholars and civic leaders to gain a better understanding of the problems that Tainan City’s marketing efforts have encountered, and of interviewees’ expectations for the future, with the aim of putting together a feasible marketing strategy for Tainan City that draws on the experience of the European Capital of Culture. It is anticipated that the results obtained in the study will prove useful in the drawing up of a marketing strategy to help Tainan City develop as Taiwan’s cultural capital.