The Danish government is investing £40 million (€53.5 million) in an online branding project to improve the image of the country overseas.

The move follows a number of incidents that were considered to have damaged the reputation of "Denmark Inc". Denmark's standing fell in the Muslim world following the publication of cartoons depicting Muhammad in the Jyllands-Posten newspaper, while the nation was embarrassed when Sweden was awarded a 3-0 win in a European Championship football qualifier last summer following a fan's attempted assault on the referee.

The contract has been awarded to English firm Oban Multilingual, a specialist in optimising websites in different languages and markets. Over the next year it will create localised versions of denmark.dk for 20 countries, starting with sites for Spain, Germany and France, which have just launched. The primary aim is to encourage tourism and attract foreign investment.

The differences between countries are not just a matter of language, explains Greig Holbrook, a director of Oban.

"We use search analysis technology to see what is being searched for in relation to Denmark in different countries," says Holbrook. "The websites need to be optimised for these terms."

There are also usage differences. For example, Google is hardly used in Russia and Japan. While Oban has carried out some similar branding projects for different regions in Europe, Holbrook says it is the first time it has been asked to carry out online branding for an entire country.

Tourism Ireland, the all-Ireland body which markets Ireland as a tourism location overseas, has 36 websites designed for 22 countries.

A spokeswoman said it will spend at least €10 million this year on electronic marketing.