Can Translation Evolve? Translation Errors of Chinese-to-English Tourism Promotional Materials from Eco-Translatology Perspectives

Abstract

Chinese tourism has been revised since the Covid-19 quarantine policy was abolished. Tourism institutions are going to continue to attract inbound and international tourists by using tourism promotional materials. Tourism commonly seems like an intercultural communication process. Therefore, translating Chinese tourism promotional materials into English with good quality should be highlighted, such as leaflets, brochures, websites, etc. However, while promotional discourse in the tourism industry has been developed for many years, previous studies indicated that some English translations of tourism promotional materials fail to achieve very promotional efficacy, or worse, leave a negative impression on international tourists. This paper aims to focus on analyzing the translation errors of tourism promotional materials and improve them from Eco-translatology perspective, namely Three-dimensional Transformation. Finally, the findings argue that the essential reason for the translation errors is ascribed to the lack of persuasive tourism skills and the non-consideration of Anglophone tourists’ characteristics.