Translation of Tourism Websites Based on the CCT Model

Abstract

Texts collected from three websites are investigated: the official tourism website of China (ST website), the English version of the ST website (TT website), and the official tourism website of the US (PT website) to figure out how the TT performs among the US readers. Firstly, an analysis of the ST is carried out from three aspects of tourism namely landscapes, performancescapes and stylescapes based on the Cultural-Conceptual Translation (CCT) model so as to explore how the destination utilizes culture-related themes to attract readers in the source culture. Secondly, the PT is discussed in terms of three scapes mentioned above and compared to the ST for exploring how tourism promotional materials (TPMs) are initially written in the target language to attract tourists in the target culture. Six dimensions of culture namely collectivism/individualism, restraint/indulgence, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, high/low context, and short/long term orientation are discussed when analyzing what themes are presented and how those themes are presented. Finally, based on the results of the first two steps and an analysis of the TT, corresponding translation strategies are given.