Official Tourism Websites Research Articles

Exploring National Identity (Re)production: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Iran's Representation on its Official Tourism Website

Given the significance of tourism in national identity construction and promotion in current era along with Iran’s need for such an international image promotion, the present study investigated the linguistic texts on the discourse of the Iranian official tourism website to achieve two objectives. Firstly, considering the convoluted interplay among discourse, tourism, and national identity, it investigates how Iranians, in terms of their identity, are represented in the linguistic texts of the discourse used on the Iranian official tourism website. Secondly, it identifies how the discourse either maintains, challenges, or transforms the existing stereotyped perceptions of its identity, embracing its Western represented portrayal in Western media. The current study adopted critical discourse analysis as its framework and used Fairclough’s three-dimensional model as its approach to CDA. The findings of the study demonstrated that Iranians’ authentic and genuine identity, by which they wish to be seen, contests the Western mainstream perceptions of Iranian national identity. Therefore, there is a tendency to transform the prevailing Western stereotypical perceptions of their identity from the producers of the analyzed discourse.

Potential Integration of Metaverse, Non-Fungible Tokens and Sentiment Analysis in Quantitative Tourism Economic Analysis

With the emergence of the metaverse, countries’ digital efforts to create tourism opportunities have given rise to the possibility of capitalising on digital content which, along with physical tourism experiences, can generate further income and enhance a country’s reputation. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs), a unique application of blockchain technology, offer an enabling technology in several sectors, including tourism. Therefore, this study aims to explore the official tourism websites of Croatia and Slovenia and analyse current NFT applications in tourism economics. The methodology focuses explicitly on sentiment analysis, blockchain and machine learning. The paper introduces various applications currently in place, including Slovenia’s “I Feel Nft” project. The research shows that the main benefits of using NFT and sentiment analysis in the tourism economy are the promotion and presentation of major tourist destinations, exhibitions, works of art, and companies’ products in tokens, digital content and souvenirs. The adoption of sentiment analysis and NFTs in the tourism economy is still open to proposals for implementing public quantitative data metrics. Therefore, the scientific contribution of this research is essential in terms of operational recommendations and defining metrics for measuring the effectiveness of those methodologies and their applications in the tourism economy. On top of that, the practical contribution lies in monitoring the influx of tourists, and highlighting their increase over time and the significance of new technology in time series tourism research.

The Effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization Practices in Promoting Turkey's Tourism Destinations. A case Study of Tourism Destinations in Istanbul City

This study examined the effectiveness of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) practices in promoting Turkey's tourism destinations, focusing specifically on Istanbul city. Recognizing SEO as a crucial digital marketing tool, the study significantly contributed to the understanding of how SEO influences the visibility and attractiveness of destinations online. Employing a descriptive survey design, the research evaluated SEO practices on a representative sample of tourism-related websites in Istanbul, including official tourism websites, hotel sites, and travel blogs. The websites were analyzed based on established SEO parameters such as keyword usage, meta tags, backlink quality, website speed, and mobile optimization. The study also performed a comprehensive SERP (Search Engine Result Pages) analysis to gauge the visibility of these websites in organic search results. User engagement metrics such as bounce rate, time spent on the site, and conversion rates were studied to understand the effectiveness of the websites in attracting and retaining potential tourists. Furthermore, surveys were conducted with potential tourists to glean insights into their online search behavior, the perceived credibility of high-ranking websites, and their likelihood of visiting a destination based on its online representation. The findings revealed a strong correlation between effective SEO practices, high SERP rankings, and positive user engagement metrics. The study concluded that well-implemented SEO strategies significantly improved the online visibility and credibility of Istanbul's tourism destinations, thereby attracting a greater number of potential tourists. The findings underscored the necessity for local tourism businesses to invest in building SEO expertise and resources to capitalize on the potential of digital marketing in promoting tourism. Keywords: Search engine optimization, turkey's tourism, Istanbul tourism destinations, digital marketing in tourism, online visibility

The consistency of projected online destination images: comparing the official websites and Instagram accounts of main destinations in Southeast Asia

Purpose In the context of integrated promotion, it is essential to promote destination images consistently across multiple digital channels. This study aims to examine the consistency of online destination images projected through the official tourism websites and the Instagram accounts of five main destinations in Southeast Asia. Design/methodology/approach Previous studies have used correspondence analyses to measure the relationship between categorical variables. In the present study, a Spearman’s rank-order correlation was performed after the correspondence analyses to cross-check the results. Findings Destinations in Southeast Asia tend to project images that are similar to each other. The correspondence analyses and Spearman’s correlation found that only one country in the area projected relatively consistent destination images. By contrast, the other destinations tend to promote inconsistent images through their official websites and Instagram accounts. Originality/value Previous studies have assessed the consistency of projected destination image by comparing communication channels managed by government/public organisations with channels of private sector organisations. This was achieved by comparing printed materials with digital channels. By contrast, this study highlights the importance of assessing a destination’s online projected image consistency across different digital platforms (official tourism websites and official Instagram accounts) within the perspective of integrated promotion.

A Comparison of The Official Tourism Website Effectiveness of Bali And North Sumatra Province: A Content Analysis Approach

This study discusses the comparison of Bali and North Sumatra Tourism website in terms of website effectiveness. A content analysis method consisting of three dimensions, namely Aesthetics (Destination Visualisation and Web Design), Informative (Uniqueness and Cultural Promotion), and Interactive (E-travel planners and Online Communities), is used to analyze and assess tourism website both on the island of Bali and North Sumatra. The results is there are differences in the use of the Destination Visualisation Factor (AES1) and Web Design (AES2). Meanwhile other dimensions are no difference. This analysis can be used by tourism organizations to use the website better to promote and marketing tourism.
 Keywords: Content Analysis, Effectiveness, Tourism Website, Bali, North Sumatra

Reviewing the Content of European Countries’ Official Tourism Websites: A Neo/Post-Fordist Perspective

The content of the EU28 Destination Management Organisations’ (DMOs’) official tourism websites is studied to understand how each country is promoting its online position and image, and whether this is compatible with the new forms of neo/post-Fordism consumption. The research incorporates critical discourse analysis (CDA) as a method to analyse the content of the websites for tourism promotion. Today, destinations struggle to portray a unique image in terms of their natural, historical and cultural characteristics and to be ahead of the competition. This paper aims to bring together the 27 EU member states and the United Kingdom’s (EU28) DMOs’ official tourism websites and review their content. The study uses Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) with the aim of identifying the EU member states’ written web communication with potential visitors and to understand how each country is represented on the web in relation to neo/post-Fordism. The results of the study suggest that the EU28 are positioned online with website content to urge travellers to visit their country and gain constructive experiences within the remits of neo/post-Fordist characteristics. The paper follows an original approach in using CDA of EU28 official website online content in relation to neo/post-Fordist remits of production.

Translation of Tourism Websites Based on the CCT Model

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.

Economics of Experiential Consumption In a Rural Heritage Destination

As markets evolve in the era of the experience economy, experiences have become more meaningful and are an essential part of tourism. Several studies have found that higher expenditures are a positive outcome of a successful and satisfying tourism experience. The purpose of this study is to examine the economic potential of staged experiential offerings in a rural community: Wickenburg, Arizona, a typical western mining and ranching heritage community with a thriving tourism economy. A content analysis of the community's official tourism website and attraction websites, and an onsite survey of visitors are the primary data sources. The results indicate that somewhat moderate demand exists for experiential consumption. They also reiterate the crossover significance of emotional and cognitive attributes and support the cognitive theory of emotions. This study contributes to the existing body of knowledge and suggests that emotional and cognitive aspects of experiential consumption should be considered simultaneously for their economic value.

Communicating and Promoting Sustainability in Tourism: An Analysis of the Official Websites of the Italian Regions

This paper analyses the orientation towards sustainability in the online communication of Italian Regions, by evaluating – between December 2019 and January 2020 – the content of official tourism websites and assessing whether this orientation is associated with specific destination characteristics. Sustainability orientation of the websites is measured by the Green D-web Score, a checklist of 35 items of sustainability-oriented content. The destinations’ profile is considered in terms of adoption levels of sustainable regulations and practices, the intensity of tourism development, the size and the tourism maturity.
 The analysis returns Green D-Web Score scores between 5 and 32, out of a maximum of 35, with a median value of 19.5. Sustainability orientation of online communication is significantly and directly associated with the adoption of sustainable regulations and practices and the tourist pressure of the destination, while relationships with size and maturity are not significant.

Adjectives in Destination Promotion Texts

As tourism texts act as an important source of information for prospective tourists, this paper looks into the use of adjectives in English tourism texts by analyzing a small, specialized corpus of texts promoting destinations. The self-compiled corpus had its data taken from the official tourism website of Vietnam. Using TermoStat Web 3.0 (Drouin, 2003) and Antconc (Anthony, 2011) to identify adjectives in the corpus, the study seeks to explore adjectival usage in a discourse which is known for its hyperbolic language and offers a better understanding of ways adjectives help create persuasive texts. Results revealed a high percentage of adjectives in the analyzed texts. Besides, the extensive use and high selectivity of adjectives in the corpus help paint a complete picture of the destinations being described, hence connect those places with the reader. Notably, compound adjectives were found to be widely utilized for compact but detailed expressions. The findings are beneficial to instructors and learners of English for tourism and English writing as well as translation training and practice.

Nationalism in Official Tourism Websites of Balkan Countries

This paper investigates the official tourism websites for the Balkan countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey to learn about its depiction of the nation for an international tourism market. The research combines Pauwels’ (2012) multimodal discourse analysis method designed for cultural websites with Smith’s (1998) six main institutional dimensions to seek out potential nationalistic patterns involving the state, territory, language, religion, history, and rites and ceremonies. The findings mostly involve verbal and visual signifiers that have a historical context to them such as antiquity, communism, Yugoslavia, religion, irredentism, the Ottoman Empire, and national identity. The findings illustrate that official websites, while being sensitive not to alienate international tourists, portray a sense of nationalism but do so in a different way, based upon the historical experiences and unique features of each country surveyed.

CONSTRUCTING AND PROMOTING NATIONAL IDENTITY THROUGH TOURISM: A MULTIMODAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS OF INDONESIAN OFFICIAL TOURISM WEBSITE

This paper aims to examine the contribution of multimodal resources in the Indonesian official tourism website in constructing and promoting the Indonesian national identity. Data were gathered from 7 verbal (linguistic) texts and 13 visual (nonlinguistic) texts presented in the Indonesian official tourism website. This study draws on Wodak et al’s (2009) discursive strategies of national identity construction and Kress and van Leuween’s (2006) theory of visual design. The results of the study show that the combination of verbal and visual texts in the Indonesian official tourism website contribute to the Indonesian national identity construction and promotion. The constructed and promoted Indonesian national identities are 1) Indonesia as a country with the rich natural landscape; 2) Indonesia as an archipelagic tropical country; 3) Indonesia as a maritime country; 4) Indonesia as a technologically advanced country; 5) Indonesia as a modern country; 6) Indonesia as a multicultural country; 7) Indonesia as a country with cultural richness; 8) Indonesians as people who are open to strangers or foreigners; 9) Indonesians as kind and friendly people; and 10) Indonesians as modern people.

Usability Analysis of Andalusian Spas’ Websites

Health tourism is booming all over the world, and thermal spa tourism in Spain is a type of tourism aimed at integrating with nature, achieving sustainable development. In general, its facilities are located in areas specially protected by environmental legislation. This tourism sector attracts an increasingly wide market segment that has become more demanding and better informed and that more frequently uses the Internet to gather information. Tourists’ shopping and consumption habits are increasingly influenced by new information and communication technologies (ICTs), making these a topic of interest among academics and professionals. Website development has been shown to be an area of innovation for spa facilities, but evidence has also been found that this sector has experienced difficulty in adopting ICTs. This research sought to analyse spa websites’ usability by conducting an exploratory investigation of different websites’ contents. The results reveal that the use of new web technologies by spas is underdeveloped, although these facilities have achieved good positions in Internet search engines due to the synergistic effect of the official tourism websites. That is why most of them tell their story, detail their nature and the protection of their spaces. In this way, spas turn their websites into communication channels that convey to tourists their commitment to the environment and sustainable development.

Positioning ASEAN as One Collective Destination: Towards a Sustainable Brand

In a globalizing world, where traveling is becoming easy and accessible, tourism destinations are increasingly competing in drawing travelers into their areas. One of the biggest challenges for any destination marketers is the substitutability of their offerings and the task of positioning their destinations against the numerous competing places that offer similar features (Moilanen & Rainisto, 2009; Pike, 2012; Pike & Page, 2014). The intense competitiveness of the global tourism industry increasingly calls for the most competitive positioning for individual destinations (Miller & Henthorne, 2007; Pike 2012). Consequently, the paper attempts to investigate the positioning strategies of the 10 individual destinations of ASEAN to better understand their distinctiveness and assess ASEAN collective brand. The current research aims to fill this gap through a preliminary assessment of brand elements of ten countries in ASEAN on how they project their official tourism websites using the method of content analysis of the 10 official tourism websites. This is followed by a discussion of the desired ASEAN collective brand with the engagement of ASEAN stakeholder in tourism collaboration, focusing mainly on joint promotion of tourism destinations. Consequently, the study presents an integrative framework embracing collaborative stakeholder efforts that ultimately leads to achieve a unified and sustainable brand of ASEAN. Keywords: Collective ASEAN Brand; Positioning; Destination Branding; Sustainable Brand; Stakeholder

Insights from Pennsylvania: Marketing agritourism for the American cider culture

Destinations and activities for travelers are greatly influenced by official tourism agencies that promote their local resources. Marketing for well-known places like breweries or vineyards can be straight forward, but destinations without clear descriptions can be more challenging. This paper examined how cider is defined, promoted, and marketed by official tourism websites to evaluate its potential for supporting the agritourism industry given the resurgence in craft beverages and increased public interest to purchase local products. Discrepancies between federal and state regulations of cider contribute to the public’s lack of awareness of what cider is, who can make it, and how it can be sold. A Quantitative Content Analysis (QCA) was used to evaluate how cider was marketed as a travel opportunity, particularly with its connections for agritourism. The methodology includes a set of questions that systematically evaluate text, graphics, and videos displayed on official tourism websites. While this study focused on Pennsylvania, it also compared and contrasted marketing strategies of other top cider-producing states. Results indicate that food and drink tourism is important and most states promote locally made beverages. Although cider was included in many of these promotions, it was inconsistently placed amongst other products. Cooperation and communication between local, state, and federal agencies in addition to local businesses could potentially improve cider sales and bring economic opportunities to rural communities wanting to increase agritourism.

Indigenous self-representations in the touristic sphere

This paper draws on decolonial theorizing to explore how Indigenous groups self-represent on official tourism websites. The findings indicate a juxtaposition of narrative patterns related to struggle and cultural pride, salutation to tourists and code of ethics which highlight contradistinctions between non-Indigenous and Indigenous touristscapes. The examined texts foreground decolonial frames through which the politics of representation allow for reclaiming of the colonial past to affirm identity, showcase resistance, and highlight the agentic power of Indigenous cultural custodians. This study centers the voices of Indigenous communities, by moving beyond narratives of victimization and oppression, to illustrate agentic power. This study offers an opportunity for linkages between tourism and global debates on social justice for Indigenous Peoples.

The Treatment of Adjectives in Tourism Websites: A Comparative Study of the Jordanian, European and Asian Official Tourism Websites

This study aims at examining how the lexical choice of a given discourse is determined by different factors such as the type of the discourse, the content and the medium of the message, and the ideological perspectives of the tourism persuader. More specifically, the study focuses on selecting adjectives in the Jordanian tourism official websites compared to European and Asian counterparts. The finding of the study shows that adjective lexical selection, together with their collocational behavior plays a crucial role in the tourism promotional discourse. The lexical choice of adjectives is also semantically restricted in that only limited meanings of the adjectives in the discourse are used. Accordingly, the vocabulary of the Jordanian tourism websites is characterized by the co-presence of two main types of adjectives: the descriptive adjectives, describing details about the targeted destination; and evaluative adjectives, conveying positive attitudes.

Compliance of accessibility in tourism websites: a pledge towards disability

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyse the US states and territories’ official tourism information websites based on the Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) and Section 508 guidelines to identify the compliance of websites towards disabilities policies and their behaviour pattern.Design/methodology/approachThe official tourism websites of 57 states and territories were analysed through the TAW tool for WCAG 2.0 and AChecker for Section 508. Cluster analysis was used to produce a group of websites underlying the accessibility issues obtained from the online tool to understand the common pattern of behaviour.FindingsThe result revealed that websites have serious and significant accessibility issues underlying the prescribed guidelines that would interfere with the use of the website by disabled people. The main issues that make the website least accessible focussed on the following guideline of WCAG 2.0: compatible, navigable, text alternative, distinguishable and adaptable.Research limitations/implicationsThe empirical results provide the US states and territories’ tourism authority to better understand web accessibility in their websites and its impact on disabled people.Originality/valueAs the web plays an important role in individual lives, this study highlights the accessibility issues which need immediately focussed and technically planned actions from the respective states and territories to ensure that designed web content should communicate effectively and universally.

SENSE PROCESSES IN TOURISM BOOKLETS

This research tries to analyze the processes of sensing found in tourism booklets. Since the research only focuses on the processes of sensing, it is focused on the verbs. The data are collected from two booklets from Latvia’s official tourism website. The method used is descriptive-qualitative. This analysis tries to answer three questions. They are the analyses of the sense processes, the types of sense processes, and the most and least sensing process verbs found from the analyses. From the analyses of the data, the emotive ‘like’ type verbs appear more than the other three sensing type verbs. The least finding is a desiderative verb, the verb wish.

EVALUATIVE LANGUAGE IN BRITISH TOURIST DISCOURSE

The aim of the article is to highlight pragmatic role of evaluative vocabulary in British travel articles. For this purpose, such notions as tourist discourse, evaluative language, pragmatic meaning are defined, main features of tourist discourse are described, pragmatic meaning of evaluative language in travel articles is identified. The research was conducted based on travel articles from the Official Tourism Website of Great Britain www.visitbritain.com. To carry out the research the following methods were used: descriptive, deductive methods as well as elements of functional, discourse, and pragmatic analysis. Tourist discourse combines elements of several discourses, i.e. advertising, popular science and some specific ones. An essential feature of travel articles is the use of positive strategy, aimed at formation of positive attitude of potential tourists towards the tourist object. Such evaluative language means as evaluative attributive word combinations, evaluative adjectives, superlative adjectives, evaluative adverbs, connotatively marked nouns and verbs are used in British tourist articles to fulfill the pragmatic purpose, i.e. to positively impact the potential tourist.