Tourism Narratives Research Articles

The spatial narratives and representation of slavery and colonial heritage on guided tours in Amsterdam

ABSTRACT Amidst increasing societal discussion on slavery and colonial heritage, tourism has emerged as a potential avenue to address such concerns. Yet, tourism and tour guiding suffers from a paradox. On the one hand, tourism narratives can form a part of an oppressive strategy in colonial approaches against socially excluded and marginalised groups while on the other hand, tourism can offer counter-narratives with progressive potential in transforming mindsets and enlarging perspectives. This article explores these conceptual issues in the context of guided city tours in Amsterdam utilising a qualitative case study design involving participant observation and interviews. We identify the spatial narratives tour guides use to (re)present slavery and colonial heritage, and the factors shaping these narratives. We make two main contributions to the literature. Firstly, we identify how the need for positive atmosphere and good vibes are central to the extent to which tour guides are willing to engage tourists with slavery and colonial narratives in the city. Secondly, we offer a spatial mapping of slavery and colonial heritage narratives offered on tours through Amsterdam. Our study therefore contributes to evidencing how tourism, and tour guides hold transformative potential in dealing with slavery and heritage in an European urban setting.

Tourists’ narrative engagement and the multidimensional construction of historic urban landscapes: exploring the role of narration in place attachment

This study explores how the tourists’ narration contributes to the construction of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL), with the forming of place attachment. Leveraging the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, this study investigates tourists’ narration of Wuzhen, a historic town in China. The results reveal that tourists have a substantial influence on crafting a fresh narrative, actively contributing to the inclusive cultural landscape within the context of indigenous urbanisation in the HUL. Place attachment forms within this process, first with the cultivation of familiarity, then with the development of meaningful memories for city-dwelling tourists. These findings establish a correlation between tourist narration, place attachment, and the construction of the HUL. The study then highlights the creation of a multi-dimensional landscape representation due to diverse tourist narratives and underscores the previously undervalued role of narration as an essential element in the framework of place attachment.

Assessing global perceptions of India: Policy implications drawn from foreign tourism narratives

This study scrutinizes India’s growing appeal as a tourist destination, accentuated by government initiatives and innovative tourism policies like the e-visa program, Incredible India Campaign 2.0 and digital advancements in the travel sector. With the diminishing impact of COVID-19, there is a noticeable surge in various forms of tourism – inbound, outbound and domestic. The primary focus is to understand the driving factors behind the choice of India as a destination for inbound tourists. This research delves into these motivations, providing a global perspective on India’s attractiveness. A mixed-method approach was employed, utilizing convenience sampling for data collection. The quantitative analysis was based on a survey, informed by a literature review, comprising 390 respondents from 10 diverse Indian destinations. Additionally, 25 qualitative interviews were conducted, aiming to enrich and triangulate the quantitative findings. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) revealed five predominant motivations among inbound tourists: culinary interests, spiritual pursuits, budget-consciousness, cultural curiosity and natural allure. These findings were substantiated through thematic analysis. The outcomes have significant practical ramifications for destination managers and tourism policy developers in India. By understanding these key motivators, they can devise targeted strategies for enhancing the appeal of India to these specific tourist segments. This study not only aids in refining tourism promotion efforts but also contributes to the academic discourse on tourist motivation offering a fresh international perspective on India’s image as a tourist destination.

Whitewashed stories: Tourist narratives of ethnic and social minorities in Buenos Aires

Whitewashed stories: Tourist narratives of ethnic and social minorities in Buenos Aires

Cultural Narratives of Charles V and Spanish Imaginaries in West Germany during the Franco Dictatorship

ABSTRACT: This article aims to contribute to research on the international relations between the Federal Republic of Germany and Spain after World War II, when the Franco dictatorship experienced a process of rehabilitation. In order to gain a better understanding of this phenomenon, we need to complement existing studies on the history of diplomatic relations with approaches to the sphere of cultural imaginaries. This article, intended as a particular case study, analyzes the resignification of Francoism in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) via the heritage and tourist narratives associated with one historical figure shared by both nations: Charles V.

Tourism, War, and Media: The Russia-Ukraine War Narrative

Underpinned by framing theory, this study examines how the mainstream news media constructs the war and tourism narratives. Using frame analysis and Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA), this paper systematically unpacks the intertwined relationship between war and tourism in constructing its narratives during the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Three main frames were identified, including “impact,” “response” and “status,” which encompass eight specific issues. Results of Qualitative Comparative Analysis show that there are three influential narrative patterns associated with negative emotional frames: dashed hopes in tourism destinations, debates over travel bans versus human rights principles, and pessimism and uncertainty in the tourism industry. This research advances tourism literature by providing a new interpretative and analytical lens to the intricate interplay between war and tourism, serving as an important reference for future frame analysis research in tourism.

The spectral geographies of slavery: tourism and the hauntings of dissonant colonial heritage

The spectral geography of the colonial legacy in Bristol is marked by a series of absences from official and tourist narratives about the city. The people and practices of the Atlantic slave trade are part of the historical and contemporary fabric of the city and persist as ever-present spectres. There are significant differences of view that agree with little beyond that the city was a major port of Empire and a significant site in the triangular trade. Bristol is commonly portrayed as a multicultural city with a rebellious spirit and a strong commitment to social justice. This urban imaginary is evident in accounts of the removal of a statue of Edward Colston, a slave trader and philanthropist, during a Black Lives Matter rally in 2020. The now empty plinth of the Colston statue has become a contested, liminal space that sits between disparate interpretations and radically different points in time in terms of social relations. Individual and collective memories and stories about slavery constitute hauntings in a spectral geography of Bristol. Such stories are rarely heard, and the city is thus haunted by the absences of the voices of those enslaved and a lack of knowledge of the role of slavery in the growth and historic prosperity of the city. Little has been done to incorporate such dissonant heritage and so the histories of slavers, slavery, and slaves are not significant themes in tourism marketing, attractions or experiences in the city. This paper demonstrates that a process of coming to terms with difficult heritage and associated hauntings offers significant potential for tourism to contribute to historic and contemporary social justice.

The potential of accessible tourism for sustainable development of local communities in northern Pakistan

PURPOSE: Accessible tourism holds significant importance for local communities as it is a cornerstone for fostering inclusivity and equal participation in the tourism industry. Recognizing the growing global emphasis on inclusivity, especially for individuals with diverse needs, this research aims to explore the multifaceted impacts of accessible tourism on the sustainable development of local communities in the northern areas of Pakistan. Additionally, the study assesses the moderating role of destination image between accessible tourism dimensions and the sustainable development of local communities. Given that destinations heavily rely on tourism to fulfill their socio-economic needs, it becomes imperative to evaluate the potential transformative impact of accessible tourism on their sustainable development. METHODOLOGY: A self-administered survey was completed using a two-stage sampling approach with 321 tourists and 321 local residents from five tourist destinations in northern Pakistan. Subsequently, the collected data were analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to test the proposed hypotheses. FINDINGS: The results show the significance of all four dimensions of accessible tourism (accessible core resources and attractors, accessible supporting factors and resources, accessible qualifying and amplifying determinants, and destination planning and management) in the sustainable development of local communities. The moderation assessment further confirms that destination image strengthens the relationship between accessible core resources and attractors, contributing to the sustainable development of local communities. However, destination image was found to have a negative moderating effect between accessible qualifying and amplifying determinants and the sustainable development of local communities. IMPLICATIONS: Empirical findings offer fresh insights for destination planners and policymakers in the tourism industry. These insights pertain to the effective utilization of accessible tourism practices, which can significantly contribute to the sustainable development of destinations. Additionally, tourism businesses can leverage the research to attract a broader segment of tourists, increase profitability, and enhance tourist satisfaction by implementing accessible practices and services. Understanding the moderating role of destination image can further guide them in crafting responsible tourism narratives that resonate with diverse travelers. ORIGINALITY AND VALUE: The study marks an initial attempt to explain how destinations, particularly those heavily reliant on tourism, can strategically leverage accessible tourism as a crucial factor in fostering sustainable community development.

COGNITIVE MECHANISMS OF FORMATION OF TEMPORAL MEANINGS IN THE ADVERTISING TOURIST NARRATIVE

Background. The article considers cognitive mechanisms of the formation of the temporal meanings in the advertising tourist narrative. Relevance of the study is determined by its correlation with modern linguistic research aimed at studying linguistic semantics in its relationship with cognitive structures. Having a multicomponent structure, time is currently positioned as an attribute of human activity and also as a phenomenon of human existence. However, there is insufficient study of the interpretive potential of time, which makes research topic relevant.
 Purpose. The research purpose is as follows: to determine the cognitive mechanisms of the temporal organization of the advertising tourist narrative.
 Materials and methods. Language units of various levels were used for the study, obtained from authentic online texts of advertising tourist narrative. The main research methods include analysis and synthesis of theoretical material, the continuous sampling method, descriptive method, contextual analysis method as well as cognitive modeling method.
 Results. The results have shown that the main cognitive mechanisms of formation and interpretation of temporal meanings in the advertising tourist narrative include focusing, profiling, perspectivization, conceptual metaphor. Cognitive models of structuring temporal meanings, the source of which are the cognitive mechanisms outlined above, are considered.
 Practical implications. The research results can be used in the development of courses on general linguistics, lexicology and cognitive linguistics.

Navigating Uncertainty: Social Media Narratives of Tourism during COVID-19

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic and the travelling restrictions put in place by governments had an unprecedented effect on tourism in South Tyrol, with stays from the main markets experiencing a loss ranging from -36.3% to -73.4%. The present study explores the English-language social media communication of tourist destinations in South Tyrol during the first wave of the COVID-19 outbreak. To do so, a combined methodological approach is adopted, based on ethnographic interviews with practitioners of the tourism sector and corpusassisted discourse analysis. The findings reveal that the deployment of futureoriented and corrective linguistic approaches to envision a post-crisis scenario is crucial in conveying hope and possibility. These findings not only enhance our understanding of tourism discourse in the context of communication crisis management but also have implications for the resilience of tourism industry during challenging periods.

Когнитивная стратегия лаудативности в рекламном туристическом нарративе

The aim of the study is to determine the linguistic ways of expressing the cognitive strategy of laudation in the advertising tourism narrative. The scientific novelty of the work is determined by the problem statement: the strategy of laudation is for the first time considered in terms of the mechanisms of its cognitive organization in the advertising tourism narrative. The paper provides a summarized analysis of researchers’ views on the semantics of a cognitive strategy. The work reveals the content of the notion of “the cognitive strategy of laudation”, identifies its characteristic features and classification criteria. It is emphasized that laudation as a cognitive strategy is characterized by a variety of linguistic means. As a result of the study, it has been determined that the strategy of laudation (the strategy of praise) is implemented in the advertising tourism narrative using lexical, morphological and syntactic linguistic means, as well as using rhetorical techniques. The work focuses on the potential ability of the cognitive strategy of laudation to act as a means of argumentation, imagery and originality through the use of linguistic means and techniques that enhance the perlocutionary effect of speech influence.

Slum Destinations Experience from Tourist Narratives' Perspective

Turistler ziyaret ettikleri destinasyonlarda zihinlerinde canlandırdığı şeyi görmeyi istemekte, ziyaretlerinde bir anlam aramakta ve ziyaret ettikleri yer ile bir bağ kurmaktadır. Bu çalışma, turistlerin varoş destinasyonlarındaki deneyimlerine ilişkin algılarının doğasına ışık tutmayı amaçlamaktadır. Çalışmada nitel araştırma yaklaşımlarından doküman incelemesinden yararlanılmıştır. Çalışmanın amacıyla bağlantılı olarak küresel ölçekte en popüler varoş turizmi destinasyonlarından biri olan Dharavi’yi ziyaret eden turistlerin ziyaret sonrası anlatıları değerlendirilmiştir. Veriler dünyanın önde gelen çevrimiçi değerlendirme sitesi Tripadvisor’dan elde edilmiştir. Siteden 05.11.2022 ve 12.11.2022 tarihlerinde elde edilen toplam 86 İngilizce anlatı araştırma kapsamına dahil edilerek analiz gerçekleştirilmiştir. Analiz sonuçları varoş deneyimlerinin ağırlıklı olarak; deneyim alanı, deneyimin bileşenleri, deneyimin kendisi ve turist rehberi ile ilgili düşünceler üzerinde yoğunlaştığını göstermiştir.

A Symbolic Hierarchy of Places: Global Inequalities in Tourism Narratives of the New York Times Travel Section

We study the symbolic value of places using the case of global tourism where places are explicitly objectified for valorization. Unlike most prior research that uses tangible measurements like UNESCO's World Heritage Sites for global comparison of place-based symbolic values, we harness the power of computational text analysis to measure the symbolic value of places based on travel writings of the New York Times Travel Section. Our results demonstrate that there is a symbolic hierarchy among places depending on the various meanings of culture and nature and the degree of engagement with either topic. NYT travel writers valorize European regions for cultural tourism according to the broadest meanings of culture, and often engage with the region's history as a main topic of the travel article. However, other regions – particularly the ones with legacies of past colonization – are valorized for their nature's scenic beauty while obscuring the significance of their “cultural” values. Even when a place's “cultural” values are recognized, the meanings of culture tend to be limited in non-European regions. Our findings have implications for the enduring symbolic inequality of places at the global level.

Building Mini Narratives of Tourism in Bali as Innovations on Post-Pandemic Era: A Postmodernism Paradigm

The pandemic negatively impacted all aspects of human life, including tourism, which was even the worst affected, especially in Bali. This causes the legitimacy of the grand narrative of tourism to be delegitimized. This study aims to propose a paralogical idea, i.e. to build a mini-narrative as an innovation to overcome the fading legitimacy of tourism due to the pandemic. The deconstructive qualitative method is applied with heuristic and hermeneutic reading methods. Data were taken from texts contained in print media and non-print media employing observation, recording, and documentation, then analysed according to the research design by applying the theory of postmodernism. The results of the analysis show that the four forms of mini-narrative which are representing the characteristic of postmodernism namely appreciating nature, rising marginal, lessening idolization, and developing consciousness can be adopted as the concept of innovation in overcoming the fading legitimacy of tourism in the post-pandemic era.

Когнитивные механизмы цветообозначений в рекламном туристическом нарративе (на примере озера Байкал)

The aim of the study is to determine the cognitive mechanisms of colour terms in the advertising tourist narrative. The scientific novelty of the work is accounted for by the problem statement: it is the first time that colour terms have been considered taking into account the mechanisms of their cognitive organisation in the advertising tourist narrative using Lake Baikal as an example. The paper analyses the views of researchers describing colour terms in the Russian linguistic worldview, the advertising discourse, cognitive linguistics, historical and comparative linguistics. The study emphasises that colour as a culture code is a significant cognitive category and colour terms possess associativity and axiological value, are connected to the history of the nation, its peculiarities in relation to ethnic norms, traditions, customs and rituals. As a result of the study, it has been found that the main cognitive mechanisms of colour terms in the advertising tourist narrative include foregrounding as the informational-pragmatic core in the structure of the textual whole; metaphor as a source of figurative naming; standard comparative constructions and realised comparisons. The analysis of the material attests to the fulfillment of the potential of lexical units with secondary colour naming in such main conceptual-thematic areas as “Animate nature” and “Inanimate nature”.

Textual and Visual Narratives of Travel Experiences on Instagram in a Social Performance Context

It is widely acknowledged that sharing travel experiences on social networks is performative. This study investigates the tourist narratives used to communicate travel experiences, which partially reflect their needs and strategies for exchanging relevant information under social performance pressure. An analysis of over 8,000 Instagram datasets revealed that a tourist narrative pattern prevailed on image-based social media platforms, characterized by a role-centric narrative structure and three visual presentation sets. The study identifies key features of the narrative pattern and concludes that tourists seek acceptance within social media communities by providing anticipated content and mediated access to their travel experiences. Furthermore, the study explores the implications of this narrative pattern for tourism marketing, proposing that the prevalent pattern may reinforce destination stereotypes. However, this issue can be mitigated by enhancing tourist engagement through a series of mediated strategies.

The embodied absence of the past: Slavery heritage and the transformative memory work of tourism

• Slavery heritage tourism narratives stimulate plural public memories of the past. • The embodied absence of the past is physical presence yet narrative absence. • European cities are viable sites for studying slavery heritage tourism. • Guided tours and guidebooks are tools to subvert authorised heritage narratives. • Empirical and conceptual innovation is needed in slavery heritage tourism research.

Метафорический концепт ВОДА в рекламном туристическом нарративе (на примере озера Байкал)

The aim of the study is to determine the features of representation of the metaphorical concept of WATER in the advertising tourist narrative using the example of Lake Baikal. The scientific novelty of the work lies in the problem statement itself: there have been no attempts made to analyse the metaphorical concept of WATER in the advertising tourist narrative; it is the first time that the main metaphorical characteristics of water realised in the semantics of the concept of WATER have been revealed using the example of Lake Baikal. The metaphorical concept of WATER in the tourist representation of Lake Baikal is examined within the associative-semantic field, which determines its consideration in the structure of the sensory image (perceptual and figurative cognitive features), information content and interpretative (evaluative) field. The research findings have shown that the figurative level of the WATER concept in the tourist representation of Lake Baikal is realised by the naming units for Lake Baikal, hydronyms, anthropomorphic characteristics, colour naming units. Cognitive, linguistic and communicative metaphorical speech influence is being noted. It is being proved that the WATER concept in the tourist representation of Lake Baikal is realised in hydronyms, the semantic content of which, their properties and connections form the image, information content and evaluation field.

PHOTO ELICITATION: POTRAYING THE EXPERIENCE OF TOURIST HOLIDAYING IN BALI

As a social phenomenon, tourism is an activity that takes place in different cultural environment. This paper aims to explore tourism experience through the use of photo elicitation as a media for collecting data. The in-depth interviewed conducted using research participants own generated photographs that include aspects such as cultural, social and geographical. and the data emerged from tourist narratives as well as the images. Pictures captured by participants served as the baselined of interview process. Collaborative approach in which research participants portray the pictures and gives meaning to the experiences. The data analyse using qualitative approach and three themes resulted from the analysis; “portraying the sceneries”, “portraying the relationality”, “portraying the hazardous”. The initial two imply into the positive experiences, while the third theme indicates negative one. The findings in this research illustrated how the experience was highly influenced by the physical environment, natural setting of destinations as well as human interactions.

Возможные миры в семантическом пространстве рекламного туристического нарратива

The aim of the research is to determine the features of representation of possible worlds in the advertising tourist narrative. The work is novel in that it is the first to provide a description of the semantics of possible worlds in the texts of the advertising tourist narrative. The research findings have shown that the semantic space of the advertising tourist narrative actualises the opposition of the real and the probable (possible). During the analysis of the practical material, it has been found that the advertising tourist narrative explicates epistemically possible worlds (as possible directions of events development) and axiologically possible worlds (the axiological world of desires and the axiological world of recommendations). The author identifies linguistic means that realise the semantic features of possible worlds, as well as lexical pragmatic markers: epistemic (markers of both temporal and axiological positioning), axiological (value attitude to reality) and emotive (emotive background of the representation of possible worlds), which position objects of possible worlds in their temporal and local aspects. It is substantiated that the advertising tourist narrative represents epistemically and axiologically possible worlds, the semantic features of which have syncretic semantics.