Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Using Technology in Visual Analysis
of Identifi cational Strategies
Sergej Stoetzer
Institute for Sociology, Technical University, Darmstadt, Germany
Introduction
by Kevin Lynch's 'Image of the city' (1960), but
uses a different empirical design (for a review
about Lynch's impact on tourism studies, see
Pearce and Fagence, 1996). The underlying
theoretical concept of space as socially pro-
duced, the research design and empirical data
will also be addressed here.
Visual representations of cities are becoming
more and more relevant for tourism industries
as well as for the tourists themselves. Generated
on different layers of professionalism they intend
to give the visual impression of a specifi c place,
integrating atmospheric components and shap-
ing the gaze - according to what was anticipated
by the professionals in media industries who
created the visual representations in the fi rst
place (Mercille, 2005). Professional images are
oriented towards media distribution in cam-
paigns used to convey a precise picture of what
should be regarded as specifi c to the city in the
eyes of the beholder.
Besides these intended images, subjective
ones arise from the perception of urban space,
experiences, memories and ideas, building ten-
sion between the individual constitution of
urban space and the adoption of a pre-arranged
mixture of symbols, historical issues, visual arte-
facts and narratives produced intentionally.
The individual actor's mental image of the city
is formed from this tension along with visitors
and tourists, who have usually less time to
develop a detailed image. Mapping these
mental representations along with their specifi c
meanings using visual methods - photoelicitation
interview, photo-collage and interactive digital
model of urban space - is the scope of this
chapter. Methodically, this research was inspired
Place-marketing, Tourism
and Visual Strategies
Place-marketing as a metaphor describes a pro-
motional strategy that arises from the quest for
locational competitiveness with the shift from
the managerialist mode of urban governance to
the entrepreneurial one caused by the decline
of the Fordist model of mass production.
Place-marketing is aimed at the projection
of intentionally produced images to external
audiences and local populations, bringing
together two not always compatible objectives:
next to the attraction of capital investment, con-
sumer spending, tourism development and
highly skilled migrants, it is also addressed to the
internal audience, the citizens, seeking to legiti-
mize regeneration and development policies and
increasing social cohesion in times of an increas-
ingly divided and segregated city (Griffi th, 1989).
In a globalized world, place-marketing
becomes diffi cult, with communication technol-
ogies making the functional differences between
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