Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
styles of consumption adopted by consumers in their endeavour to gain value and meaning from
using and interacting with them (Holt 1998). Thus, the meaning and signifi cance of tourism
products and experiences semiotically structure reality and our experiences of, and in, the world.
The signs contained within tourism marketing texts can be classifi ed into three general
categories, these are symbols, icons and indexes. What marks these categories out from each
other is the difference in the relationship between the sign and what the sign signifi es. The sign
can be defi ned as the actual image or word, for example the word or image of a beach may
equate to notions of warmth, escape or childhood etc. The result of this is that in order to
understand the signifi cance and meaning of the sign used in tourism marketing texts we need
to classify its status as a symbol, icon or index as this will directly defi ne and contextualize its
meaning (see Tresidder and Hirst 2012).
Firstly, a symbol in tourism marketing is a sign that has an association to its object that works
through processes of social and cultural convention, these come to defi ne and underpin
contemporary tourism (see Tresidder 2010) marketing and how as consumers we understand it.
The use of a particular set of symbols in tourism marketing is one of the major conventions. For
example one of the dominant semiotic conventions utilized within tourism brochures is the use
of the deserted swimming pool or beach. The use of such images not only visually demonstrates
the destination we may be visiting, but also through its denotative contents signifi es various
potential experiences such as escape, luxury or romance. In this way these images signify
something to each individual consumer, it is not just a swimming pool or beach, but it defi nes
the experience of being a holidaymaker, it creates desires and expectations. What is important to
note is that, although these images are a dominant convention, they still possess individual
connotative
associations and are individually defi ned by the individual tourist's biography.
Secondly is the icon,
this
is a sign that has a close correspondence to its object, in short an
iconic signifi er could therefore look, sound, smell, taste, or feel like that which it signifi es.
According to Tresidder and Hirst (2012: 157):
. . . iconic signs that may be found in THEF (Tourism, Hospitality, Events and Food)
marketing materials or contexts could include amongst others: the sound of gun shots or
explosions in battlefi eld recreations; the smell of the everyday lived experience of our
ancestors at the Jorvik Viking Centre in York, or the spritzed essence of the seashore that
may accompany your fi sh supper at Heston Blumenthal's restaurant the Fat Duck. They
could also be; a cartoon representation of a patriarchal Italian family in a pasta sauce advert;
a performer adorned in a Roman Centurion uniform or staged as a male mine worker at
an heritage center or within an advertisement for a living museum; or the plastic lemon
shaped packaging that contains Jif lemon juice.
Such signs and images are central to tourism marketing as they enable the tourist or potential
tourist to fi nd something tangible in an intangible experience. They underpin the communicative
staging of 'servicescapes' (Arnould, Price and Tierney 1998: 90). A very good example of this is
Disney's World Showcase Area at the EPCOT centre in Florida, the area contains various
international Pavilions including a French, Chinese, German and British Pavilion. Each Pavilion
provides the tourist with a glimpse into the culture of the country with hyper-real sets containing
iconic buildings such as the Eiffel Tower, heavily country specifi c accented workers and the
opportunity to consume indigenous food such as Beer and Fish and Chips in the British Pavilion
or Sausages and Pretzels in the German Pavilion. The Showcase area enables the tourist to be
transported semiotically to a bucolic context and setting (Arnould, Price and Tierney 1998) in
which the essence of a country may be consumed.
