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TOURISM GENRES
Dann (1996) identifies tourism text types according
to the communication medium they use, i.e. audio,
visual, written or sensory, and to their stage within
the tourist cycle, i.e. pre-trip (adverts, leaflets,
brochures), on-trip (travel guides, travelogues) and
post-trip (trip-reports, reviews)
TOURIST GENRES
Besides the aforementioned texts, Tourism Discourse
presents a much wider range of text types such as, among
others, package-tour itineraries, unsolicited
promotional letters, simple slogans, posters.
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The most typical genres of Tourism Discourse can be
classified according to the pragmatic function of the text:
1) Promotional texts addressed to the general public
2) Specialized texts addressed to experts in the tourist field
(e.g. papers on the marketing of tourism, on the sociology
and psychology of tourism, on the linguistic aspects of
tourist texts)
PROMOTIONAL TEXTS (FOR THE GENERAL
PUBLIC)
1) Tourism Advertising (it usually advertises a location and
provides useful information (contact numbers or web
pages))
2) Tourist Guides (they contain descriptions of places
from artistic or historical points of view, as well as
practical information about monuments/museums
opening times and location, means of transport, shopping
suggestions, night-life events, entertainment, food and
restaurant, accomodation, maps, special offers, post
offices, internet points, tourist information centres etc.
PROMOTIONAL TEXTS (FOR THE GENERAL
PUBLIC)
3) Brochures and leaflets: their main purpose is selling
tourist products (flights, package-holidays, tours,
accomodation) and can be considered as the most
persuasive texts of the tourism discourse (besides
proper ads)
4) Itineraries: They are often contained in leaflets
produced by travel agents and contain descriptive
information about the places to be visited and the
activities offered to the customers (mainly informative
but containing also linguistic elements aimet at
persuasion)
PROMOTIONAL TEXTS (FOR THE GENERAL
PUBLIC)
5) Articles in specialized magazines (they are similar to
tourist guides as they convey information on locations, but
they also provide details of various offers for the same
destinations, comparing prices, services and their quality)
PROMOTIONAL TEXTS (FOR THE GENERAL
PUBLIC)
6) Inflight magazines:
free magazines provided on planes; they are part of the
flight marketing process since they offer less
expensive products than those offered by travel
agencies or web-based tour operators. As a matter of
fact, they offer the traveller a higher sense of security
since they present themselves as among the best
experts in the field. Finally they convey the idea of
being global and that also their travellers are globalminded (ego-targeting).
SPECIALIZED TEXTS (FOR THE EXPERTS IN THE
TOURISM FIELD)
These are all texts aimed at the communication
between agencies and customers (as for legal
matters, for example); between agencies and
agencies; between agencies and hotels, tour
operators, airlines; between institutions (EU, United
Nation World Tourism Organization, British Travel
Authority, Federazione Italiana Associazione Imprese
Viaggio e Turismo etc).
They may comprise contracts, norms and
conventions, legislations, but also deal with
marketing, tourism planning and governance.
MULTIMODALITY IN PROMOTIONAL TOURISM
GENRES
1: Promotional genres largeky recur to illustrations to better
focus on the locations they are describing.
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2: The layout of tourist texts follows a very precise
composition plan: the positions of the illustrations, texts, the
frames in which they are set, their interrelations and
interaction form a very precise and thought-through
composition in which every single detail has its specific
pragmatic function.
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3: Elements are positioned so as to attract the reader’s
attention and direct it to different level of importance. These
levels are created through realtive choices of colour, size,
fonts, image sharpness and position.
TOURIST ADVERTISING TEXTS
Advertising is successful, and therefore persuasive, if the
message of its communicative event is correctly codified by the
speaker (while the addresse must be able to decodify its
meaning and to appreciate it)
In the case of tourist advertising such communicative behaviour is
fundamental.
Holidays cannot be experienced beforehand nor can they be
inspected for purchase, and therefore expectations are
constructed on product representation and description, which
cannot be viewed before the actual tourist experience.
In order to make advertisement information as appealing as
possible, the tourism industry applies all the iconic and
verbal strategies adopted by marketing in the creation of a
successful advertisement, slogan etc.
The primary and essential requisite of a
successful advertisement is the immediate
comprehension of the text:
If this does not happen the communicative purpose of the
text has failed. It means that the consumer has not changed
his/her ideas in terms of the choice of goods and services he
is going to purchase.
The advertising layout
It refers to the look, feel, and style
of the advertisement itself. The
design must REACH OUT to the
readers, ATTRACT their attention
and HOLD it long enough to
COMMUNICATE the appeal and
finally, ATTACH it to the brand name
which must STAY in the reader’s
memory.
ELEMENTS IN TOURISM ADVERTISEMENT LAYOUT
1) In tourism advertising, text normally consists of a
large picture, an illustration which makes a visual
statement and carefully “summarizes” the place and the
expected kind of holiday
2) The image is superimposed by a headline, i.e. large
print words that immediately attracts the tourist-to-be
(usually it is on the top of the page)
3) The Copy: this is the main text, written in readable
size print where the characteristics of the destination are
described, as well as the benefits one can get as a
tourist
4) The Slogan. It may be a phrase, logo, domain name,
graphic symbol or any other device used to immediately
identify the destination
THE HEADLINE
It should attract attention in order to make the potential customer
look closer at the ad.
It has to quickly present a topic the potential tourist can easily
associate with.For example by emphasizing a particular place,
design or taste.
It has to be designed in an eye-catching way, with short sentences
written in big (often capital), boldm brightly-coloured letters.
It often contains puns, play on words or funny expressions.
Normally, all of these expression interact with image, they
describe it or enhance its meaning.
THE COPY
It usually presents a precise, factual and
explanatory language.
It demonstrates the benefits and features of
the holiday and presents what makes that
particular destination unique.
In general, to be successful advertising
must:
1) Attract a person’s attention
2) sustain the interest it has attracted
(especially through language)
3) Be accessible, understandable and
communicative
4) Be recognized as familiar (not complex,
abstruse or too complex)
5) Be rememebered /stay in the reader’s
mind/memory
6) Prompt some kind of action
Attention Value
- To obtain attention value and improve the selling
power of the product, advertisments employs several
elements:
- An appealing and startling image
- The violation of some rules of the language (spelling,
phonetics, grammar, puns, jokes, metaphors, paradox)
used as persuasive strategies
- The use of some rhetorical tropes, especially irony or
humour; code-switching etc.
- Simple colloquial and personal forms (readability)
- A lasting impression (memorability)