The social construction of tourism online destination image: A comparative semiotic analysis of the visual representation of Seoul

This study examines the destination image of Seoul as represented by photographs online, and compares it to the traditional projected image found in printed brochures and guidebooks by replicating a previous study. Using visual semiotics, the social construction of tourism online destination image is investigated in terms of denotative and connotative signs. Using language-specific keyword searches, ‘Seoul travel’ on Naver, Google and Baidu, three demographic perspectives were examined including Korean, international English speaking and, Chinese. It was found that these different online contexts represent Seoul in different ways. Naver represents Seoul in more detail; Google and Baidu represent a mix of other destinations with Seoul connoting differences in perception, or reflecting the constraints of individual or group travel. The major findings suggest that the organic online self-representation of individual travel experiences by travelers, makes tourism as a soft power more effective, by supplementing the projected image of Seoul.

[1]  S. Lenzholzer,et al.  ‘Research through designing’ in landscape architecture , 2013 .

[2]  Martina G. Gallarza,et al.  Destination image: towards a conceptual framework. , 2002 .

[3]  K. Hollinshead.  The Shift to Constructivism in Social Inquiry: Some Pointers for Tourism Studies , 2006 .

[4]  Meredith D. Gall,et al.  Educational Research: An Introduction , 1965 .

[5]  J. Collier.  Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method , 1967 .

[6]  Harry F. Wolcott.  MAKING A STUDY “MORE ETHNOGRAPHIC” , 1990 .

[7]  C. Ryan,et al.  Reflections on the Research Process: The Researcher as Actor and Audience in the World of Regional Tourist Organisations , 2005 .

[8]  Tomas Pernecky.  Constructionism: critical pointers for tourism studies. , 2012 .

[9]  S. Anholt,et al.  Places: Identity, Image and Reputation , 2009 .

[10]  Visitor and non‐visitor images of Central and Eastern Europe: a qualitative analysis , 2008 .

[11]  Gillian Rose,et al.  Visual Methodologies: An Introduction to the Interpretation of Visual Materials , 2001 .

[12]  Frank Go,et al.  Projected Destination Image Online: Website Content Analysis of Pictures and Text , 2004, J. Inf. Technol. Tour..

[13]  Alastair M. Morrison,et al.  Destination image representation on the web : Content analysis of Macau travel related websites , 2007 .

[14]  Sharon Zukin,et al.  Urban Lifestyles: Diversity and Standardisation in Spaces of Consumption , 1998 .

[15]  J. Baudrillard.  The ecstasy of communication , 1988 .

[16]  Michelle M. Metro-Roland.  Interpreting Meaning: An Application of Peircean Semiotics to Tourism , 2009 .

[17]  J. Baudrillard.  Simulacra and Simulation , 1981 .

[18]  C. Ryan.  TOURISM AND CULTURAL PROXIMITY , 2002 .

[19]  Svetlana Stepchenkova,et al.  The destination image of Russia : From the online induced perspective , 2006 .

[20]  Klaus Krippendorff,et al.  Content Analysis: An Introduction to Its Methodology , 1980 .

[21]  Nigel Morgan,et al.  Culture, identity and tourism representation: marketing Cymru or Wales? , 2001 .

[22]  D. L. Gorlée.  Handbook of Semiotics , 1997, English and American Studies in German.

[23]  W. Hunter.  Groomed spaces on Jeju Island: A typology of photographic representations for tourism , 2010 .

[24]  K. Gergen.  An invitation to social construction , 1999 .

[25]  W. Hunter.  Projected Destination Image: A Visual Analysis of Seoul , 2012 .

[26]  L. Goodson,et al.  Reflexivity and tourism research - situating myself and/with others. , 2004 .

[27]  W. Hunter.  China's Chairman Mao: a visual analysis of Hunan Province online destination image. , 2013 .

[28]  David Gilbert,et al.  New York City and the Transatlantic Imagination , 2006 .

[29]  S. Stepchenkova,et al.  Visual destination images of Peru: Comparative content analysis of DMO and user-generated photography☆ , 2013 .

[30]  Daniel R. Fesenmaier,et al.  An Exploration of Cross-Cultural Destination Image Assessment , 2000 .

[31]  S. Pink.  Doing visual ethnography , 2001 .

[32]  J. Nye,et al.  Soft Power: The Means to Success in World Politics , 2004 .

[33]  R. Barthes.  Elements of Semiology , 1967 .

[34]  Lingxu Zhou.  Online rural destination images : tourism and rurality , 2014 .

[35]  Andrew Smith,et al.  Conceptualizing City Image Change: The ‘Re-Imaging’ of Barcelona , 2005 .

[36]  Zara Pinto-Coelho,et al.  Leeuwen, Theo Van e Carey Jewitt (eds.) (2001) Handbook of Visual Analysis. London: Sage , 2012 .