Tourist Activities in Multimodal Texts: An Analysis of Croatian and Scottish Tourism Websites

243 Pages·2015·1.226 MB·English

by  Melani Nekić (auth.)

Tourist Activities in
Multimodal Texts
An Analysis of Croatian and Scottish
Tourism Websites
Melani Nekic
Tourist Activities in Multimodal Texts
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Tourist Activities in
Multimodal Texts
An Analysis of Croatian and Scottish
Tourism Websites
Melani Nekić
Justus Liebig University, Giessen, Germany
© Melani Nekić 2015
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2015 978-1-137-39790-4
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
publication may be made without written permission.
No portion of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted
save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
Saffron House, 6–10 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.
Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author
of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2015 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-48516-1 ISBN 978-1-137-39791-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9781137397911
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nekić, Melani, 1983–
Tourist activities in multimodal texts : an analysis of Croatian and Scottish tourism
websites / Melani Nekić.
pages cm
Summary: "Tourist promotional material is a tool utilised by many people preparing
to travel or planning an activity. How do we as readers make sense of the tourist
promotional material that is available to us? How do we as users understand tourism
websites? Awareness of how tourism websites function may enable business people to
master the range of resources used as strategies to design websites in ways which more
specifically target types of users. Tourist Activities in Multimodal Texts addresses these
questions by analysing Croatian and Scottish tourism web pages to explore the ways
in which tourist activities are represented in tourism websites and the ways in which
tourism websites construct their recipients as media actors and cultural tourists"—
Provided by publisher.
1. Tourism—Internet marketing—Case studies. 2. Tourism—Internet
marketing—Croatia. 3. Tourism—Internet marketing—Scotland. 4. Web
sites—Design. I. Title.
G156.5.I5N45 2014
381'.4591411—dc23 2014022929
Typeset by MPS Limited, Chennai, India.
My debt is to my loved ones whose endless
love and understanding accompanied me
through the gains and
pains of this book.
Ova knjiga je posvećena Vama.
This book is dedicated to You.
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Contents
List of Figures and Tables ix
Acknowledgements xv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Why tourism websites? 1
1.2 Research questions and hypotheses 12
1.3 Conclusion 17
2 A Multi-Layer Approach to the Website Analysis 18
2.1 Selection and characterization of tourism websites 18
2.2 Analytical toolkit and empirical procedure 30
2.3 Conclusion 58
3 Analysis of Website Layout 62
3.1 Base elements 62
3.2 Layout units 67
4 Analysis of Meaning-Making in Tourism Websites 78
4.1 Tourist activities 78
4.1.1 Importance for representation, and cultural
tourist and user communication 78
4.1.2 Conventional or post-conventional tourist themes? 84
4.1.3 Sportspeople, explorers of regions, or participants
in events? 89
4.1.4 Observers or dynamic and media-interactive users? 93
4.1.5 Observers of tourist activities or explorers of types
of media? 95
4.2 Walking activities 100
4.2.1 Water and outdoor or adventure sports? 100
4.2.2 Landscape and activity observers or lovers of
dynamic sports? 109
4.2.3 Traditional or contemporary, media-interactive users? 112
4.2.4 Lovers of team sports, individual landscape
explorers, or dynamic all-round tourists? 114
4.3 Natural heritage 118
4.3.1 Mediterranean or North-Atlantic landscapes? 118
4.3.2 Landscape observers or explorers? 126
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viii Contents
4.3.3 Individuals or technologically skilled social actors? 130
4.3.4 Landscape observers, travellers, eco-tourists, or
adventure tourists? 131
4.4 History and heritage 134
4.4.1 Cultural heritage sights or historical events? 134
4.4.2 Observers of landscapes and sights, or explorers
of public institutions? 142
4.4.3 Observers or social media actors? 145
4.4.4 Explorers of sights, or learners about or
participants in the mythification of history? 147
4.5 Gastronomy 150
4.5.1 Traditional Mediterranean or contemporary
food and drink? 150
4.5.2 Admirers of Mediterranean or North-Atlantic
food and drink? 161
4.5.3 Individual or technologically advanced
social actors? 164
4.5.4 Food and drink connoisseurs or consumers? 166
5 Conclusion 170
5.1 Main findings 170
5.2 What next? 178
Appendices 180
Bibliography 218
Index 225
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
1.1 Screenshot of the homepage of the Zadar county website 7
1.2 Screenshot of the homepage of the Orkney region website 8
1.3 Screenshot of the homepage of the Istria region website 9
1.4 Screenshot of the homepage of the Perthshire region website 10
2.1 Website structure as a hierarchy of themes 32
2.2 System network for the organization of layout resources
within web pages 36
2.3 Example of differential use of leading in the example
Gannet page 37
2.4 Layout structure for the 1972 Gannet example page
according to the GeM model 38
2.5 Correspondence between the layout structure and the
area model of the 1972 Gannet page 40
2.6 Main types of representational structures in images 53
2.7 Interactive meanings in images 54
2.8 The meaning of composition 57
3.1 Screenshot of an example of a block (Bl) on the Zadar
county website 63
3.2 Screenshot of an example of a grid (G) on the Zadar
county website 64
3.3 Screenshot of an example of an icon (I) on the Zadar
county website 64
3.4 Screenshot of an example of a map (M) on the Zadar
county website 64
3.5 Screenshot of an example of a photograph (P) on the
Zadar county website 65
3.6 Screenshot of an example of a separator (S) on the
Zadar county website 65
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