Italy’s destination image in
Scandinavia
Analysis of photographs in tourism catalogues and social media platforms
By: Andrea Pesaresi Supervisor: Saeid Abbasian Södertörn University Master’s Dissertation in Tourism Studies: 15 Credits May 2021
Abstract Means of information have drastically changed during the last decades due to the evolution of technology and the development of social media, which have gained crucial relevance in the tourism industry. As a consequence, efficacy of traditional information sources is being challenged. The aim of this research is to determine, analysing photographs, what destination images of a particular country are projected by both traditional and digital information sources, in order to compare them identifying main similarities and differences in the projected images. For the purpose of this study, the selected destination is Italy and the analysed images will be retrieved from Swedish, Danish and Norwegian tour operators’ tourism catalogues and their respective social media accounts. Therefore, main similarities and differences between the three countries will also be identified and analysed. The images will be analysed using a thematic analysis method, following an inductive approach, meaning that themes and codes will be generated from the data itself. In order to generate conclusions, five Swedish, five Danish and five Norwegian tour operators were selected, and their catalogues and social media accounts were analysed, for a total of 1,306 images illustrating Italy as a destination. Findings suggest how images retrieved from catalogues mainly illustrate Italy by the generated themes of hidden mass tourism, notorious Italy, and culture. On the other hand, images retrieved from social media accounts mainly represent Italy with the generated themes of mass tourism, unfamiliar Italy, and culture. As the names of the themes suggest, the first two themes generated from the two information sources represent opposite ways of illustrating the destination, while the theme of culture represents the main similarity between the traditional and digital information sources. Regarding the three countries, it was noticed that each Scandinavian country focused on specific features of Italy, with Swedish tour operators focusing on the history and culture of the destination, Danish ones focusing on sea, beaches and urban areas, while Norwegian tour operators concentrated on natural landscapes and countryside areas of Italy.
Keywords: Destination image, Italy, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, tourism catalogues, social media
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Declaration of Authorship
I hereby certify that the thesis I am submitting is entirely my own original work except where otherwise indicated. I am aware of the University’s regulations concerning plagiarism, including those regulations concerning disciplinary actions that may result from plagiarism. Any use of the works of any other author, in any form, is properly acknowledged at their point of use.
Student’s signature:
Name (in capitals): Andrea Pesaresi
Date of submission: May 27, 2021
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Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to the people who have supported me during the writing of this thesis. Writing this dissertation has been an excellent experience, since I gained a vast and interesting knowledge about the subject. More specifically, I would like to thank my supervisor Saeid Abbasian, who helped me on several occasions and guided me to follow the right path during the execution of this dissertation. Furthermore, I would like to thank my family, friends and other special people, both in Italy, Sweden and Hungary for the support they gave me and for believing in me. Finally, my classmates for their valuable feedbacks and constructive critiques, which contributed to the development and writing of this dissertation. Thank you! Andrea Pesaresi
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Table of Contents Abstract ...... i Declaration of Authorship ...... ii Acknowledgements ...... iii List of Figures ...... vi List of Tables ...... vi 1. Introduction ...... 1 1.1 Background ...... 1 1.1.1 Traditional and Digital Information Sources ...... 1 1.1.2 Destination Image ...... 2 1.2 Tourism in Italy ...... 3 1.3 Problem Statement and Purpose of the Research ...... 4 1.3.1 Purpose of the Study ...... 5 1.3.2 Research Questions ...... 5 1.4 Delimitation ...... 5 1.5 Dissertation Outline ...... 5 2. Literature Review ...... 7 2.1 Destination Image ...... 7 2.2 Destination Image formation ...... 8 2.2.1 Stage-theory of Destination Image Formation ...... 8 2.2.2 Image Formation Agents ...... 9 2.2.3 Model of Destination Image Formation ...... 10 2.3 Social Media in Tourism ...... 11 2.3.1 Social Media in Destination Image Formation ...... 12 2.4 Destination Images projected by Digital Information Sources ...... 13 2.5 Destination Images projected by Traditional Information Sources ...... 14 2.6 Destination Image of Italy ...... 16 3. Methodology ...... 17 3.1 Research Methods...... 17 3.1.2 Qualitative vs Quantitative Methods ...... 17 3.1.2.1 Differences and Similarities between the two Methods ...... 18
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3.1.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of the two Methods ...... 19 3.1.3 Deductive vs Inductive Approaches ...... 19 3.2 Selected Research Method ...... 20 3.3 Data Sampling and Collection ...... 20 3.4 Data Analysis ...... 22 3.4.1 Social Media and Photo Analysis...... 22 3.4.2 Thematic Analysis ...... 22 3.5 Validity and Reliability ...... 24 3.6 Ethical Considerations ...... 25 3.7 Limitations ...... 25 4. Results and Analysis ...... 27 4.1 Results ...... 27 4.2 Analysis ...... 27 4.2.1 Themes Generated from Catalogues ...... 29 4.2.1.1 Hidden Mass Tourism ...... 29 4.2.1.2 Notorious Italy ...... 31 4.2.1.3 Culture...... 33 4.2.2 Themes Generated from Social Media ...... 35 4.2.2.1 Mass Tourism...... 35 4.2.2.2 Unfamiliar Italy ...... 37 4.2.2.3 Culture...... 38 4.2.3 Similarities and Differences between Images on the two Types of Information Sources ...... 40 4.2.4 Similarities and Differences between Scandinavian Countries ...... 41 5. Discussion...... 43 5.1 Themes from Catalogues ...... 43 5.2 Themes from Social Media ...... 44 5.3 Differences and Similarities between Information Sources and Countries ...... 45 6. Conclusion ...... 47 6.1 Further Research ...... 48 Reference List ...... 49 Secondary Sources ...... 62
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List of Figures
Figure 1 Stage-theory of destination image formation (Gunn, 1972, as cited in Jenkins, 1999) ...... 9 Figure 2 Model of destination image formation (Beerli & Martin, 2004) ...... 11 Figure 3 Coding process (Vings Värld, 2018) ...... 9 Figure 4 Themes generated from analysis of images in catalogues (own illustration) ...... 28 Figure 5 Themes generated from analysis of images on social media (own illustration) ...... 28 Figure 6 Colosseum (Nilles Rejser, 2021) ...... 30, 41 Figure 7 Pompei (Tide Reiser, 2020) ...... 30 Figure 8 Leaning tower of Pisa (Gislev Rejser, 2021) ...... 30 Figure 9 Sun, sea and sand (Vings Värld, 2018) ...... 32 Figure 10 Gondolas in Venice (Grand Tours, 2020) ...... 32 Figure 11 Cinque Terre (Rolfs Flygg & Buss, 2020) ...... 32 Figure 12 Ancient theatre of Taormina (Rolfs Flyg & Buss, 2020) ...... 34 Figure 13 Octopus and potato salad (TUI Travel, 2019) ...... 34 Figure 14 Colosseum (Dag Aasbø, Instagram, 2019) ...... 35, 41 Figure 15 Napoli (Gislev Rejser, Instagram, 2018) ...... 35 Figure 16 Leaning tower of Pisa (Riis Rejser, Facebook, 2020) ...... 36 Figure 17 Christmas in Sorrento (Gislev rejser, Instagram, 2018) ...... 37 Figure 18 Gradara castle (Abatros travel, 2020) ...... 37 Figure 19 Lemons and limoncello (Temaresor, Facebook, 2019) ...... 38 Figure 20 Tomb of Dante (Rolfs Flyg & Buss, Instagram, 2018) ...... 39 Figure 21 Food (Oliven reiser, Instagram, 2018) ...... 39 Figure 22 Saint Peter's Basilica (Vings Värld, Instagram, 2018) ...... 39
List of Tables
Table 1 Differences between quantitative and qualitative research (Bryman, 2016, p.408) ... 18 Table 2 Tour operators and photos (own illustration) ...... 27 Table 3 Identified themes (own illustration) ...... 43
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1. Introduction This dissertation is about determining what destination images Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian tourism catalogues and social media platforms project of Italy. This introduction section will provide a background knowledge regarding the importance of both traditional and digital information sources, and destination image, followed by an analysis of tourism in Italy connected to the three Scandinavian countries. Thereafter, the problem statement and the purpose of the research, research questions, delimitation, and the dissertation outline will be discussed and presented. 1.1 Background 1.1.1 Traditional and Digital Information Sources Means of information have evolved dramatically over the past few decades, and the effectiveness of traditional information sources, such as tourism catalogues, brochures and magazines, in projecting authentic and accurate destination images is being challenged (Molina & Esteban, 2006). As a matter of fact, the internet has embraced the function of an intermediary between destinations and potential visitors, altering how travellers organise and book journeys, as well as how they share their experiences (Buhalis & Law, 2008; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010). Yet, tourism catalogues and brochures are still considered very important by travellers, especially during their travel planning stage (Ráthonyi, 2013), highlighting how important both information sources are in regard to tourism, and explaining why they will be studied together for the purpose of this research. In terms of sharing experiences, social media represent the most common means of doing so on the internet. Travellers use the online channels because they enable users to interact and post content such as feedback, videos, and images (Boyd & Ellison, 2007). Most of the catalogues and brochures, together with several of the most influential social media accounts regarding travelling and tourism are planned and managed by tour operators. Tour operators are regarded as one of the most relevant stakeholders in tourism, representing businesses that organize, manage, and advertise trips and tours, either directly through prospective clients or through travel agencies (Goeldner & Ritchie, 2012; Hamid & Isa, 2017). Several studies have already analysed the role of tour operators and their information sources in tourism. For example, Molina et al. (2010) and Muhcină et al. (2014) argued that both traditional and digital tourism information sources play an important role in delivering and shaping the image of a destination. Specifically, Baran (2018) and Morgan and Pritchard (2012) argue how traditional information sources are mostly used during the destination selection process by families with children, often comparing brochures, in order to eventually decide their desired destination. Despite the importance of tourism catalogues, that was highlighted by this paragraph, tour operators allocate a remarkable amount of their resources in producing and distributing digital information sources (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela et al., 2016; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010), suggesting how traditional information sources are being neglected by the businesses (Bigne et al., 2019; Divinagracia et al., 2012; S.-E. Kim et al., 2017). On the other hand, however, social media are mostly used by a younger generation who
1 mainly select the platforms as their tool for information search (Bizirgianni & Dionysopoulou, 2013; Chung & Koo, 2015; Ek Styvén & Foster, 2018; Sahin & Sengün, 2015). Two of the most important social media platforms when analysing the phenomenon of tourism include Facebook and Instagram. In particular, Facebook represents one of the most popular platforms with over 2.7 billion monthly users (Clement, 2020), and has also been thoroughly analysed in the context of tourism (Mariani et al., 2018; Park et al., 2016; Pesonen, 2011). However, according to Fatanti and Suyadnya (2015), and Unger and Grassl (2020), Instagram also represents a very effective and relevant platform when analysing the tourism industry. Therefore, for the purpose of this study, both the platforms of Facebook and Instagram will be taken into consideration. 1.1.2 Destination Image Both traditional and digital information sources are typically used as advertising resources for a destination, but they can also be adopted to affect the destination image perceived by potential consumers (C. H. Hsu & Song, 2013; H. Song & Hsu, 2013). As a matter of fact, in order to have a positive impact on their image communicated to the public, tourism destinations use different marketing and communication tools, particularly through mass communication media. The use of mass communications media tools, such as catalogues and social media, is closely linked to this dissertation, since the use of photos used to boost the visibility of destinations, which also positively influence their image, represents one of the promotional strategies embraced by tourism companies. Furthermore, because of their dependability and ability to attract a diverse spectrum of potential visitors, tourism information sources are an important tool for shaping a destination's image (Alaeddinoglu & Can, 2010; Castelltort & Mäder, 2010). That is why, both traditional and digital information sources are considered very relevant by scholars when analysing the phenomenon of tourism, making them significant to be further studied and analysed. In addition to this, according to Bourliataux-Lajoinie et al. (2019) and Pike (2017), digital information sources allow to communicate modern and innovative destination images of tourist areas and, therefore, are considered more important for tour operators compared to traditional information sources. This highlights that, not only the information sources are significant to be further studied and analysed, but also to be compared between themselves, which this research will focus about. In addition, the destination image communicated to the public can be considered mature or innovative. The distinction depends on whether tourism stakeholders, tour operators among others, persist in consolidating their strategy to promote a destination, communicating a mature image, or they seek to adopt new strategies, aiming to communicate this way an innovative image (Gardiner & Scott, 2018). As a matter of fact, as confirmed by several scholars (Gopalan & Narayan, 2010; Ma et al., 2015; Tkaczynski et al., 2009), tour operators are regarded as essential stakeholders of a destination, suggesting how they play a key role in the communication of mature or innovative destination images to potential consumers.
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1.2 Tourism in Italy The tourism industry plays a crucial role in the Italian economy, accounting for over the 5% of the country’s Gross Domestic Product, and over the 6% of the total employment (Petrella et al., 2019). As a matter of fact, according to statistics by the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2021), the country of Italy received 65 million visitors in 2019 with an increase of 6% compared to 2018, which brought to the country’s economy 50 billion US dollars, statistics that allowed Italy to represent the 5th most visited destination in the world. The vast popularity of tourism in Italy is due in part to the country's extensive historical and cultural capital. Indeed, as of 2020, Italy is the country with the highest number of World Heritage Sites with 50 cultural sites and 5 natural ones (UNESCO, n.d.). The abundance of World Heritage Sites suggests that Italy attracts tourists interested in culture and history. However, the country has much more to offer, such as long coastlines and beaches, traditional food and snowy mountains, all features that make Italy a country visited by a very wide range of tourists (Vergori & Arima, 2020). Yet, despite the famous Alps in the north of the country and other features which could allow Italy to be visited the whole year round, according to statistics performed by the Italian National Statistics Institute (ISTAT, 2021a, 2021c), the vast majority of the tourists visit seaside locations during summer months, suggesting how the country is being affected by seasonality (Vergori & Arima, 2020). Every year the country of Italy welcomes people from all over the world with a large number of tourists coming from the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. As a matter of fact, almost two million Scandinavian tourists visited the destination in 2019, representing a very important segment for the tourism in Italy (ISTAT, 2021b). Therefore, the tourism industry plays a crucial role for Italy, destination which receives visitors from all over the world with many of them coming from the Scandinavian countries. As a result, the destination of Italy and the three Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway are studied together for the purpose of this research, in order to analyse how photographs representing Italy are used to promote the destination in the three countries. The country of Italy was selected as a destination as a whole, focusing on urban tourism, rather than a specific area within the country because of its strong national brand identity. As Cai (2002) and Qu et al. (2011) state, destination brand is critical for establishing a strong destination image which allows tourists to recognize and distinguish the destination from others. According to studies (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001; Ben Youssef et al., 2015), the Italian brand is recognized for the country’s food and gastronomy, and for its historic features and ancient monuments. Furthermore, as the annual report of the most valuable and strongest nation brands published by Brand Finance (2020) states, the Italian brand represents the 9th most valuable nation brands in the world. To sum up, thanks to its strong brand, Italy is a country easy to recognize and distinguish from others, making it meaningful to be studied as a whole, rather than a specific region or destination. As a result, for the purpose of this study, the country will be analysed as a whole.
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1.3 Problem Statement and Purpose of the Research The fact of traditional information sources being neglected by tour operators (Bigne et al., 2019; Divinagracia et al., 2012; S.-E. Kim et al., 2017) and the statement arguing that digital information sources, contrarily to traditional paper ones, allow to project modern and innovative destination images (Bourliataux-Lajoinie et al., 2019; Pike, 2017), served as a starting point for this dissertation. In fact, several researchers have already analysed destination images projected by both traditional and digital information sources. Yet, there is little research comparing the destination images projected by the two information sources, which this study will focus on. As a matter of fact, three previous studies compare traditional and digital information sources. However, one of them compared the movements of tourists, aiming at identifying whether there was a difference in the amount of areas visited within a destination by tourists who rely on one rather than the other information source (Lee et al., 2019). The second one, instead, analysed attitudes of younger and older generations towards the two information sources during the decision-making process (Reisenwitz & Fowler, 2019). On the other hand, the third and last study, compared destination images of Seoul, South Korea. The study identified how the destination image projected by digital information sources tended to project more innovative images depicting new emerging trends in Seoul compared to traditional information sources (Hunter, 2016), making this study relevant for the purpose of this dissertation. However, the author (Hunter, 2016) analysed photographs using the Google Images search engine, while this dissertation will focus on images illustrated in tour operators’ information sources in order to determine what destination images are communicated by the tourism businesses to the public. Therefore, due to the facts and statements mentioned at the beginning of this paragraph and the insufficiency of relevant existing studies, the need for more research comparing destination images projected by traditional and digital information sources was identified by the author of this paper, as also identified by Hunter (2016) and Llodrà-Riera et al. (2015). In addition to this, social media and destination image connected together is still considered a new and emerging topic (S.-E. Kim et al., 2017). Therefore, as several authors mention (Garay, 2019; Garay Tamajón & Cànoves Valiente, 2017; Stepaniuk, 2015), there is a need for further studies connecting the two subjects, especially comparing different social media platforms. This dissertation will partly fulfil the need, contributing and expanding the range of existing literature regarding the modern concept of social media linked to the concept of destination image. Furthermore, despite the importance of the three Scandinavian countries for the tourism in Italy, there is also little to no research about Scandinavian tour operators’ information sources representing Italy to determine what destination images of the country are perceived in the three countries. Therefore, more research is also needed in order to determine what destination images of Italy are projected by other countries, specifically the three Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway for the purpose of this study.
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1.3.1 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study is to analyse what destination images tour operators’ catalogues and social media accounts project of a specific destination. For the purpose of this study, the selected destination is Italy and the analysed catalogues and social media accounts will be Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian. This is done in order to determine what destination images Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues and social media accounts depict of Italy. Furthermore, identifying similarities and differences both between traditional and digital information sources, tourism catalogues and Instagram and Facebook accounts in this case, and between the three Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway also consist in parts of the aim of this study. 1.3.2 Research Questions In order to fulfil the purpose of this study, this dissertation will answer the following research questions: 1. What destination images Scandinavian tour operators’ paper catalogues and social media accounts depict of Italy? 2. What are the differences in the destination images both between paper catalogues and social media accounts, and the three Scandinavian countries? 1.4 Delimitation The delimitation or aim of this dissertation is to identify what destination images of a certain destination are projected by both traditional and digital information sources, with the final goal of analysing similarities and differences between the two types of information sources. In particular, for the purpose of this study, the destination taken into consideration is Italy, focusing on the urban tourism aspect of the country, while the two types of information sources will be Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues and social media accounts. This provides the opportunity for the author of this paper to also identify similarities and differences between the three Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. In order to fulfil the purpose of this study, images in both paper catalogues and social media accounts will be analysed. 1.5 Dissertation Outline In order to provide a clear understanding of this dissertation, the paper is divided into six main chapters. The first chapter represents the introduction of this dissertation which provided a background to the study, an analysis of the tourism in Italy, the problem statement and purpose of the study together with its research questions. The second chapter will represent the literature review of this dissertation, in which the concepts of destination image, destination image formation with its various models, and social media in tourism together with its influence in destination image formation will be analysed. Finally, the last three paragraphs of the literature review will analyse the destination images projected by digital and traditional information sources, to conclude with the destination images of Italy which are already available in the existing literature.
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The third chapter of this dissertation is represented by the methodology section which gives an overview of various methods examining in-depth the selected one, along with the reasons why it was considered the most suitable one for the purpose of this study. The fourth chapter consists of the results and analysis section, which first provides a brief overview of the analysed images and their respective information sources they were retrieved from, to then exhaustively analyse each of the generated themes, divided into themes generated from catalogues and themes generated from social media for the purpose of this study. The fifth and sixth chapters provide the reader with the discussion and conclusion formulated for the purpose of this study. In particular, the discussion section compares the findings of this study to the existing literature analysed in the literature review, while the conclusion clearly answer the two research questions, providing also a brief summary and suggesting topics for further research.
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2. Literature Review
2.1 Destination Image
The concept of destination image has been widely researched by scholars since the 1970s and according to del Bosque and Martín (2008), it can be defined as an individual’s attitude towards a particular destination. The definition highlights how different individuals can have different opinions about a certain destination, clarifying this way the importance for destinations to project an accurate and innovative image. In fact, as Gallarza, Saura and Garcı́a (2002) state, since tourism products and services are intangible, images play a more important role than reality in an individual’s mind, which is the reason why tourism destinations use various promotion and communication tools to positively affect their image communicated to and perceived by the public (Beerli & Martín, 2004). According to the authors Chen and Phou (2013) and Zhang et al. (2014), the destination image is formed by three components: cognitive, affective and conative. The cognitive part regards what a person knows and thinks about an object, in the case of tourism concerns the tourist’s attitude and knowledge about the characteristics and features of the destination (Agapito et al., 2013). The affective part represents how a person feels about an object, which in the case of tourism can be described with the tourist’s evaluation stage of the destination and his/her developed perception (Agapito et al., 2013; Xie & Lee, 2013). Finally, the conative part refers to how a person behaves using the information gathered from the first two steps, which includes, in the case of tourism, the tourist’s attitude at the destination, his/her intention to revisit and recommend the tourist area to others (Agapito et al., 2013). According to the authors Chen and Phou (2013) and Zhang et al. (2014), the three components influence the image formation of a destination, in which the tourist generates the cognitive image first, developing then the affective image, to conclude with the conative image. This highlights even more how different tourists can have a different opinion of a destination, based on his/her knowledge, perceptions and attitudes. The concept of destination image formation will be further analysed in the next paragraph. Furthermore, a distinction of destination image was formulated by Gartner in 1994 and further developed by Tasci and Gartner (2007). According to Gartner (1994), destination image can be divided into two main categories based on how the image is formed in the tourists’ mind, consisting of organic and induced image. The organic image is formed in the tourist’s mind by the general knowledge and feelings about the destination, it is formed through a long period of time, and usually cannot be affected by destination promoters (Gartner, 1994; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). The induced destination image, instead, and which this study will focus about, is created through the tourist’s exposure to advertisement and promotional materials by destination marketers, consisting in a reshaped and influenced organic image (Gartner, 1994; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). A more in-depth analysis of these two types of images will be shown in paragraphs 2.2.1 and 2.2.2. Another distinction that can be done regarding destination image concerns mature or innovative destination image. A mature destination image is considered to be a threat to most mass tourism Mediterranean countries, since they focus on and project common features without establishing
7 a unique factor of a specific destination, making it easily replaceable (Apostolopoulos & Gayle, 2002; Bramwell, 2003). An example of mature destination image is provided by the country of Cyprus, as encountered by Koutra and Karyopouli (2013) in their study. In fact, as a result of the authors’ (ibid.) study, Cyprus is clearly advertised and seen as a sun, sea and sand destination projecting a mature destination image of the country. Koutra and Karyopouli (2013) consider this to be a barrier to the opportunity of projecting an innovative destination image, mainly focusing on attracting, therefore, sun, sea and sand type of tourists. On the other hand, a destination image can also be considered innovative based on the efforts of tourism stakeholders. An innovative destination image represents an image that is influenced by tourism stakeholders, including tour operators, and their information sources, such as catalogues and social media accounts, in order to enhance the country’s attractiveness and the overall image communicated to the public (Govers et al., 2007; Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006). Therefore, it differs from a mature destination image for the way a destination is promoted and the involvement of tourism stakeholders, which could, for example, enhance the quality of tourism features, or establish new and modern tourism facilities with the final goal of improving the overall image (Yun & Zhang, 2017). The concept of destination image and the image visitors are subjected to, are relevant notions for tourism organizations, thanks to their reliability and capability of targeting a wide range of potential tourists (Alaeddinoglu & Can, 2010; Castelltort & Mäder, 2010). 2.2 Destination Image formation 2.2.1 Stage-theory of Destination Image Formation According to several authors (Gartner, 1994; Jenkins, 1999; Tasci & Gartner, 2007), the formation of destination image consists in a multi-stage process. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the initial destination image in an individual’s mind is represented by the organic image, which consists in the general knowledge and perceptions about a destination, is formed through a long period of time, and cannot be influenced by destination marketers (Gartner, 1994; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). The initial image is then reshaped and influenced by destination marketers, mostly through information sources, in order to positively affect the destination image perceived by the public and reinforce its attractiveness (Gartner, 1994; Hanlan & Kelly, 2005; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). Concerning this multi-stage process, Gunn (1972, as cited in Jenkins, 1999) proposed a seven stage-theory (see Figure 1 on the following page), in which the author describes the process from the image an individual might have before visiting the destination, all the way after visiting it, showing how the image can be first influenced by secondary sources of information, to be then modified by the individual’s experience during and after the trip.
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Figure 1 Stage-theory of destination image formation (Gunn, 1972, as cited in Jenkins, 1999)
2.2.2 Image Formation Agents Taking a different approach, Gartner (1994) formulated a theory about destination image formation which developed the stage-theory of destination image formation previously analysed, and that focuses on eight different typologies of image formation agents. According to Gartner (1994), the creation of a destination image is based on different information agents acting independently developing unique images in individuals’ minds and differ based on their level of controllability by the destination promoter and on the level of credibility regarding the receivers’ perspective. The eight different image formation agents will be analysed below. 1. Overt induced I: refers to the traditional sources of advertising. Advertising in this category plays an important role in attracting potential visitors to a destination, since it can help creating images of tourist areas before and without the actual visit. 2. Overt induced II: comprises information received from tour operators and other travel intermediaries. An example could be information sources used by tour operators, such as tourism brochures or catalogues.
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3. Covert induced I: includes information communicated by a secondary party, which could be for example a celebrity or a family member, also including on social media, which this dissertation focuses about, such as influencers. High degree of popularity and credibility play very important roles in this category of image formation agents. 4. Covert induced II: usually in the form of unbiased articles or reports about a destination, which can be easily modified by destination promoters. Credibility reaches very high levels as connection between the communicated image and destination marketing is not clearly visible. 5. Autonomous: also in the forms of articles, films or reports, but they are independently created and published. Therefore, they are not related to marketing or promotional activities by destination promoters. Due to its high effectiveness, autonomous agents have the capability of drastically modify a destination image in a limited time. 6. Unsolicited organic: refers to unrequested information from friends and family who have already visited the destination and have valuable information, such as photos and videos. 7. Solicited organic: refers to requested information from family and friends and therefore is highly credible, including word of mouth promotion which consists in a crucial form of destination image formation, as stated by Hanlan and Kelly (2005). 8. Organic: like the previously analysed stage-theory of destination image formation, the last category refers to information gathered, and images formed after the visitation of the destination to form a new or modified, but more complete overall destination image.
2.2.3 Model of Destination Image Formation The last destination image formation model analysed for the purpose of this study is provided by Beerli and Martín (2004). As Iordanova (2015) and Beerli and Martín (2004) state, destination image formation is typically defined as a mechanism by which a destination image is created as a reaction to a flow, on one side, of formal and informal information, distributed by different information agents and sources to be then selected by tourists. On the other side, the process of destination image formation is also influenced by tourists’ characteristics or personal factors. Information sources are recognized to play a very important role during the formation of the destination image (De Nisco et al., 2015; Iordanova, 2015; Llodrà-Riera et al., 2015), having the capability of influencing the perceived image in the first two stages of the previous model provided by Gunn (1972, as cited in Jenkins, 1999). While Gunn (ibid.) referred to traditional information sources, it is crucial to notice that with the development of new technologies, social media has become a significant and essential information source (Markovic, 2016). As a matter of fact, a growing number of individuals exchange feedback and reviews, recommend products and services, and interact with their friends and family via social media (ibid.). Nowadays, electronic word of mouth is vital for the success of businesses and destinations, and it is considered to have outweighed the importance of traditional word of mouth (Jalilvand & Heidari, 2017). Furthermore, social media platforms enable travel companies to identify potential visitors, directly interact with users and develop tailor-made experiences through ads
10 and personalised apps (Markovic, 2016). Paragraph 2.3 will analyse more in-depth the concept of social media in tourism. On the other side, personal factors also influence the process of destination image formation. In fact, personal needs, motivations, previous knowledge, preferences, and socio-demographic factors, such as gender, age, education level, and social class, can also affect the cognitive part of the destination image, which along with sentiments towards the destination, or the affective part of the image, forms the overall destination image (see Figure 2 below) (Beerli & Martín, 2004; Markovic, 2016).
Figure 2 Model of destination image formation (Beerli & Martin, 2004)
2.3 Social Media in Tourism With the first four research papers being published in 2007, social media in tourism is considered a relatively recent phenomenon (Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). As the authors (ibid.) state, though, the concept of social media in tourism has increased of importance during the years, reaching 81 academic articles written about the phenomenon in the year 2012. Nowadays, social media are considered crucial tools for the survival and the thriving of both businesses, destinations, and users (Hvass & Munar, 2012; Leung et al., 2013; Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014; Živković et al., 2014). Because of the development and the evolution of social media, there has been much discussion about the definition of the concept. As a matter of fact, Cohen (2020) outlines 30 different social media definitions, from different points of view and stakeholders. However, for the purpose of this study, the definition selected by the author of this paper defines social media as a web-based application group that allows Internet users from all over the world to connect, collaborate, share and exchange user generated content, such as opinions, feelings, views, knowledge and relationships (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010; Leung et al., 2013; Xiang & Gretzel, 2010).
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The term user generated content indicates the various forms of media content, such as ideas, thoughts, experiences, perspectives, or information, that are easily accessible for Internet users around the world and are created by users (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). In other words, the term user generated content illustrates all the different forms of content created by regular users available on the internet. According to several authors (Leung et al., 2013; Li & Wang, 2011; Thevenot, 2007), the era of social media and user generated content revolutionised the Internet, making it shift from a broadcasting platform to a participatory platform, which allowed users to become the “media” themselves to connect with each other, share information and create content. As a matter of fact, Popesku (2014) confirms this, stating how the development of the Internet and social media has created an opportunity for users to take responsibility in the online world, which resulted in the intensifying significance of users and the reducing power and effectiveness of marketers’ efforts. Therefore, social media can also be used by marketers and businesses as a tool to investigate tourists’ attitudes and their preferences, which in turn can help the tourists create reliable and genuine expectations of what they are going to find once reached the destination (Živković et al., 2014). This creates the opportunity for destination marketing organisations (DMOs) to use social media before the trip (to inspire, educate and interact), during the trip (to simplify everyday tasks at the destination), and after the trip (to remember, share and interact with other users), providing the possibility for DMOs to influence the perceived image of a destination (Popesku, 2014), concept that will be further analysed in the next paragraph.
2.3.1 Social Media in Destination Image Formation One important study regarding the relationships of social media and destination image formation was performed by Kim et al. (2017). In fact, in their study, the authors (ibid.) selected some variables to investigate whether they influenced destination image and what part of it, specifically cognitive, affective, and conative images. Results confirmed that the variables of relevancy (the extent to which the tourism destination information found on social media is relevant to travel and intention to use) and completeness (the extent to which the tourism destination knowledge found on social media is reliable and of adequate breadth and depth.) influenced the cognitive part of the destination image (prior beliefs or knowledge about a destination). On the other hand, the variables of value-added (the extent to which the tourism destination information found on social media is useful and helpful to users) and interestingness (the extent to which the tourism information found on social media is perceived to be interesting) influenced the affective part of the destination image (feelings and emotions about a destination) (ibid.). To conclude the study, Kim et al. (2017), as stated also by several other authors (Agapito et al., 2013; Basaran, 2016; Llodrà-Riera et al., 2015; Woosnam et al., 2020), encountered how the three parts of destination image, cognitive, affective, and conative, influence and depend on each other to form a complete and overall destination image. The last study analysed for the purpose of this paper is provided by Llodrà-Riera et al. (2015). In this case, the authors (ibid.) hypothesised how information sources, including social media, influenced the motivations to visit a destination and the intention to revisit it. Furthermore, the authors (ibid.) also hypothesised how motivations affected cognitive, affective, and the overall destination image. Results show how indeed motivations for visiting a destination are
12 influenced by information sources and social media encountered by potential visitors, which in turn affect the cognitive part of destination image, and as previously encountered confirming what Kim et al. (2017) and other authors suggested, cognitive and affective images affect each other to form the complete destination image (Llodrà-Riera et al., 2015). 2.4 Destination Images projected by Digital Information Sources As mentioned in the previous paragraph and concept, the Internet and social media can be of vital importance when analysing the concept of destination image and how to influence it in order to project a more attractive image to the public. This paragraph will examine cases of destination images projected online and by social media highlighting how the platforms are used in these cases to improve the image perceived by the public. The first study analysed for the purpose of this paper is provided by Wacker and Groth (2020). In their study, the two authors (ibid.) compare images posted on Instagram by the official destination marketing organisation of the region Tyrol in Austria, with images posted on the same platform by actual tourists. Results of the study show how tourists tend to post images of nature and landscapes without any people or other elements related to mankind. On the other hand, as encountered by Wacker and Growth (2020), DMOs tend to post images of nature and landscapes connected with outdoor and adventure activities, as well as leisure activities in order to attract tourists not only to see the beautiful landscapes, but also to take part in the several kinds of activities available once reached the destination. Overall, according to the two authors (ibid.), the DMO of the region Tyrol in Austria aims at projecting a strategically designed destination image of the region, thanks to portraying natural landscapes, together with architecture, outdoor sports, and traditional food. The second study analysed for the purpose of this study was performed by Kuhzady and Ghasemi (2019), which took into consideration the destination image of Portugal on Instagram. The two authors (ibid.), in particular, adopted a content analysis of photos posted on Instagram by the official DMO of Portugal. They first started analysing the traditional image of Portugal to then compare it to the results of their study. The traditional destination image of the country, according to Kuhzady and Ghasemi (2019), was mainly closely related to the country’s favourable weather conditions and their beaches, along with cultural tourism, city breaks, and gastronomy. However, results of the study showed how the images found on Instagram suggested how the broader concept of nature-based tourism was mainly illustrated, with several images depicting beautiful beaches, river views and forests, suggesting how the DMO aims at projecting more than just a country with favourable weather conditions, but also beautiful landscapes and nature, targeting therefore a much wider market. The last two studies analysed concern the destination images projected by websites online. The first of the two was performed and provided by Hunter (2016), in which he compares the destination images of Seoul, South Korea, in both traditional information sources, tourism brochures in this case, and online on the Google Images search engine. Thanks to a previous study (Hunter, 2012), the author (Hunter, 2016) first recognizes how the destination images of Seoul in traditional print promotional media included the Han River, cityscapes, monumental structures, maps and simulations, culture, and nature. However, when analysing photos online on Google images, the destination image tended to depict new emerging trends in Seoul
13 tourism, such as online media and advertising, augmented reality and smart tourism, Korean Wave and the modern music phenomenon of K-POP, other than only showing the renowned tourist attractions mentioned above. This suggests how online destination images, whether projected by websites or social media platforms, have the capability of being more flexible and react faster to new emerging and important trends, with the result of being able to illustrate the most recent tourism trends and attractions. The last analysed study for the purpose of this paper was provided by Govers and Go (2005). In this case, the two authors (ibid.) analysed images on twenty different Dubai-based websites, from both private and public organizations. Results confirmed what expected by Govers and Go (2005) and significant differences were encountered in the different way private and public establishments projected Dubai’s destination image. As a matter of fact, as found by the two authors (ibid.), private enterprises tended to be product oriented, and images mostly related to specific equipment, products and offered tourist activities and experiences, such as dining experiences and modern shopping facilities. On the other hand, public organizations tended mostly to illustrate the identity of the destination, its culture and heritage, suggesting how differences in sectors can also mean significant differences in the image projected of a destination. In this case, by identity of the destination, the author of this paper takes into consideration what stated by Konecnik and Go (2008) and Lin et al. (2011), in which they associate the identity of a destination with its unique characteristics that makes it distinguishable from other destinations. In addition to the studies, a frequent phenomenon can be noticed on images illustrated on social media platforms. The phenomenon refers to illustrating images of popular tourism attractions with crowds of tourists projecting a realistic experience a potential visitor could expect once reached the destination. This has been identified by several authors (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Pickering et al., 2020; Wijesinghe et al., 2020). As a matter of fact, according to the authors (ibid.), people represent one of the most common features on images on social media, especially Instagram, when depicting destinations and attractions. 2.5 Destination Images projected by Traditional Information Sources As Molina and Esteban (2006) state, destination image is formed by information sources, including among others catalogues, travel magazines, books and brochures. In fact, catalogues, travel magazines and brochures can greatly affect and influence tourists’ attitudes towards a destination, which in turn determine the degree of the destination’s prosperity (Alaeddinoglu & Can, 2010; Castelltort & Mäder, 2010; C. H. Hsu & Song, 2013; H. Song & Hsu, 2013). This paragraph will analyse what type of destination images catalogues, travel magazines and brochures project. A study performed by Frochot (2003) analysed images of food in French regional brochures. Analysing images, the author concluded that French regions aimed at depicting their authenticity and uniqueness through photographs of typical food, local traditions and of natural products. In other words, regions tended to show different images from one another focusing on their own traditions and local produce. The image communicated to tourists, therefore, reflects the ideas of authenticity and local traditions and food, aiming at attracting visitors seeking for an authentic and unique experience. In order to better understand the notions of
14 authenticity and uniqueness within the context of tourism, scholars (E. Cohen, 2007; Croes et al., 2013; Debeş, 2011) associate the two concepts with genuine experiences, people and other tourism related features, from cuisine to archaeological sites, that are the only ones of its kind, making the destination different from others. Therefore, the two concepts are closely connected to the notion of identity analysed in the previous paragraph. Another study performed by Stepchenkova and Zhan (2013) analysed destination images of Peru communicated to tourists. According to the authors (ibid.), in this case, the image projected by photographs was a well-rounded image of the destination. Rather than focusing on authenticity and local traditions, photographs showed archaeological heritage of the country, customs, traditions, art and landscapes, aiming at attracting a broader range of visitors to the destination (ibid.). In other words, the destination image projected by the analysis of photographs depicted the destination in its overall beauty promoting this way different characteristics and attractions of the country. The last study analysed for the purpose of this study was provided by O’Leary and Deegan (2005). The study analysed images of Ireland in French brochures, in order to determine what destination image of Ireland was perceived by French tourists. The results explained by the two authors (O’Leary & Deegan, 2005) demonstrated how the destination images communicated to French tourists were outdated and no longer accurate, projecting unreliable and imprecise images of the destination, partly explaining why the destination encountered a decrease of French tourists. Specifically, according to the authors (ibid.), the destination images communicated to the public did not acknowledge the issues of littering and the poor conditions of the natural environment, projecting therefore an inaccurate image of the destination and conveying to potential visitors a degree of expectations higher than they would otherwise have. This study closely relates to this paper, since it is relevant to analyse how innovative and accurate destination images projected by catalogues and other information sources are, which this study will partly focus on. Furthermore, contrarily to images illustrated on social media platforms, it is a frequent phenomenon to illustrate images of popular tourism attractions without people in sight. As a matter of fact, this has been previously identified by several scholars (Hanusch, 2011; C. H. C. Hsu & Song, 2014; Hunter, 2008, 2010), which according to Hunter (2010), represents a strategy embraced by tour operators to visually reflect the perception of escape from daily life, which is an essential feature of tourism, even though, this way, the photographs can project distortions of reality, appearing staged and not realistic. This suggests a clear distinction with the strategies adopted by tour operators’ social media accounts of illustrating images with crowds of tourists, projecting a more realistic experience that could be expected by potential visitors. To sum up, the previous two paragraphs have analysed what type of destination images can be projected by digital and traditional information sources analysing images in order to connect the studies to this one, recognizing how important destination images are in the development and prosperity of a destination. The next paragraph will analyse the concept of destination image connected to the country of Italy, in order to identify what destination image of the countries are communicated to tourists to, eventually, compare them to the results of this study.
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2.6 Destination Image of Italy In order to analyse the destination image of a tourist area, it is important to identify how the destination is seen from previous literature, so that it is possible to compare the findings of previous literature to the results of this study. This is done in order to determine whether and how the destination image of Italy has changed over time. Furthermore, this dissertation will also analyse different information sources, both traditional and digital, to compare the images projected by each of them and determine which information source projects the most innovative and authentic destination image of Italy. According to the study performed by Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001), the country of Italy was, in 2001, associated with gastronomy, history, art, romanticism, the destinations of Rome, Tuscany and Capri with its notorious lemons, gondolas, relax and favourable climate conditions. More recently, as Okumus and Yasin (2009) state, at the time of their study, in 2009, Italy was associated with the ideas of historical and cultural interests, diverse gastronomy, relaxing place and good weather, suggesting how the findings identified in the two studies (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001; Okumus & Yasin, 2009) include similar features. The idea of Italy being correlated to relax has been confirmed by more studies, which also connected the country to the aspects of religion and tradition (De Nisco et al., 2015; Zeugner- Roth & Žabkar, 2015). The ideas of relax and good weather, on the other hand, are directly linked with the concept of sun, sea and sand, suggesting and linking the concept to the country (Ozturk et al., 2019; Prebensen et al., 2010; Semeoshenkova & Newton, 2015). The concept of sun, sea and sand consists in a form of mass tourism aiming at attracting lower income level visitors taking advantage of favourable weather conditions (Alvarez, 2010). As a matter of fact, as Rosselló and Waqas (2016) state, temperatures, sunshine and rainfall are considered important tourism elements, contributing to regularly increase number of visitors. To connect the concept to the country of Italy, Presenza et al. (2013) argue that, also confirmed by other studies (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001; Okumus & Yasin, 2009), Italy as a tourism destination is intensely reliant on sun, sea and sand type of tourism. Therefore, according to the analysed studies, the notorious destination image of Italy is associated with the ideas of gastronomy, history, art, traditions, religion, the destinations of Rome, Tuscany, Capri and Venice and the concept of sun, sea and sand destination.
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3. Methodology 3.1 Research Methods According to several authors (Bernard, 2013; Bryman, 2016; Davies & Hughes, 2014; Goertz & Mahoney, 2012), the research method can be categorized as either qualitative and quantitative. Definitions, main similarities, differences between the two methods, together with advantages and disadvantages of the two will be analysed in the next paragraphs. Paragraph 3.2 instead will describe the approach selected by the author of this paper for the purpose of this study.
3.1.2 Qualitative vs Quantitative Methods According to Creswell (1994), qualitative research can be defined as: “an inquiry process of understanding based on distinct methodological traditions on inquiry that explore a social or human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture, analyses words, reports details of informants, and conducts the study in a natural setting.” (Creswell, 1994, p. 2). It is important to notice how the author (Creswell, 1994) highlights how qualitative research method is related to the analysis of words, which will be noticeably important once differences between the two methods will be analysed. On the other hand, the same author (Creswell, 1994) defines quantitative research approach as: “an inquiry into a social or human problem, based on testing a theory composed of procedures, in order to determine whether the predictive generalizations of the theory hold true.”((Creswell, 1994, p. 1). The first difference that can be noticed by the two definitions is how the qualitative approach is mainly used to build a complex and structured picture in order to understand a concept. While, on the other hand, the quantitative approach is used, in most cases, to test a theory. Further explanation and analysis of this difference will be presented in paragraph 3.1.3. However, the main differences between the quantitative and qualitative approaches are the type of data utilized and the analysis process. As a matter of fact, Choy (2014) discusses the two typologies of research approaches based on how and why they are selected by authors and researchers. According to the author (ibid.), the quantitative research approach consists in numerical data in form of standardized questionnaires, which are delivered, usually online through emails or using other web-based methods, to random individuals or households. A quantitative researcher will then end up analysing a large quantity of data which can be used to establish correlations between two or more variables, with the final goal of proving or drawing a theory and the formulated hypotheses, which were analysed and formulated as first steps of the process (Bryman, 2016; Choy, 2014). On the other hand, a qualitative researcher is more likely to select his/her sample, rather than random sampling as a quantitative researcher is likely to do, using semi-structured or open- ended interviews. During the analysis process of the data, a qualitative researcher would interpret the findings looking behind the mere numerical data, therefore, looking behind the
17 surface of the data usually analysing it much more in-depth than a quantitative researcher (Bryman, 2016; Choy, 2014; Davies & Hughes, 2014). In this case, theory or conclusions will be generated after the analysis of the data, rather than proving or confirming one (Bryman, 2016). However, Bernard (2013) highlights how it is possible to mix the type of data with the type of analysis. In other words, it is possible to analyse quantitively qualitative data and qualitatively quantitative data. In fact, the author (ibid.) gives some examples of procedures or methods that can be used to analyse different types of data. Specifically, qualitative data, or words, can be analysed quantitatively by using the methods of content analysis or word counts, therefore examining words using numerical data, such as how many times a certain word has been typed or pronounced. On the other hand, quantitative data, or numerical data, can be examined using a qualitative approach, such as the search for patterns using visualization methods, or the search for and the demonstration of meaning in findings of quantitative data (Bernard, 2013). 3.1.2.1 Differences and Similarities between the two Methods Bryman (2016) lists in more detail the main differences between the two methods, which can be found in the table below (Table 1) with the most important ones analysed below the table. Quantitative Qualitative Numbers Words Point of view of researcher Points of view of participants Researcher distant Researcher close Theory testing Theory emergent Static Process Structured Unstructured Generalization Contextual understanding Hard, reliable data Rich, deep data Macro Micro Behaviour Meaning Artificial settings Natural settings Table 1 Differences between quantitative and qualitative research (Bryman, 2016, p.408) The most important differences between quantitative and qualitative concern the use of numbers and words as mentioned in the previous paragraphs, theory testing and theory emergent, and generalization and contextual understanding. Theory testing and theory emergent describe the fact that quantitative research starts with a theory which in the end of the study will be either confirmed or not, while on the other hand, qualitative studies analyse the data first to then develop a theory. This difference suggests the concept of deductive and inductive theory which will be further analysed in the paragraph 3.1.3. The last important difference regards generalization and contextual understanding. To confirm what stated by Bryman (2016) in highlighting this difference, Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2010), and Polit and Beck (2010) state how usually quantitative studies are used to generalize from the sample to the whole population, while qualitative studies are mainly used to give and abundant circumstantial understanding of a concept, without aiming at generalizing the whole population.
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On the other hand, according to Bryman (2016), similarities include the fact that both quantitative and qualitative approaches are concerned with data reduction, meaning that both types of researchers are faced with large amounts of data which needs to be reduced in order to make the analysis process easier and more understandable. They can be both used to answer research questions, even though questions are usually different based on whether a researcher uses quantitative or qualitative approaches. They can be both selected by authors to relate to existing literature, they are both concerned with variation, meaning that they are both interested in seeing how people vary, they both consider frequency as a very important part of the analysis, and last but not least, they both aim at being as objective as possible when analysing the data (Bryman, 2016). 3.1.2.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of the two Methods According to Bryman (2016), the quantitative analysis approach helps researchers to track very specific elements that are difficult to identify with other methods, enabling quantitative researchers to be consistent with other scholars over time. Quantitative analysis focuses on the origins of a phenomenon, and the results can be extended beyond the scope of the study (ibid.). Furthermore, since the quantitative analysis approach is straightforward, it can be repeated and comparable findings can be obtained (Bryman, 2016; Neuman, 2014). On the other hand, limitations of quantitative research include the lack of ability of distinguishing people and social institutions from the natural world, and constantly dealing with numbers, quantitative research projects an artificial and deceptive sense of precision and accuracy (Bryman, 2016; Neuman, 2014). Regarding qualitative research, according to Bryman (2016), the main advantage, and at the same time concern, of qualitative methods is the ability of seeing through the eyes of the people being studied. As a matter of fact, as previously mentioned (see paragraph 3.1.2), one of the most used techniques by qualitative researchers to collect data consist in interviewing people, therefore, providing the researcher with the ability of seeing through the respondent’s eyes. Furthermore, qualitative researchers tend to be more exhaustive during the description process of the context and findings, which allows the reader to have a better understanding of the concept and the derived outcomes (Bryman, 2016; Neuman, 2014). On the other hand, qualitative research also has several limitations, which according to Bryman (2016) and Neuman (2014), include resulting too subjective unlike quantitative research, difficult to replicate, difficult to generalize to the whole population, and lack of transparency. 3.1.3 Deductive vs Inductive Approaches A further distinction of research approach other than quantitative and qualitative is explained by the deductive and inductive theories, and is based on the relationship between theory and the research (Bryman, 2016; Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). The deductive approach is influenced by an existing theory and, developing hypotheses, aims at confirming or disproving the pre-existing theory (Bryman, 2016; Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). Therefore, the analysis of the deductive approach is strictly connected to the pre-existing theory and influences the way the researcher views and examines the data (Bryman, 2016; Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). On the other hand, in the inductive approach the data is collected first and a theory is generated as the result of the analysis, allowing the author, therefore, to perform
19 the analysis strictly connected to the data itself, rather than to a pre-existing theory (Bryman, 2016; Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). As mentioned on paragraph 3.1.2 and on Table 1, one of the differences between quantitative and qualitative approaches is represented by the relationship with theory. Specifically, quantitative approaches are mostly used to generate and test hypotheses with the final goal of confirming or disproving the pre-existing theory, while qualitative approaches are usually used to formulate theories (Bryman, 2016). Therefore, normally, quantitative studies undertake a deductive approach, while qualitative studies undertake an inductive approach (Soiferman, 2010). However, exceptions are becoming more and more frequent with several quantitative studies undertaking inductive approaches and qualitative ones undertaking deductive approaches (Armat et al., 2018; Soiferman, 2010). 3.2 Selected Research Method The purpose of this study is to investigate, determine and compare the destination images of Italy projected by traditional paper catalogues and social media platforms analysing photographs in both of these information sources. Therefore, the method selected by the author of this paper is qualitative, since it allows for an explorative and investigative approach to the data and the study (Bryman, 2016), which was considered the most suitable approach for the purpose of this study. Furthermore, an inductive approach was also selected as most suitable, meaning that the analysis will be conducted strictly connected to the data itself, without influence from pre-existing background theory (Bryman, 2016; Fereday & Muir-Cochrane, 2006). Despite the study will be performed with an inductive analysis, inductive approach is often characterised by having a pre-understanding partially influenced by theory and a degree of deduction (Miller & Brewer, 2003). In this case, the approach and analysis of images was performed seeking to obtain a thorough understanding of what they symbolise to the author of this paper following an inductive approach. Yet, inevitably, theory influenced the way photographs were analysed. For the purpose of this study, therefore, secondary data published and freely accessible online was collected by the author of this paper. In this case, secondary data consisted in tour operators’ traditional paper catalogues, which were retrieved in their digital format on the tour operators’ websites, and their respective social media accounts. Images in both information sources will then be analysed by the author of this paper. The study focuses on Italy as a destination, therefore, only photographs illustrating Italy will be taken into consideration and analysed. Furthermore, in the case of traditional paper catalogues, images of hotels and pages promoting two or more countries will not be examined. On the other hand, regarding social media platforms, in the case of posts with more than one photo, the author of this paper will analyse every photo that will be retained relevant for the purpose of this study. In addition, the description of the photo will also be read in order to fully understand the image and support its interpretation. 3.3 Data Sampling and Collection In order to guarantee the author of this paper an abundance of material to analyse, 15 Scandinavian tour operators were selected, which specifically consists of, in order to keep the
20 proportion equal, five Swedish, five Danish, and five Norwegian tour operators (see chapter 4 for comprehensive details about each tour operator). For the purpose of this study, and for the projected destination images not to be influenced by the current 2020/2021 Covid-19 pandemic, the author of this paper aimed at collecting as many traditional paper catalogues dated 2018/2019. However, it was not possible to retrieve online material for all the tour operators, therefore, catalogues dated 2020/2021 were also used and analysed. Regarding social media platforms, instead, to be able to analyse images as modern and reliable as possible, the author of this paper took into consideration only most recent posts until reaching posts dated 2018 included. Furthermore, since the profile of this study focuses on urban tourism, tour operators’ material solely focusing on rural tourism was not taken into consideration. The author of this paper concentrated on the Instagram social media platform analysing it first. However, in the cases of tour operators not regularly updating it or not having an account at all on the platform, the author of this paper analysed their Facebook account, instead. As a matter of fact, for the purpose of this study and to be selected as part of the sample, only tour operators demonstrating a regular and consistent management of social media accounts were taken into consideration. In conclusion, between the fifteen tour operators’ paper catalogues and social media platforms accounts, 1,306 images illustrating Italy as a destination were retrieved, with the number of photographs varying from 14 to 203 each tour operator. In particular, images from Swedish tour operators amount to 512, from Danish tour operators amount to 460, and from Norwegian ones amount to 334. The total number of images retrieved from catalogues amount to 491, while the ones retrieved from social media platforms amount to 815. Out of the 15 tour operators’ catalogues, 14 of them were retrieved in their digital format, while only one was retrieved in its paper format. Furthermore, out of the 15 social media accounts that were taken into consideration, 9 Instagram and 6 Facebook accounts of tour operators were analysed to retrieve the images (see chapter 4 for comprehensive details about each tour operator). Despite the differences in the amounts of images, the researcher aimed at analysing every tour operator in an equal way, regardless of the number of images encountered in a single catalogue and social media account as opposed to others. In the case of themes not being present in one or more catalogues, for transparency reasons, this will be mentioned in the appropriate analysis section. The tour operators were selected using the criterion sampling. Criterion sampling consists in a method in which the researchers select the samples, in this case tour operators, because they meet one or more predetermined criteria (Lindlof & Taylor, 2019; Patton, 2015; Sullivan, 2009). In this context, criteria can be described as characteristics that every individual, tour operator in this case, has (Durdella, 2018; Palinkas et al., 2015). For the purpose of this study, the researcher only selected tour operators which produce and publish online or distribute their paper catalogues and have a significant and regular presence on social media platforms, with a minimum of 50 posts, on either or both Instagram and Facebook, in order to be able to have abundant material, or images in this case, to analyse. Therefore, to cite an example, the huge and one of the most important Swedish tour operators Apollo was not taken into consideration for the purpose of this study, due to not producing a catalogue. Furthermore, the goal of this study, like many other qualitative studies, is not to generalize conclusions to the whole
21 population of tour operators, rather to give an abundant, circumstantial understanding of how Scandinavian tour operators use photographs to illustrate Italy, and to determine what type of destination images both traditional paper catalogues and social media platforms project to the public (Onwuegbuzie & Leech, 2010; Polit & Beck, 2010). For the full list of catalogues together with their web links, refer to the secondary sources at the end of this dissertation. 3.4 Data Analysis 3.4.1 Social Media and Photo Analysis Social media analysis consists in observing and examining different social media platforms aiming at identifying interesting data, which could be in forms of texts, images or videos (Snelson, 2016; Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). Thanks to the evolution of the internet and the development of these sharing platforms, analysis of social media are becoming more and more important and common as research topics, including within the tourism industry (Snelson, 2016; Zeng & Gerritsen, 2014). This study will also partly focus on analysing social media, together with traditional paper information sources like catalogues. Specifically, this study will analyse the images displayed on social media platforms, focusing on Instagram and Facebook, and in traditional paper catalogues. According to Gotschi et al. (2008), visual tools, such as photographs, are becoming more common as complementary qualitative approaches for supplementing and completing quantitative studies, but they provide their own set of advantages for several types of research, including in the tourism industry. As a matter of fact, the analysis of images has been used within the tourism industry to identify the destination image projected by the city of London as perceived by undergraduate students based in the city (Stevenson & Inskip, 2010), and to identify the destination image of the city of Yangshuo-Gulin, China, analysing images of a typical outdoor performance of the city (Hao et al., 2016). However, in many cases of social media and photo analysis, the most commonly selected methodology by researchers is content analysis (Hao et al., 2016; Snelson, 2016). Yet, for the purpose of this study, thematic analysis was considered the most suitable method by the author of this paper, thanks to its purely qualitative, detailed and more in-depth interpretation of analysis compared to content analysis, in which the counts of the codes are considered more relevant (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Vaismoradi et al., 2013). The method of thematic analysis of images has been adopted by authors in different fields, such as mental health (Shanahan et al., 2019), in the medical field (Allem et al., 2017), as well as in the tourism industry, in which is still considered a new and recently adopted method (S. Song et al., 2020). The method of thematic analysis and its steps will be further analysed in the next paragraph. 3.4.2 Thematic Analysis The images will be analysed using the thematic analysis method, which is used to classify, evaluate and present themes within a dataset (Braun & Clarke, 2006). As the authors (ibid.) explain, a theme is considered a crucial part of the answer to the research question and portrays patterns between responses within a dataset. Thematic analysis was specifically chosen for this study, as generating themes can help identify key aspects of a destination that can also be viewed by tourists and can provide a large amount of information on the image of a tourist
22 destination and communicated to tourists (O'Leary & Deegan, 2005). It is important to include information conveyed to travellers for the purposes of this study, because knowing what is perceived by tourists will contribute to learning how tour operators plan to market a particular destination to the public. In the context of this study, the themes can be used to present a thorough understanding of Italy’s destination images as communicated by Scandinavian tourism catalogues and social media platforms to potential tourists. Braun and Clarke (2006) have proposed a clear process to follow in order to carry out a thematic analysis, which this paper will discuss and follow: 1. The first step consists in familiarizing yourself with the data. This step reflects the reading and re-reading of the data writing down simple similarities and differences. 2. The second step is to generate the initial codes. In other words, the initial codes are generated on the basis of the interesting characteristics of the data gathering important data for each code, with codes that can be used once to formulate a theme or several times to generate several themes, as part of the procedure (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This step is visually illustrated below (Figure 3) in order to make the coding process clearer and to understand how the author generated codes for the analysed photographs.
Culture
Figure removed from digital version due to copyright. History
No people
Figure 3 Coding process (Vings Värld, 2018)
3. Searching for themes represents the third step and consists of grouping codes into possible themes, gathering all the data and codes that may be important for the creation of the themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). 4. The fourth step regards reviewing themes. This process consists in analysing whether the themes comply with the codes and the data collection as a whole and creating the first thematic map of the analysis. 5. Defining and naming themes is the fifth stage and consists in evaluating each of the themes created, providing specific meanings and names for each of them.
23 6. The sixth and last step represents producing the report and describes the final possibility for analysis, selection of clear examples and production of the final report analysing the outcomes and conclusions (Braun & Clarke, 2006). As results, both manifest and latent themes were discovered. According to Braun and Clarke (2006), manifest themes are the ones that can be seen from the surface of the image, including what the image is depicting, such as a natural landscape, a city, buildings, people, etc. On the other hand, as the authors (Braun & Clarke, 2006) state, latent themes describe characteristics of the image that are not clearly visible to the researcher but need for more interpretation to be discovered. These, among others, can include whether a place is overcrowded or sparse, clean or dirty, safe or unsafe, touristy or authentic, etc. (H. Kim & Stepchenkova, 2015). During the analysis chapter of this dissertation, when latent themes will be analysed, this will be clearly mentioned in the respective paragraph. 3.5 Validity and Reliability In his book, Bryman (2016) explains the concepts of validity and reliability, which analyse whether or how precisely the research is able to determine what is intended to be determined, and how consistently it does so, respectively. However, these concepts, as stated by Bryman (2016), are strictly connected to quantitative research. Therefore, for the purpose of this qualitative study, the concept of trustworthiness developed by Lincoln and Guba (1985) will be justified and taken into consideration rather than validity and reliability. Lincoln and Guba (1985) suggest how the term “validity” used in quantitative studies should be substituted with the term “rigor” for qualitative research. As a matter of fact, the term “rigor” implies that the study has been subjected to attempts to raise trust that the results are indicative of the interpretations provided by the analysed material, in this case photographs displayed in paper catalogues and on social media platforms (Lietz et al., 2006). These attempts should increase awareness of how researchers view data in order to minimize bias and to prioritize the voices of the participants, or in this case what the images project to the author of this paper and to the public (Lietz et al., 2006). In order to achieve rigor, Morse et al. (2002) and Nowell et al. (2017) provided strategies that were closely followed by the author of this paper. The verification strategies developed by Morse et al. (2002) are divided into five different aspects which include methodological coherence to ensure congruence between the research question and the elements of the selected method, suitability of the sample to ensure abundancy and quality of material to analyse. In this case, for the purpose of this study, 15 Scandinavian tour operators were selected to achieve abundancy of material, with five Swedish, five Danish, and five Norwegian tour operators to ensure equality between the three countries in order to effectively and equally compare them. The third aspect consists in collecting and analysing the data concurrently, going back and forth constantly analysing the data which is a key process to achieve reliability and validity (Morse et al., 2002). The fourth and fifth aspect relate to new ideas and theory development, stating that new ideas emerge from the data which must be verified in the data already collected, developing new theories as an outcome of the process which can be used for comparison and further development (Morse et al., 2002).
24 In addition to this, Nowell et al. (2017) formulated strategies to establish rigor using thematic analysis which follow the six steps developed by Braun and Clarke (2006) that were also used for the purpose of this study, as mentioned on paragraph 3.4. These strategies were also closely followed by the author of this paper in order to be as objective as possible and achieve rigor and will be briefly explained below. The first step consisted familiarizing yourself with the data and strategies developed to achieve rigor, followed by the author of this paper, include storing raw data in well-organized archives and documenting theoretical and reflective thoughts. The second step consisted in generating the initial codes, with strategies including reflexive journaling and using a coding framework, step that was also visually demonstrated on paragraph 3.4. The third step related to searching for themes with strategies that include diagramming to make sense of theme connections and keeping detailed notes about development and hierarchies of concepts and themes. The fourth step consisted in reviewing themes with strategies including testing for referential adequacy by returning back and forth to raw data, step that was also suggested by Morse et al. (2002). The fifth step regarded defining and naming themes with strategies to achieve rigor which include thorough documentation of developed themes, while the last step described producing the report with the final possibility for analysis and selection of clear examples, with its strategies including describing process of coding and analysis in abundant details, and thick descriptions of contexts (Nowell et al., 2017). 3.6 Ethical Considerations As a subjective observer, I am influenced by the person I am in the way I look at images. As an Italian student in Sweden, I had previous knowledge and assumptions about Italy's destination image. Yet, I sought to be as objective as possible during the analysis process of the images. In addition, my point of view is hegemonic given the way I gather data (collecting and analysing images rather than interviews or questionnaires). Therefore, other authors with diverse points of view and experiences may also find different results and draw different conclusions. Furthermore, ethical issues are not directly relevant for this study, since no sensitive information on people or organizations are treated for the purpose of this study, and all the data I collected are secondary, public, and easily accessible for all people (Israel & Hay, 2006; Mauthner & Parry, 2013). In addition to this, Repstad and Nilsson (1999) focus on the importance of neutrality, when performing studies about the researcher’s own country, like in this case. Following the authors’ guidelines (ibid.), the results, analysis, and conclusions of this study are as objective as possible, exclusively illustrating the way Scandinavian tour operators portray my country of Italy. 3.7 Limitations Several research shortcomings were found during the execution of this study, which the researcher is conscious of and will be outlined in this paragraph. Despite the fact that this study and its sample do not aim to represent the entire population of Scandinavian tour operators’ information sources, the researcher is aware that a different sample size would have resulted in different findings and outcomes, which would be interesting to be examined in future research.
25 The second limitation represents the vast gap of images presented in every tour operators’ catalogue and social media account, and of images analysed of each country. As previously mentioned (see Paragraph 3.3), each tour operator illustrates from 14 to 203 images of Italy, and Swedish tour operators’ images amount to 512, Danish tour operators’ images amount to 460, and Norwegian ones amount to 334. Despite the vast gap of the number of images, the researcher sought to diversify the tour operators and countries as much as possible, aiming at representing them in an equal way, regardless of the amount of images. Yet, the disproportion needs to be acknowledged, despite the researcher´s quest for equal representation of each tour operator and country. The third identified limitation concerns COVID-19's current condition. The COVID-19 is an acute respiratory disease, or virus, started in the beginning of 2020 and that has now reached pandemic proportions, mostly affecting China and European countries, including Italy, causing several countries to close their borders (Remuzzi & Remuzzi, 2020). The pandemic has had a negative effect on Italy's destination image, considering the fact that it was one of the countries hardest hit (Remuzzi & Remuzzi, 2020). This may imply that Italy is and would be promoted differently from what will be seen in the selected information sources, for example, less populated destinations in Italy may have been marketed, in order to reduce the chances of contagion. Despite this, the researcher examines how the findings reflect Italy's destination images as depicted in the studied Scandinavian information sources. The author of this paper aimed at analysing as many paper catalogues dated before the pandemic situation as possible, therefore published during the years 2018/2019. However, this resulted not possible in every case, therefore, more recent catalogues and social media posts were also analysed, as previously mentioned on paragraph 3.3 of this study. The fourth and last identified limitation concerns the time allowed to the researcher for the execution of this study. More time for the study's implementation would have helped the researcher to examine a greater range of information sources, further refining the criteria technique, and ultimately discovering new and meaningful observations and conclusions.
26 4. Results and Analysis 4.1 Results In order to generate conclusions, images of 15 Scandinavian tour operators displayed in their paper catalogues and social media platforms were analysed for a total of 1,306 photographs representing Italy. The 15 Scandinavian tour operators with their respective number of images in both catalogues and social media platforms are shown in-depth in the table below (Table 2). Tour Operators Number of Photos Catalogues (year of Social Media (specific Swedish Tour Operators publication) platform) 1. Ving 16 (2018) 23 (Instagram) 2. Grand Tours 30 (2020) 48 (Facebook) 3. Temaresor 43 (2020/2021) 59 (Facebook) 4. TUI 9 (2019) 81 (Instagram) 5. Rolfs Flyg & Buss 102 (2020) 101 (Instagram) Danish Tour Operators 6. Gislev Rejser 77 (2021) 41 (Instagram) 7. Riis Rejser 36 (2021) 98 (Facebook) 8. Nilles Rejser 28 (2021) 48 (Facebook) 9. Hanstolm Rejser 39 (2021) 8 (Instagram) 10. Albatros Travel 24 (2020) 61 (Facebook) Norwegian Tour Operators 11. Plussreiser 9 (2020) 5 (Instagram) 12. Tidereiser 8 (2020) 46 (Facebook) 13. Norsktur 15 (2018) 24 (Instagram) 14. Oliven Reiser 43 (2020) 115 (Instagram) 15. Dag Aasbø Travel 12 (2019) 57 (Instagram) Total 491 815 1306 Table 2 Tour operators and photos (own illustration) The table above (Table 2) shows how each tour operators displays different numbers of images of Italy as a destination. As previously mentioned (see paragraph 3.3), and noticeable from the table, each tour operators displays images of Italy which vary from 14 (Plussreiser) to 203 (Rolfs Flyg & Buss). Furthermore, the table also shows the year of publication of the traditional paper information sources regarding catalogues, and which social media platform was taken into consideration and analysed regarding social media. 4.2 Analysis This section of the dissertation will mention and analyse the themes, and their respective codes to create them, generated for the purpose of this study. Figure 4 and Figure 5 below will firstly introduce the themes and codes generated for the analysed images in catalogues and on social media platforms, respectively. Subsequently, the next paragraphs will analyse each of the generated themes with their respective codes, too, to then conclude with similarities and
27 differences between the two types of information sources and between the three Scandinavian countries.
Figure 4 Themes generated from analysis of images on catalogues (own illustration)
Figure 5 Themes generated from analysis of images on social media (own illustration)
28 In the following section, the findings in accordance with the thematic analysis and coding process will be presented. The findings will be split into two main paragraphs with three themes each: themes generated from catalogues with the themes of hidden mass tourism, notorious Italy, and culture, and themes generated from social media with the themes of mass tourism, unfamiliar Italy, and culture. In the following paragraphs and sub-paragraphs, each theme will be analysed in detail displaying some images functioning as examples to demonstrate how the images were coded and how themes were created. As a result of the analysis of the images and the development of themes, what destination images Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues and social media platforms depict of Italy will be determined. This results and analysis chapter will be completed highlighting and analysing similarities and differences between the destination images of Italy depicted by traditional catalogues and social media platforms, and the similarities and differences between Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian tour operators in how they represent the country of Italy.
4.2.1 Themes Generated from Catalogues 4.2.1.1 Hidden Mass Tourism The first recurring theme that was identified during the analysis process of the images retrieved in traditional catalogues was denominated by the author of this paper hidden mass tourism, representing the first latent theme. According to Savelli and Manella (2017), the country of Italy became a mass tourism destination in the end of the 19th century and it is still considered so in present days. The phenomenon of mass tourism is clearly visible and present in Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues. As a matter of fact, mass tourism attractions, such as the Colosseum and the Trevi fountain in Rome, the historic centre of Venice with its renowned gondolas, the leaning tower of Pisa, and the ancient city of Pompei are continuously illustrated in the catalogues. Despite these mass tourism monuments, many of the images illustrating them are depicted without any people in sight (see Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8). This suggests a strategy adopted by the tour operators in order to positively influence the destination image perceived by potential customers, since, as Gallarza et al. (2002) state, images play a more important role than reality in a customer’s mind. The phenomenon of illustrating images without people in sight in paper information sources, such as catalogues, travel magazines and brochures, has been previously identified by several scholars (Hanusch, 2011; C. H. C. Hsu & Song, 2014; Hunter, 2008, 2010), as previously mentioned on the literature review of this dissertation (see paragraph 2.5). According to Hunter (2010), this represents a strategy embraced by tour operators to visually reflect the perception of escape from daily life, which is an essential feature of tourism, even though, like in this case, the photographs can project distortions of reality, appearing staged and not realistic.
29 Figure removed from digital version due Figure removed from digital version to copyright. due to copyright.
Figure 6 Colosseum (Nilles Rejser, 2021) Figure 7 Pompei (Tide Reiser, 2020)
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Figure 8 Leaning tower of Pisa (Gislev Rejser, 2021)
During the analysis process of the images, the codes of no people and staged were generated to represent the theme of hidden mass tourism. The images above clearly represent the two codes, since the photographs inaccurately illustrate renowned historical and mass tourism attractions in Italy without people in sight, communicating to the author of this study a sensation of being staged by the tour operators, as also identified by Hunter (2010). The theme was denominated hidden mass tourism, since the photographs displayed above serving as examples, represent mass tourism attractions, but the phenomenon of mass tourism along with the tourists appear hidden to the potential consumer’s eye. As a matter of fact, to cite some statistics regarding the three attractions, the archaeological parks of the Colosseum and of Pompei ranked 1st and 3rd respectively for number of visitors in 2019 in the whole Italy among museums, monuments and archaeological areas with over 7,500,000 visitors for the Colosseum and just shy of 4,000,000 visitors for Pompei (Ufficio di Statistica, 2021). Regarding the municipality of Pisa, where the leaning tower is located, instead, the number of visitors reached almost 3,000,000 in the year 2018 (IRPET, 2019). Because of these figures, as well as the fame and success of these attractions, the theme hidden mass tourism was created
30 to interpret these types of recurrent images. Despite the monuments or attractions being represented with no people in sight, forming a certain image and expectations for a destination or attraction, visitors will often have a distinct experience once reached the destination. As a matter of fact, according to the statistics above (IRPET, 2019; Ufficio di Statistica, 2021) and to Zusmann (2018), tourists may expect to stand queuing hours before entering the Colosseum. To mention an example related to the leaning tower of Pisa, while potential visitors might expect no people around the attraction, as shown in Figure 8, they will find many other tourists taking photos of themselves trying to hold and prevent the tower from falling down, which has become very common during the last years (Pearce & Wang, 2019; Tosi et al., 2020). The theme is considered a latent theme since images only depict mass tourism attractions with no people in sight, while suggesting how this might indicate that a strategy is adopted by tour operators represent a latent or underlying meaning of the image, since it cannot be identified directly from the photograph. The reason why tour operators’ catalogues illustrate tourism attractions without people in sight could be clarified by psychology, target market, and profit seeking reasons. As a matter of fact, images illustrated with no people in sight result more attractive to the consumer’s eye than images with crowds of tourists, suggesting how the potential traveller could appreciate the place, or in this case attraction, by him/herself, projecting a feeling of well-being and relaxation, with the final goal of attracting more and more people to the destination (Edelheim, 2007; Nelson, 2005). This clarifies the psychological reasons why tour operators might adopt this strategy and illustrating a more attractive image explains also how profit seeking represents an important objective to be achieved simultaneously. On the other hand, reasons why this strategy is adopted by tour operators could be also explained by the target market they intend to attract, suggesting how potential consumers who rely on the use of catalogues to find their ideal destination might prefer uncrowded destinations or attractions (Nelson, 2005). Furthermore, in some cases, images depicting corruption and poverty for example, or crowds of tourists in this case, have the ability of scaring potential tourists away from visiting the destination (Honey, 2009; Judd & Fainstein, 1999), suggesting how tour operators also adopted this strategy in order not to scare potential consumers away, since images without crowds of tourists result more attractive and interesting. The paragraph has analysed how Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues project an inaccurate and not realistic image of mass tourism attractions, and therefore Italy, representing them without people in sight, while, according to the statistics mentioned above, visitors can expect a very different experience once reached the destination, analysing also reasons why tour operators might adopt such a strategy. 4.2.1.2 Notorious Italy The second recurrent theme that was identified for the purpose of this paper was denominated notorious Italy. The theme suggests and confirms how the destination image of Italy identified in previous studies by several scholars has persisted and has been nearly untouched. In fact, most of the components and attractions the destination image of the country of Italy was associated with (see paragraph 2.6 of the literature review Destination image of Italy) reappeared during the analysis process of this study. As a matter of fact, the codes that were
31 used to generate this theme included sun, sea and sand, notorious destinations, and repetitive features. The code of sun, sea and sand confirms what encountered by Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001), Okumus and Yasin (2009), and Presenza et al. (2013) stating, in fact, how Italy as a tourism destination is deeply dependent on the sun, sea and sand tourism. The code notorious destinations confirms what also stated by Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001), and Okumus and Yasin (2009) in the years 2001 and 2009 respectively, when they identified the destination image of Italy being associated with the destinations of Rome, Tuscany, Capri with its renowned lemons, and Venice. However, the code notorious destinations also include other recurrent and repetitive areas of Italy, such as Cinque Terre, Sorrento along with the notorious Amalfi coast, and the famous Garda lake in the north of the country. The third and last code that was used for the generation of this theme represents repetitive features. These include among others, notorious features also identified by other authors, such as lemons of Capri, gondolas in Venice, and renowned and repetitive elements of the Italian gastronomy, such as the famous pizza and pasta, but also olives and olive oil, and the idea of wine and other typical beverages, with several images illustrating wine, grapes, vineyards, and limoncello. The findings identified by this theme are comparable to the ones encountered in 2001 and 2009 by Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001), and Okumus and Yasin (2009) respectively, suggesting how the image communicated to and perceived by potential travellers has persisted and has been nearly untouched for the past 20 years. Below, three photographs will be used as examples and will be further analysed explaining also how they are associated to the three generated codes.
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Figure 9 Sun, sea and sand (Vings Värld, 2018) Figure 10 Gondolas in Venice (Grand Tours, 2020)
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Figure 11 Cinque Terre (Rolfs Flygg & Buss, 2020)
32 Figure 9 on the previous page is used as an example of the code sun, sea and sand and it is one of the many photographs which clearly represent the code, illustrating deserted beaches, crystal clear water and pleasant weather conditions. This supports how the country is still deeply dependent on this type of tourism to attract tourists, as stated by Presenza et al. (2013), especially during the summer season and coming from countries with less favourable weather conditions, such as the Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Figure 10 is used as an example of one of the many photographs visually representing the code of repetitive features with the notorious and typical gondolas found in the city of Venice. Comparably to the previous theme of hidden mass tourism, the figures 9 and 10 are also illustrated with no people in sight, supporting once again how this suggests a strategy adopted by the tour operators in order to positively influence the destination image perceived by potential customers. Figure 11, instead, represents the code of notorious destinations, illustrating as example the area of Cinque Terre, located in the north-west part of Italy in the region of Liguria. The area is illustrated in Scandinavian tourism catalogues on several occasions and represents a notorious destination in Italy thanks to its colourful buildings and beautiful landscape. As a matter of fact, according to statistics (Redazione ANSA, 2019), the area is visited by over 3,000,000 tourists every year, despite just 4,000 people call the area home. The proportion and the number of tourists and inhabitants suggests how the area also represents an Italian mass tourism destination. To sum up, the paragraph has analysed how the images illustrated in Scandinavian tour operators’ tourism catalogues represent a notorious version of Italy, with concepts, destinations and features also identified by several other scholars in the past years, without seeking to innovate or modernize the destination image of the country. 4.2.1.3 Culture The third and last theme encountered during the analysis process of the images representing Italy as a destination in Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues regards the culture of the country. To generate this theme, the codes of gastronomy and history were grouped together being both considered part of the Italian culture. Despite some elements of gastronomy being already mentioned in the notorious Italy theme under the repetitive features code, Italian gastronomy is highly varied and diverse. Therefore, in order to differentiate the elements of the two codes, this theme will focus on the gastronomic components of Italian cuisine which have not been previously mentioned to generate the repetitive features code. In other words, this theme will focus on the Italian gastronomy beyond the notorious pizza and pasta, olives and olive oil, wine and its related ingredients, and limoncello. The same procedure was adopted for the code of history, which focused on images of historical attractions that were previously mentioned during the analysis of the hidden mass tourism and notorious Italy themes. To mention some examples, figure 12 on the next page represents the ancient theatre of Taormina, Sicily, which was constructed by the Greeks during the third century BC to be then rebuilt and expanded by the Romans in the second century AC (Il Viaggio in Sicilia, 2017). The theatre consists in one of the biggest, most famous and admired Roman theatres in Italy, which nowadays is used as stage for concerts, clearly representing the history and the culture of the country along with the beautiful landscape of the island of Sicily
33 surrounding it (Il Viaggio in Sicilia, 2017). Figure 13, instead, represents and clearly shows the code of gastronomy beyond the notorious Italian gastronomic elements.
Figure removed from digital version due to copyright. Figure removed from digital version due to copyright.
Figure 12 Ancient theatre of Taormina (Rolfs Flyg & Buss, 2020) Figure 13 Octopus and potato salad (TUI Travel, 2019) The codes of history and gastronomy are closely related to the concept of cultural tourism. Cultural tourism is a form of tourism that focuses on a destination's culture and history, including art, architecture, and religion, as well as customs, traditions, gastronomy, and artistic activities (Bordoni, 2011; Di Lascio et al., 2011). Examples of cultural attractions of a destination might include museums, monuments, theatres and World Heritage Sites, with Italy ranking first for the highest number of sites, like the historic center of Rome, Cinque Terre, and Venice and its lagoon (Patuelli et al., 2013; UNESCO, n.d.). As Patuelli et al. (2013) state, cultural tourism has the ability to broaden a destination's target market, diversify the tourism offering, extend the duration of overnight stays, and reduce seasonality. In other words, as several scholars (Alberti & Giusti, 2012; Chapman & Speake, 2011; Smith, 2015) state, culture and cultural heritage can be used to develop innovative strategies in order to diversify the destination’s tourism offering and project a more innovative and modern destination image. To sum up, the paragraph has analysed the codes of history and gastronomy connecting them to the concept of cultural tourism, with images used to generate this theme illustrating distinctive historical attractions and gastronomic elements compared to the ones identified by other scholars. To conclude, the three themes generated from the analysis of images in Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues included hidden mass tourism, notorious Italy, and culture. The theme hidden mass tourism analysed how many of the images of Italian mass tourism attractions were inaccurately illustrated in the catalogues without people in sight, suggesting how tour operators use it as a strategy to positively influence the destination image communicated to potential travellers. The theme of notorious Italy focused on the several images illustrating notorious destinations, features and concepts, as identified by several other scholars, highlighting how the destination image of Italy has nearly remained untouched during the years. The third and last theme generated regarded culture, in particular focusing on the history and gastronomy of the country, representing a more modern and attractive image of the destination.
34 4.2.2 Themes Generated from Social Media 4.2.2.1 Mass Tourism The first theme generated from the analysis of images retrieved from social media platforms was denominated mass tourism. Contrarily to the theme hidden mass tourism generated from the analysis of images in catalogues (see paragraph 4.2.1.1), in this case, many of the images encountered on Facebook and Instagram illustrate Italian mass tourism attractions with many people and tourists in sight, projecting a more realistic experience to potential visitors. As a matter of fact, the two codes that were used for the generation of this theme were presence of tourists and realistic experience. The fact of illustrating images on social media platforms with people in sight has been identified by several other authors (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Pickering et al., 2020; Wijesinghe et al., 2020), as mentioned on paragraph 2.4 of the literature review of this dissertation. As a matter of fact, according to the authors (ibid.), people represent one of the most common features on images on social media, especially Instagram, when depicting destinations and attractions, which suggests a clear distinction with the strategies adopted by tour operators of illustrating images without people in sight in traditional paper information sources. Below and on the next page, three images used as examples to explain this theme will be illustrated and further analysed.
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Figure 14 Colosseum (Dag Aasbø, Instagram, 2019) Figure 15 Napoli (Gislev Rejser, Instagram, 2018)
35 Figure removed from digital version due to copyright.
Figure 16 Leaning tower of Pisa (Riis Rejser, Facebook, 2020) As noticeable from the figures on the previous page and above (Figure 14, Figure 15, and Figure 16), the notorious mass tourism attractions or destinations are illustrated with crowds of people and tourists in sight. In particular, figure 14 represents the Colosseum surrounded by people, which as mentioned during the analysis of the hidden mass tourism theme (see paragraph 4.2.1.1), welcomes over 7,500,000 visitors every year (Ufficio di Statistica, 2021). Figure 15, instead, illustrates the crowded historic centre of the city of Naples, which was visited by over 3,500,000 visitors in 2019, ranking the 10th most visited municipality in Italy (ISTAT, 2019). To conclude, figure 16 represents the notorious leaning tower of Pisa, Tuscany, also with several people and tourists around its garden, which, as mentioned in paragraph 4.2.1.1, welcomed almost 3,000,000 visitors in the year 2018 (IRPET, 2019). Regarding figure 16, it is also relevant to notice, which will be further analysed in the next paragraph, how it represents the first image without good weather conditions, which once again suggests a strategy tour operators adopt on catalogues to positively influence the image of the destination and attraction. In this case, conversely to the hidden mass tourism theme (see paragraph 4.2.1.1.), the reason why tour operators determine to illustrate many images with people around can be explained by the role of people on social media. As a matter of fact, according to scholars (Iglesias- Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Živković et al., 2014), people play an active role on social media, unlike on traditional paper information sources, and are considered to be active creators and actors who interact with places and attractions. As a consequence, potential travellers who rely on social media to find their ideal destination, are more attracted by images illustrating other travellers (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Živković et al., 2014). Therefore, similarly to showing images without people in catalogues, this suggests how tour operators might adopt this distinct strategy for profit seeking, adapting their way of showing images based on their target market and on what potential customers desire. To sum up, this paragraph has highlighted the first difference between images in traditional paper catalogues and on social media platforms, underlining how images of mass tourism attractions in catalogues are depicted without people in sight, while evident crowds of tourists are visible on images on social media platforms.
36 4.2.2.2 Unfamiliar Italy The second theme that was generated during the analysis of images on social media platforms was denominated unfamiliar Italy by the author of this paper. The first code used for the generation of this theme, as briefly mentioned in the previous paragraph, was all-year-round destination. As a matter of fact, several pictures encountered during the analysis of images on social media represented attractions and destinations around the country illustrated with poor weather conditions and during different periods of the year, other than the notorious summer season, which can be also supported by the concept of sun, sea and sand. According to statistics (ISTAT, 2021a), over 26,000,000 tourists visited the country of Italy during the summer months of 2019, representing over 40% of the total visitors of the whole year, highlighting how the vast majority of the tourists visit the destination during June, July, and August. Therefore, according to the author of this paper, illustrating the country during different periods of the year represents an unusual yet refreshing way of exhibiting the destination. The second code used to generate this theme represents the wide range of destinations within the country which are illustrated on the images. This code indicates how the previously encountered code of notorious destinations (see paragraph 4.2.1.2) clashes with this one, highlighting how the two codes, and therefore the two themes, differ from each other. As a matter of fact, during the analysis of images on social media platforms, a greater number of Italian regions and areas were encountered on several occasions, illustrating at least one or more areas in nearly every region within the country, contrarily to the code of notorious destinations in which the same limited number of areas were repetitively depicted. The third and last code used for the generation of this theme, instead, represented repetitive features. Comparably to the theme of notorious Italy, repetitive and notorious features of Italy were continuously illustrated also on images on social media platforms. Below and on the next page, three images serving as examples will be shown and further analysed.
Figure removed from digital version due Figure removed from digital version to copyright. due to copyright.
Figure 17 Christmas in Sorrento (Gislev rejser, Instagram, 2018) Figure 18 Gradara castle (Abatros travel, 2020)
37 Figure removed from digital version due to copyright.
Figure 19 Lemons and limoncello (Temaresor, Facebook, 2019) Figure 17 represents the code of all-year-round destination, illustrating the popular summer destination of Sorrento along the Amalfi coast during the Christmas period, which represents an unusual period for the destination. Figure 18, instead, illustrates the Gradara castle, an important castle located in the Marche region, renowned for its history and for its connection to the literature of the country, which welcomes just 200,000 visitors per year, a number drastically lower compared to other notorious attractions, like the Colosseum, Pompei, and the leaning tower of Pisa (Castellodigradara.com, n.d.). The image serves as an example to highlight how a wide range of destinations and attractions within the country of Italy may be illustrated on social media platforms. To conclude, figure 19 visually represents the code of repetitive features. The code was previously encountered during the analysis of the theme notorious Italy (see paragraph 4.2.1.2), illustrating notorious yet repetitive features which among others, include the famous lemons of Capri and the alcoholic beverage limoncello, as illustrated in figure 19. To sum up, the paragraph has highlighted two more differences between images displayed in catalogues and on social media platforms, which include the concept of sun, sea and sand, suggesting how the majority of tourists visit the country during the summer months, and all- year-round destination, in which several images are illustrated with poor weather conditions and during different periods of the year, such as Christmas in this case. The second difference is represented by the limited range of destinations illustrated in traditional catalogues, and the wide range of destinations depicted on the social media platforms, such as the town of Gradara and its castle, famous for its connections to history and literature of the country, yet still an unfamiliar attraction internationally. Furthermore, the paragraph has also highlighted the first similarity between the traditional and digital information sources, which is represented by the repetitive features code which is frequently illustrated in both catalogues and social media platforms. 4.2.2.3 Culture The third and last theme generated from the analysis of images on social media represents the concept of culture. This represents the second similarity between the way traditional paper catalogues and social media platforms display the country of Italy, since the theme culture was
38 generated also from the analysis of images in paper catalogues. However, the codes used to develop this theme included, similarly to the theme generated from images in catalogues, history and gastronomy, but also art, which was a recurring subject during the analysis of the images on social media platforms. Below, three images serving as examples of the three codes will be illustrated and further analysed.
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Figure 20 Tomb of Dante (Rolfs Flyg & Buss, Instagram, 2018) Figure 21 Food (Oliven reiser, Instagram, 2018)
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Figure 22 Saint Peter's Basilica (Vings Värld, Instagram, 2018)
Figure 20 represents the tomb of Dante Alighieri in Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region. Dante Alighieri was a famous Italian poet and was considered the “father” of the Italian language. Therefore, the character along with his tomb are recognized as emblems of the Italian literature, history, and culture. Figure 21 visually represents the code of gastronomy, specifically charcuterie, cheeses, and homemade Italian bread. Dissimilarly from the code gastronomy used for the theme culture generated from the analysis of images in catalogues (see paragraph 4.2.1.3), Italian gastronomic elements illustrated on social media resulted in being considerably more varied and more frequent than the images in traditional paper catalogues. In particular, images on social media platforms related to gastronomy took into higher consideration the abundance of fresh produce the country of Italy has available, including fruit and vegetables, fresh cheeses, and seafood. Furthermore, several images of food markets were also frequently displayed, which might suggest how social media users are more interested in
39 fresh produce, charcuterie and food markets, rather than the notorious pizza, pasta, olive oil and wine, compared to traditional paper catalogues readers. On the other hand, figure 22 visually represents the codes of history and art, illustrating the majestic Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican City. Regarding these codes, the social media platforms, compared to the traditional catalogues, depicted significantly more frequently and on more occasions images of artisanal work and churches with their interiors, along with their painted ceilings, symbols and arts. This might suggest how social media users are more attracted and curious about art than traditional paper catalogues readers. To sum up, the three themes generated from the analysis of images on social media platforms were associated with the ideas of mass tourism, unfamiliar Italy, and culture, highlighting how overall photographs on social media project more realistic and complete destination images of the country of Italy compared to the ones projected by catalogues. Furthermore, the themes generated from the analysis of images on social media highlighted the first similarities and differences between the traditional and digital information sources, which will be further analysed in the next paragraph. The following paragraph, instead, will analyse similarities and differences between the three Scandinavian countries Sweden, Denmark, and Norway in how the visually illustrate the country of Italy in traditional and digital information sources.
4.2.3 Similarities and Differences between Images on the two Types of Information Sources As briefly mentioned during the analysis of the themes, the main similarities between the images in catalogues and on social media platforms include the code of repetitive features and the theme of culture (see paragraphs 4.2.2.2 and 4.2.2.3). Regarding repetitive features, both traditional paper catalogues and social media platforms illustrate notorious features about the country of Italy. To mention some examples, both types of information sources illustrate several times images of lemons, gondolas, pizza and pasta, olive oil, wine, vineyards, and limoncello. These notorious features of Italian culture, as mentioned in paragraph 4.2.1.2, were also identified by other authors at the time of their studies. This suggests how images of these notorious features have been displayed in both traditional and digital information sources since the years 2001 and 2009, as identified by Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001), Okumus and Yasin (2009), and the results of this study, without seeking to innovate the destination image projected by these repetitive and notorious characteristics and communicated to the public. Regarding the theme of culture, instead, both traditional and digital information sources aim at regularly promoting the history and gastronomy of the country, symbolizing an effective and modern approach of representing the destination. However, the code of art was only used to generate the theme of culture regarding images on social media, representing an even greater level of modernization and innovation of the destination image of the country. Regarding differences, the main distinctions are provided by the first two themes generated after the analysis of images in catalogues and on social media: hidden mass tourism compared to mass tourism, and notorious Italy compared to unfamiliar Italy, respectively. The themes of hidden mass tourism and mass tourism illustrate two opposite ways of illustrating the same destination. In the case of the hidden mass tourism theme, mass tourism attractions, such as the Colosseum and the leaning tower of Pisa, are displayed without people and tourists in sight, in
40 order to positively influence the image of the attraction and destination, yet communicating the feeling of being staged and not authentic. On the other hand, the theme mass tourism illustrates these mass tourism attractions surrounded by crowds of people and tourists, projecting a more realistic experience, however less desirable (see Figures 6 and 14 illustrated once again below as examples). As already identified during the analysis of the respective themes (see paragraphs 4.2.1.1. and 4.2.2.1.), these two very different strategies adopted by tour operators might be due to the role of people on the two information sources and to satisfy what the two different target markets of the two types of information sources desire. This suggests how these strategies are adopted by tour operators with the final aim of profit maximization.
Figure removed from digital version due Figure removed from digital version due to copyright. to copyright.
Figure 6 Colosseum (Nilles Rejser, 2021) Figure 14 Colosseum (Dag Aasbø, Instagram, 2019)
The themes of notorious Italy and unfamiliar Italy also represent two crucially different ways of illustrating the country. As a matter of fact, the theme of notorious Italy, generated from images in catalogues, displayed several times images of mass tourism destinations, such as Cinque Terre, Rome, Venice, and the Amalfi coast, illustrating photographs of a limited range of destinations in a limited range of regions within the country. On the other hand, the theme unfamiliar Italy, generated from images on social media, displayed a wide range of destinations, both mass tourism destinations and less touristic ones, illustrating images of areas in nearly every region in Italy, providing a considerably more complete picture of the country.
4.2.4 Similarities and Differences between Scandinavian Countries For the purpose of this study, similarities and differences explaining how the three Scandinavian countries Sweden, Denmark, and Norway use images to illustrate Italy will be analysed in this paragraph. Beginning from the similarities, during the analysis process of the images, it was noticeable how all the three Scandinavian countries displayed several images representing Italian gastronomic elements, such as fresh produce, pasta, pizza, seafood, and other characteristics and ingredients typical of the Italian cuisine. This suggests and confirms how the country of Italy is typically associated with and renowned for the idea of gastronomy. The second main similarity is represented by the range of areas illustrated by the tour operators. As a matter of fact, during the analysis process of this study, it was noticed by the author of this paper that the three countries approximately illustrated images of the same range of destinations within the country of Italy. In other words, none of the three countries prevailed
41 on the others for the number or diversity of the destinations displayed in both their traditional and digital information sources. Regarding differences, Norwegian tour operators, in both their catalogues and social media platforms, illustrated significantly fewer images of Italian mass tourism attractions compared to Swedish and Danish ones. However, it was noticeable that Norwegian tour operators focused more on the natural landscapes and beauties of the destination, together with countryside areas compared to Swedish and Danish ones. This suggests how Norwegian potential travellers are more attracted to nature and countryside of Italy, rather than urban areas and mass tourism attractions. Danish tour operators, on the other hand, in both their traditional and digital information sources, illustrated several images of the Italian coastline, along with its sea and beaches, and urban areas. This suggests how Danish potential travellers are more attracted to the urban and sun, sea and sand types of tourism of Italy, rather than natural like Norwegian ones. To conclude, it was noticed that Swedish tour operators represented a precise balance between Norwegian and Danish ones, illustrating several images of both urban and natural destinations in Italy. However, it was also noticeable that Swedish tour operators focused more and displayed a higher number of images, compared to Norwegian and Danish tour operators, depicting the history and the culture of the destination. This suggests how Swedish potential travellers are more attracted to the historical and cultural side of Italy compared to the other two Scandinavian countries’ potential travellers.
42 5. Discussion In this paragraph, the findings encountered for the purpose of this dissertation will be discussed and compared to existing literature. After analysing the images in both traditional paper catalogues and on social media platforms, a list of codes was formulated. The codes were then grouped together, divided into the two information sources, to form the themes identified as results of this dissertation. The identified themes were, regarding the analysis of the catalogues, hidden mass tourism, notorious Italy, and culture. Regarding the analysis of social media platforms, the themes identified were denominated mass tourism, unfamiliar Italy, and culture (see Table 3 below). The discussion will be carried out in two main sub-paragraphs in which the themes will be divided based on their information sources: themes from catalogues and themes from social media. The sub-paragraphs themes from catalogues and themes from social media will then discuss and compare their respective themes to the existing literature. These will be then followed by a final sub-paragraph which will discuss the differences identified between the two types of information sources and the three Scandinavian countries. Identified themes Catalogues Social media Hidden mass tourism Mass tourism Notorious Italy Unfamiliar Italy Culture Culture Table 3 Identified themes (own illustration) 5.1 Themes from Catalogues The themes generated from the analysis of catalogues represented hidden mass tourism, notorious Italy, and culture. As the analysis (see paragraphs 4.2.1.1, 4.2.1.2, and 4.2.1.3) and the name of the themes suggest, the themes represented a limited range of destinations within the country of Italy and oftentimes without people in sight, projecting inaccurate images of the attractions and, therefore, of the destination. The fact of traditional paper information sources project inaccurate destination images confirms what also encountered by O’Leary and Deegan (2005). In their study, tourism brochures did not acknowledge the issues of littering and the poor conditions of the natural environment of Ireland (ibid., see paragraph 2.5 of the literature review). In the case of this study, however, images of mass tourism attractions, such as the Colosseum and the leaning tower of Pisa among others, were frequently represented without people in sight, which, as the statistics retrieved by the author of this paper confirm, do not project realistic images of the attractions and, therefore, of the destination. Furthermore, the fact of illustrating popular tourism attractions in paper information sources without people in sight has been encountered by several other authors (Hanusch, 2011; C. H. C. Hsu & Song, 2014; Hunter, 2008, 2010), suggesting how this represents a strategy adopted by tour operators in order to positively influence the image of the destination. Regarding the theme of notorious Italy, the retrieved catalogues repeatedly illustrated the same areas and features of Italy. Specifically, the repetitive areas of Italy illustrated in the catalogues, were also encountered in 2001 and 2009 in other paper information sources by Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001), and Okumus and Yasin (2009). This suggests how the areas of Italy and
43 therefore its destination image has remained nearly untouched during the last 20 years. In addition to this, the theme also identified how the country of Italy was closely connected to the concept of sun, sea and sand, which confirmed what encountered in several other studies (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001; De Nisco et al., 2015; Okumus & Yasin, 2009; Presenza et al., 2013; Zeugner-Roth & Žabkar, 2015). Therefore, the discussion of the first two themes suggests how the themes project a mature destination images of Italy, since they illustrate repetitive features without establishing a unique factor making the destination easily replaceable (Apostolopoulos & Gayle, 2002; Bramwell, 2003). However, the theme of culture represented a more innovative destination image of the country specifically highlighting its history and gastronomy. This theme is connected to the studies performed by Frochot (2003) and Stepchenkova and Zhan (2013), in which they identified how traditional paper information sources can also project authentic and original images of destinations. The connection of this theme to the studies carried out by Frochot (2003) and Stepchenkova and Zhan (2013), suggests how the destination image projected by the theme can be considered innovative, thanks to its efforts of illustrating features that help differentiating the country from others making it unique, authentic, and, therefore, more attractive to the public’s eye (E. Cohen, 2007; Croes et al., 2013; Debeş, 2011; Govers et al., 2007; Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006). 5.2 Themes from Social Media The themes identified from the analysis of the images on social media platforms, instead, were denominated by the author of this study mass tourism, unfamiliar Italy, and culture. Similarly to the themes generated from catalogues, as the analysis (see paragraphs 4.2.2.1, 4.2.2.2, and 4.2.2.3) and the names of the themes suggest, the findings encountered by the investigation of social media represented contrasting results compared to the ones encountered in catalogues. As a matter of fact, the first theme was denominated mass tourism. As mentioned on the analysis paragraph of this theme (see paragraph 4.2.2.1), the theme mass tourism is characterized by images of mass tourism attractions which, contrarily to the theme hidden mass tourism, is depicted with crowds of people and tourists surrounding them. The fact of illustrating images on social media platforms with people confirms what identified by several other authors during the analysis of their studies (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Pickering et al., 2020; Wijesinghe et al., 2020). According to the authors (ibid.), when illustrating destinations and attractions on social media, people are one of the most popular features on photos, feature that was particularly confirmed on Instagram, suggesting how an opposite strategy is adopted in this case by tour operators compared to images in catalogues. The reasons why these contrasting strategies might be adopted by tour operators on the two different information sources was analysed on the analysis paragraphs of the two contrasting themes (see paragraphs 4.2.1.1 and 4.2.2.1) and can be mainly explained by the role of people. As a matter of fact, the strategy of illustrating tourism attractions without people might be adopted in order not to scare potential consumers away, since images without crowds of tourists can result more attractive and interesting for certain people (Honey, 2009; Judd & Fainstein, 1999). While, on the other hand, people who rely on social media platforms to find information and inspiration are considered to be active creators and actors who interact with places and
44 attractions, therefore, can more attracted by images illustrating other travellers (Iglesias- Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Živković et al., 2014). The second theme generated by the analysis of images on social media platforms was denominated unfamiliar Italy. The analysis and the name of the theme once again suggest how a wider range of destinations within the country are illustrated on the images on social media compared to the ones illustrated in catalogues. This confirms what encountered by Hunter (2016), in which, thanks to a previous study (Hunter, 2012), the author (Hunter, 2016) analyses images in tourism brochures to then compare them to images retrieved online, confirming how the latter depicted new emerging trends and areas, rather than only renowned tourist attractions and features. In this case, new emerging trends and renowned tourist attractions can be compared to the range of areas illustrated. New emerging trends can represent the wide range of popular and unfamiliar destinations depicted on social media platforms, while renowned tourist attractions can represent the mass tourism destinations and monuments abounding in Italy. Furthermore, the fact of illustrating a wide range of areas and attractions help the destination to preserve its identity with its unique characteristics and areas, making it distinguishable from other destinations, supporting what stated by Konecnik and Go (2008) and Lin et al. (2011). In conclusion, the theme project an innovative destination image following the distinction provided by Govers et al. (2007) and Stepchenkova and Morrison (2006), since they communicate to the public a more modern and complete image compared to the ones encountered by other authors (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001; Okumus & Yasin, 2009; Presenza et al., 2013). The third and last theme generated from the analysis of images on social media represents the culture of the destination, which was also encountered as a result of the analysis of catalogues. In this case, the theme of culture was associated with the concepts of history, gastronomy, and art, and it partly confirms what identified by Kuhzady and Ghasemi (2019) and Wacker and Groth (2020). In particular, they (ibid.) identified how cultural tourism in Portugal and traditional food in Austria were frequently associated with the destination image of the two respective countries, which can be easily connected to the results of this study, too. Therefore, from the results of this dissertation, it is noticeable that the concept of culture, specifically Italian culture, is widely illustrated in both traditional paper catalogues and social media platforms when taking into considerations Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian tour operators. 5.3 Differences and Similarities between Information Sources and Countries In order to discuss the differences between traditional paper information sources and digital information sources, the findings identified by this study must be taken into account. Specifically, the themes generated from the analysis of images in tour operators’ catalogues confirmed the study by O’Leary and Deegan (2005), in which they (ibid.) also identified that paper information sources, tourism brochures in thir case, projected an inaccurate image of the destination, comparably to the findings of this dissertation. In addition, the analysis of images in catalogues of this study also confirmed what encountered by several other authors (Hanusch, 2011; C. H. C. Hsu & Song, 2014; Hunter, 2008, 2010), in which they recognized how images of popular tourism destinations were illustrated without people in sight, once again a result comparable to the ones generated from this dissertation. Regarding findings generated after the
45 analysis of images on social media platforms, instead, very distinct results were identified. Specifically, the analysis of images on social media identified how photographs of popular tourism destinations and attractions were illustrated with crowds of people and tourists in sight, confirming what also encountered by other scholars (Iglesias-Sánchez et al., 2020; Palazzo et al., 2021; Pickering et al., 2020; Wijesinghe et al., 2020). In addition, the findings also confirmed what identified by Hunter (2016), in which he recognized how images on social media platforms projected a more modern and innovative image of the destination, highlighting how these two findings clearly differ from the ones generated from the analysis of images in catalogues. On the other hand, regarding the comparison of the three Scandinavian countries of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, similarities and differences can also be recognized. In particular, the tour operators representing the three countries frequently depicted images of food, confirming how the country of Italy is oftentimes associated with the concept of gastronomy, as also identified by several other authors (Baloglu & Mangaloglu, 2001; De Nisco et al., 2015; Okumus & Yasin, 2009; Zeugner-Roth & Žabkar, 2015). Regarding differences, Norwegian tour operators tended to frequently depict images of natural landscapes and countryside areas of the destination. This represents to some extent a diverse way of representing Italy, which is otherwise associated with other characteristics. To mention an example, the concept of sun, sea, and sand is often connected to the country of Italy, which represents what Danish tour operators regularly depicted on their images. This confirms how Italy is still deeply dependent on this type of tourism, as also confirmed by Presenza et al. (2013). To conclude, Swedish tour operators recurrently illustrated features of history and culture on their images, suggesting and confirming what identified by De Nisco et al. (2015) and Zeugner-Roth and Žabkar (2015).
46 6. Conclusion This study has investigated the destination images projected by Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian traditional paper information sources, in forms of tour operators’ catalogues, and digital information sources, in forms social media tour operators’ accounts. The focus of this study was to analyse destination images communicated to the public of the country of Italy, therefore, only photographs depicting Italy were taken into consideration and analysed. The main objective of this study was to identify the destination images of Italy projected by Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian tour operators’ catalogues and social media accounts. In addition to this, another objective of the study was to highlight main similarities and differences between destination images projected by the analysed tour operators’ catalogues and the social media accounts, but also to highlight similarities and differences in how the three countries’ tour operators represented Italy using photographs. For the purpose of this study, the method of thematic analysis was identified as most suitable and therefore was adopted. The six themes generated after the analysis of the two types of information sources, three themes regarding the analysis of catalogues and three themes regarding the analysis of social media, along with similarities and differences will be explained below as answers of the two research questions. Following the clear answers to the previously formulated research questions, a paragraph suggesting recommendations for further research will be presented. What destination images Scandinavian tour operators’ paper catalogues and social media accounts depict of Italy? As mentioned in the previous paragraph, six themes were generated to answer the first research question. In particular, three themes were generated after the analysis of images represented in catalogues, and three themes were generated after the analysis of the photographs illustrated on social media accounts. Regarding the themes generated from catalogues, these were denominated by the author of this paper hidden mass tourism, notorious Italy, and culture. The theme of hidden mass tourism was characterized by images of mass tourism attractions that were depicted with no people in sight, making the images feel staged by the tour operator. The theme of notorious Italy was formed by joining the codes of sun, sea, and sand, notorious destinations, and repetitive features, which represent three characteristics of Italy which can be considered notorious, since they have been also identified multiple times in other occasions. The third and last theme regarding the analysis of images in catalogues represented the culture of the country, concept that was characterized by frequent photographs depicting the history and gastronomy of the analysed country. On the other hand, the themes generated from the analysis of social media platforms were denominated by the author of this paper mass tourism, unfamiliar Italy, and culture. The theme mass tourism was associated with the codes of presence of tourists and realistic experience, accurately suggesting how the images are depicted with crowds of tourists and people, projecting a realistic experience potential tourists might expect and experience. The theme unfamiliar Italy was formed with the codes of all-year-round destination, wide range of destinations, and repetitive features. This suggests how on social media platforms, Italy is
47 represented during various periods of the year with many different destinations within the country, despite certain characteristics being illustrated repetitively. The third and last code that was generated after the analysis of images on social media regarded once again the concept of culture. This time, the theme was characterized by the codes history, gastronomy, and art. What are the differences in the destination images both between paper catalogues and social media accounts, and the three Scandinavian countries? The main similarities between the images in catalogues and on social media platforms include the code of repetitive features, such as lemons, gondolas, pizza and pasta, olive oil, wine, and the theme of culture, which was generated as theme for both the information sources. Regarding differences, instead, the main ones are represented by the themes of hidden mass tourism compared to mass tourism, and notorious Italy compared to unfamiliar Italy. Specifically, the theme hidden mass tourism showed images of mass tourism attractions without people in sight, while the theme mass tourism on social media showed them with crowds of people and tourists. The theme notorious Italy frequently illustrated images of notorious areas and destination within the country, while the theme unfamiliar Italy on social media tended to illustrate less touristic areas, nearly representing every region in the country. Regarding similarities and differences between the three countries, it was noticeable that all the three Scandinavian countries displayed several images representing Italian gastronomic elements, and approximately illustrated images of the same range of destinations within the country of Italy. Regarding the main differences, it was noticeable that Norwegian tour operators focused more on the natural landscapes together with countryside areas, and Danish tour operators illustrated several images of the Italian coastline, along with its sea and beaches. To conclude, it was noticeable that Swedish tour operators focused more on the history and culture of the country of Italy. 6.1 Further Research This study investigated and identified the destination images of Italy projected by Scandinavian tour operators’ catalogues and social media accounts. The outcomes and conclusions of this study are specifically focusing on the Scandinavian countries’ tour operators; however, it is recommended that further studies concentrating on other countries’ DMOs and/or tour operators are performed. Especially, it is recommended that other Southern European countries (Turkey, Spain, Portugal, France, and Greece. Malta and Cyprus are considered too small to be included) with either comparable culture, or weather conditions, and Mediterranean gastronomy are investigated. This could be done in order to compare these competing countries to Italy to investigate how and whether the concept of sun, sea, and sand would be then illustrated and promoted, and how and whether regional food culture would be implemented in the photographs.
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