The force of nature: The semiotic foregrounding of nature in post-lockdown tourist place branding in rural Alsace

• Adam Wilson ^[1]
  1. [1] University of Lorraine

     University of Lorraine

     Arrondissement de Nancy, Francia

     
• Localización: Sociolinguistic Studies, ISSN 1750-8649, Vol. 16, Nº. 4, 2022 (Ejemplar dedicado a: Place branding “during crisis”: The role of language in place branding during the Covid-19 pandemic and post-lockdowns), págs. 525-545
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • In one way or another, tourism often sits at the heart of place branding. Transformations of tourism induced by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic have led to shifts in tourist demand and target markets, thus provoking changes in tourist place branding. In this article, I explore these changes from a sociolinguistic point of view by examining the ways in which a rural tourist destination in Alsace (France) mobilises language and discourse to adapt its tourist place branding strategy in response to rising demand for nature tourism. First, using data gathered during ethnographic fieldwork undertaken following the easing of lockdown restrictions, I show how ‘nature’ is positioned as a central trope in defining the essential characteristics of the destination, its population, and the activities that can be undertaken there. Second, I look at how this positioning contributes to the elaboration of a coherent destination brand whilst also shaping tourist experiences and thus tourist, geographical, and spatial imaginaries. Finally, I explore the dynamics of commodifica-tion that underpin this foregrounding of nature in the (re)framing of people and place