An examination of tourists’ identity in tourist weblogs

Abstract

The present study focused on one of the new mass media technologies, weblogs, which allow more tourists to construct an expressive self by posting their writings about their travel experiences. The current research examined the meanings represented in the personal travel experiences and how self-identity is constructed in the touristic discourse. Utilizing critical discourse analysis (CDA), the travel blogs posted by Chinese tourists about their experiences of visiting a Chinese minority group-the matriarchal Mosuo-were analyzed. Among 69 blogs, four major topics were located. The study identified the fragmented, fluid, and flexible nature of selfidentity constructed in the postmodern social conditions.

Review of critical discourse analysis in tourism studies

“…Wang and Morais (, , ) conducted two studies to examine the destination image of an ethnic community, with one studying the discourse from newspapers and the other from travel blogs. Feminism, economic growth, and authenticity were shown as the major image of this community by the media in 2012, whereas tourists' discourse in 2014 proved that the image was in a fluid and flexible stage, which could be shaped by the development of postmodern social conditions.…”

“…Denial, equality, otherness, and silence are frequently presented as the images of ethno‐culture by DMOs in England (Feighery, ). Two people from the minority group of China use their own blogs and autobiographies to promote their culture and call for increased attention to cultural preservation and development to better construct the ethno‐culture (Wang & Morais, , ). Although the gay community is a small sector in the world, their power representation remains unequal in certain gay destinations that favor white homosexual groups (Reygan, ).…”

“…CDA is not only a combination of linguistic and social approaches for performing discourse analysis (van Dijk, , ; van Dijk, ) but is also powerful in showcasing commonly obscure and opaque meanings, such as the dominant party in the discourse or during the communicative process (Fairclough, ). Consequently, CDA is especially useful in analyzing tourism discourses and can fully unearth the embedded meaning of a phenomenon in tourism (Wang & Morais, , ). This method is concerned not only with what people say but also with why they say it.…”

In the travel bloggers’ wonderland: mechanisms of the blogger – follower relationship in tourism and hospitality management – a systematic literature review

“…Several articles have also shown a growing interest in travel bloggers themselves, not only in their way of using the blog (i.e. as a personal “logbook” aimed at a specific community of people with whom they can create empathy and future intention to travel; see Pudliner, 2007; Tussyadiah and Fesenmaier, 2008; Volo, 2010; Wang, 2012; Wenger, 2008; Wu and Pearce, 2016) but also in their growing professional profile (thus affirming one’s self-identity; see Azariah, 2012; Blaer et al , 2020; Bosangit et al , 2012; Chakravarty et al , 2021; Gąsiorowska, 2017; van Driel and Dumitrica, 2021; Walter, 2016; Wang and Morais, 2014). Therefore, bloggers have become the favorite target of tourism organizations and travel agencies that use different promotional strategies to activate their collaboration, be it a blog trip or promotional travel (Marin et al , 2018).…”

The potential for tourism and hospitality experience research in human-robot interactions

“…The "tourist" cannot be viewed homogenously, as perceptions and salience of experiences could vary considerably among tourists in different segments (Prayag et al, 2015). Tourism experiences could be influenced by a number of factors, such as an individual's social and cultural background and lifestyle (Wang and Morais, 2014). Tourism experiences are also multifaceted, arising from the confluence of the physical environment and activities with one's social identity (Bond and Falk, 2013).…”