The verbal discourse of tourist brochures

The aim of this article, which is part of a broader project on tourism promotion still underway, is to investigate the role of language in tourist promotion and the ways brochures convey meaning. In particular the focus will be on the descriptive sections of tourist brochures. Fundamental to such an investigation is the belief that, despite the contemporary emphasis on the visual aspects of promotion, the written text performs a key function in the decision-making process which draws people to a tourist destination. Barthes stated that the function of the linguistic message was to “anchor” the spectrum of possible meanings, by selecting some interpretations and securing the intended meaning. The linguistic level “fixes the floating chain of signifieds in such a way as to counter the terror of uncertain signs” (Barthes 1964: 37). Very rarely does the language speak through pictures alone. As Dann puts it “where photographs are featured, almost without exception they appear in tandem with a verbal message” (Dann 1996: 188). Even though in most tourist brochures the emphasis is mainly iconographic, the verbal text plays an important part in the promotion of a tourist product.