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Interpretation, film language and tourist destinations: a case study of hibiscus town, China

Abstract
The link between films and destination promotion has been well established. Less well examined is the role of ‘film language’ in the subsequent reconstruction of tourist destinations. This paper suggests that the way a film ‘speaks’ to its audience helps both shape tourists’ imaginaries of place, and the ways a place is reconstructed to meet tourist perceptions. For film tourism, ‘film language’ acts as a guidebook describing first the spaces where the film plots happened, second, shaping images of the places in an audience’s mind, and third, serving as a blueprint for the physical reconstruction of spaces to replicate the place representation shown in the film. This both meets and reinforces the perceptions held by audiences. Therefore, this paper suggests interpretation of ‘film language’ is a key to the promotion of destination image and transformation of a place. Based on the case study of the Chinese film Hibiscus Town (Xie Jin, 1986), some key parts of its ‘film language’ are interpreted with reference to the visual, and a relationship between film language and place reconstruction is discussed.
Type
Journal Article
Type of thesis
Series
Citation
Hao, X. & Ryan, C. (2013). Interpretation, film language and tourist destinations: a case study of hibiscus town, China. Annals of Tourism Research, 42, 334-358.
Date
2013
Publisher
Elsevier
Degree
Supervisors
Rights
Publisher version