Postcards as representation of a destination image: The case of Berlin

Abstract

The study adopted a qualitative approach to assess the role of postcards in representing a destination image. Twenty-five postcard racks were sampled in a variety of retail outlets in Berlin, using an observation and photography of the postcards. The 150 postcards sampled were analyzed and sorted according to the pictorial content and other iconic symbols featured on the postcards using certain photographic typologies employed in previous research. The findings revealed that unlike many other large metropolitan cities, Berlin was distinctively represented in its postcards. The analysis concluded that the postcards lacked human portrayal and featured a limited sample of its cultural and heritage attractions. Instead, the majority of the postcards featured Cold War themes, as well as generic icons and legendary mascots of the city. The lack of a focus representation of contemporary Berlin in tourists’ postcards may be explained by Berlin’s historical, economic, political, and social background. Recommendations for developing more pertinent images of the tourist experiences to be featured on postcards are discussed.

Keywords

Berlin content analysis destination image icons identity postcards

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

About Berlin (2011) Available at: http://www.about-berlin.org/fastfacts.htm (accessed 9 November 2010).

Albers

James

(1983) Tourism and the changing photographic image of the Great Lakes Indians. Annals of Tourism Research 10(1): 123–148.

Albers

James

(1988) Travel photography: a methodological approach. Annals of Tourism Research 15(1): 134–158.

Ampelmann (2011) Available at: http://www.ampelmann.de/html/verkehrssicherheit.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

Associated Content (2011) Available at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/10098/currywurst_berlins_contribution_to.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

Attraction Management (editorial) (2006) Video postcards. Attraction Management 11(3): 79.

Beerli

Martín

(2004) Tourists’ characteristics and the perceived image of tourist destinations: a quantitative analysis—a case study of Lanzarote, Spain. Tourism Management 25(5): 623–636.

Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH (Visit Berlin) (2011) Available at: http://press.visitberlin.de/en/article/tourism-statistics (accessed 9 November 2010).

Berlin

(2011) Available at: http://www.berlin.de/orte/sehenswuerdigkeiten/tiergarten/index.en.php (accessed 11 September 2010).

10.

Burns

(2004) Six postcards from Arabia: a visual discourse of colonial travels in the orient. Tourist Studies 4(3): 255–275.

11.

Butler

(1990) The influence of the media in shaping international tourist patterns. Tourism Recreation Research 15: 46–53.

12.

Childers

Houston

(1984) Conditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumer memory. Journal of Consumer Research 11(2): 643–655.

13.

Cohen

(1993) Mitigating the stereotype of stereotype. In: Pearce

Butler

(eds) Tourism Research: Critique and Challenges. London: Routledge, pp. 36–69.

14.

Cohen

(2007) From benefactor to tourist: Santa on cards from Thailand. Annals of Tourism Research 34(3): 690–708.

15.

Dann

(1996) The people of tourist brochures. In: Selwyn

(ed.) The Tourist Image: Myths and Myth Making in Tourism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, pp.61–81.

16.

Dredge

Jenkins

(2003) Destination place identity and regional tourism policy. Tourism Geographies 5(40): 383–407.

17.

Edwards

(1996) Postcards: greetings from another world. In: Selwyn

(ed.) The Tourist Image: Myths and Myth Making in Tourism. New York: Wiley, pp.197–222.

18.

Engert

(1985) Berlin between East and West: lessons for a confused world. In: Merritt

Merrit

(eds) Living with the Wall: West Berlin, 1961–1985. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp.149–165.

19.

Garrod

(2009) Understanding the relationship between tourism destination imagery and tourist photography. Journal of Travel Research 47(3): 346–358.

20.

Gartner

(1993) Image formation process. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 2 (2/3): 191–215.

21.

Gelbman

Dallen

(2010) From hostile boundaries to tourist attractions: images. Current Issues in Tourism 13(3): 239–259.

22.

Germany information (2011) Available at: http://www.germany.info/ (accessed 9 November 2010).

23.

Glaser

Strauss

(1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine Transaction.

24.

Hake

(2008) Topographies of Class: Modern Architecture and Mass Society in Weimar Berlin (Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

25.

Hammer

(2009) A night to remember. Forbes, 17 October, 184(7): 108–113.

26.

Hashimoto

Telfer

(2007) Geographical representations embedded within souvenirs in Niagara: the case of geographically displaced authenticity. Tourism Geographies 9(2): 191–217.

27.

Hillman

(2007) Travel authenticated? Postcards, tourist brochures, and travel photography. Tourism Analysis 12(3): 135–148.

28.

Hunter

(2008) A typology of photographic representations for tourism: depictions of groomed spaces. Tourism Management 29(2): 354–365.

29.

Hunter

Suh

(2007) Multimethod research on destination image perception: jeju standing stones. Tourism Management 28(1): 130–139.

30.

Inyourpocket (2011) Berlin’s districts. Available at: http://www.inyourpocket.com/germany/berlin/berlins-districts_54822f (accessed 9 November 2010).

31.

Jenkins

(2003) Photography and travel brochures: the circle of representation. Tourism Geography 5(3): 305–328.

32.

Jordan

Fleming

(2005) “Beachwatch babes” and “summer scorchers”: sexualised discourses of tourism in UK men’s lifestyle magazines. In: International conference on critical tourism studies—embodying tourism research: advancing critical approaches (ed Harris

), pp. 26–27. Dubrovnik: Institute for Tourism.

33.

Klemm

Burton

(2005) Tourists or servants: the portrayal of ethnic minorities in tourism brochures. In: International conference on critical tourism studies—embodying tourism research: advancing critical approaches (ed C

Harris

), pp.85–94. Dubrovnik: Institute for Tourism.

34.

Krätke

(2004) City of talents? Berlin’s regional economy, socio-spatial fabric and “worst practice” urban governance. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 28(3): 511–529.

35.

Kuhlken

(2007) Postcards. In: St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100980 (accessed 25 March 2010).

36.

Ladd

(1997) The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

37.

Larsen

(2006) Picturing Bornholm: producing and consuming a tourist place through picturing practices. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 6(2): 75–94.

38.

Lutz

(1977) The effects of interactive imagery and learning: application to advertising. Journal of Applied Psychology 62(4): 493–498.

39.

MacKay

Fesenmaier

(1997) Pictorial element of destination in image formation. Annals of Tourism Research 24(3): 537–565.

40.

Mamiya

(1992) Greetings from paradise: the representation of Hawaiian culture in postcards. Journal of Communication Inquiry 16(1): 86–101.

41.

Markwick

(2001) Postcards from Malta: image, consumption, context. Annals of Tourism Research 28(2): 417–439.

42.

Marplan Institute (2007) Wetter super, Essen toll—Postkarte statt SMS. Available at: http://www.welt.de/reise/article1207136/Wetter_super_Essen_toll__Postkarte_statt_SMS.html?nr=1&;pbpnr=0 (accessed 9 November 2010).

43.

Marshall

(1996) Sampling for qualitative research. Family Practice 13(6): 522–525.

44.

Mellinger

(1994) Toward a critical analysis of tourism representations (photographic postcards of African Americans from the south). Annals of Tourism Research 21(4): 756.

45.

Milman

(2011) The symbolic role of postcards in representing a destination image: the case of Alanya, Turkey. International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration 12(2), 144–173.

46.

Modern History Sourcebook (2011) Available at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

47.

Molnar

(2010) The cultural production of locality: reclaiming the “European City” in post-wall Berlin. International Journal of Urban & Regional Research 34(2): 281–309.

48.

Morgan

Pritchard

(1998) Tourism Promotion and Power: Creating Images, Creating Identities. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

49.

Olson

McAlexander

Roberts

(1986) The impact of the visual content of advertisements upon the perceived vacation experience. In: Benoy

Moutinho

Vernon

(eds) Tourism Services Marketing: Advances in Theory and Practice. Proceedings of the Special Conference on Tourism Services Marketing. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University, pp.260–269.

50.

Pritchard

Morgan

(2003) Mythic geographies of representation and identity: contemporary postcards of Wales. Tourism and Cultural Change 1(2): 111–130.

51.

Ryan

(1995) Researching Tourist Satisfaction. New York: Routledge.

52.

Saunders

(2009) Remembering cold war division: wall remnants and border monuments in Berlin. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 17(1): 9–19.

53.

Schwartz

Jacobs

(1979) Qualitative Sociology: A Method to the Madness. New York: The Free Press.

54.

Singh

Formica

(2006) Level of congruency in photographic representations of destination marketing organizations’ websites and brochures. Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing 15(3): 71–86.

55.

Small

Harris

Wilson

(2008) A discourse analysis of in-flight magazines: the “social sorting” of airline travelers? Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change 6(1): 17–38.

56.

Thurlow

Jaworski

Ylänne-McEwen

(2005) Half-hearted tokens of transparent love? “Ethnic” postcards and the visual mediation of host—tourist communication. Tourism Culture and Communication 5(2): 93–104.

57.

Virtual Tourist (2011) Available at: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Germany/Land_Berlin/Berlin-75302/Local_Customs-Berlin-Bears-BR-1.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

58.

Visit Berlin (2011) Berlin’s districts: Berlin to the power of 12. Available at: http://www.visitberlin.de/en/plan/city-info/berlin-districts?tid=813 (accessed 5 December 2010).

59.

Wells

(1991) Wet towels and whetted appetites or a wet blanket: the role of analysis in qualitative research. Journal of the Market Research Society 33(1): 39–44.

60.

Yüksel

Olcay

(2007) Postcards as affective image makers: an idle agent in destination marketing. Tourism Management 28(3): 714–725.