Urbanities,
Vol. 3
·
No 2
·
November 2013
© 2013
Urbanities
24
aspects of the places visited that make them different from what can be seen in everyday life,
in other words it must be
out of the ordinary
.
The act itself of recognizing a view, an object, or a monument as extraordinary
requires some preliminary preparation, that means that tourism always involves a certain
amount of daydreaming and anticipation, processes which are also common in consumerism.
Since the real experience can hardly provide a perfect replica of what is expected, each
holiday trip ž or purchase ž leads to disillusion and to a consequent need for something new
(Urry 1990: 13). Moreover ‘such daydreams are not autonomous; they involve working over
advertising and other media generated sets of signs, many of which relate very clearly to
complex processes of social emulation’ (Ibidem: 13).
A consequence of such a discourse is that different countries have come to
specialize
in one particular gaze, to find their own spot in the very fragmented tourist market, sometimes
at the expense of authenticity. When it comes to tourism, authenticity seems actually to be
easy to ‘stage’. In current times we can recount a series of places which are not authentic
per
se
ž since they are copies or reproductions of something that already exists elsewhere ž and
though they attempt to provide a real experience to the visitor, as for example theme parks.
The
mise en scene
of such easily recognizable places is usually referred to as ‘disneyfication’
and by that it is implied that staged authentic places and experiences, and the relative sets of
significances that they convey, can be commoditized, merchandized and advertised
as if
it
were the real thing.
Such theoretical considerations acquire a special interest when applied to marketing
and economics. In the era of globalization, where information about places and their
peculiarities is potentially equally accessible by everyone, it has become vital for cities,
regions and even entire countries to stress their uniqueness, and through that to find a well
established place on the tourist market.
According to Anne-Bitt Gran turning places into brands has become an important
trend in current marketing strategy (Timm Knudsen, Waade 2010: 26). Branding a place
means creating an image of that place that can be sold and that is recognizable by the potential
buyer without further information. According to P. Kotler, who first theorized the marketing
of places in the early 1990s (see Kotler et al. 1993), the image of a place is ‘the sum of
beliefs, ideas and impressions that people have of that place. Images represent a simplification
of a large number of associations and pieces of information connected with that place’ (Timm
Knudsen, Waade 2010: 27).
Such images, which could be also thought of as stereotypes, are somehow staged,
although one cannot maintain that they have been necessarily invented, since they always
need to pertain to the intrinsic characteristics of the place itself in order to be valid.
Place branding has the function of adding value to already existing features, to
differentiate one place from another. Branding creates a place’s visual logo, which works the
same way as with any other product or goods. Gran’s point is that ‘it does not matter that
people (tourists) behave as if authenticity exists; that they accept that authenticity is staged if
it looks real; and that they think about places as they think about other brands’ (Timm
Knudsen, Waade 2010: 28). Place branding is made for selling, not to resemble the real thing,
