Flawed public diplomacy: when Croatia Instagram Riviera narrative destination branding ignores dark tourism amateurs

IF 3.1 Q1 COMMUNICATION
Gabriela Seccardini, Lucile Desmoulins
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

PurposeThis article tackles Croatian public diplomacy, destination and nation branding vis-à-vis an emerging Instagram trend to publish dark tourism related pictures sometimes using the official hashtag CroatiaFullOfLife; hence, poking Croatia tourism development accounts, which promote the country as merely a Riviera destination, and deletes the memories of Yugoslavian and Second Independence wars. Such a monolithic, shortsighted and amnesic destination branding strategy neglects alternative public tourism and public diplomacy opportunities.Design/methodology/approachThe article may improve the understanding of the links between the concepts of Public Diplomacy, nation and destination branding through an exploratory study of dark tourism amateurs experiences in Croatia, documented by pictures published on Instagram, the key digital social media for destination branding. It also outlines the history of Croatian tourism and government's efforts in promoting the overwhelming image of a sunny sea destination since the launching of the “Croatia Full Of Life” destination branding campaign in 2015. The study compares what and how dark tourism amateurs and Croatian main social media influencers publish contents destined to foreign publics.FindingsCroatia's official PR strategies and Instagram accounts ignore the increasing interest of foreign tourists, local younger generations and artists in abandoned places and Yugoslavian and Homeland War heritage monuments. These “light dark chiaroscuro” places are nowhere to be seen on Croatia's official Instagram account. Croatian government fails to embrace some aspects of the nation identity and to take advantage of Instagram trends and niche dark tourism influencers to boost and enrich its public diplomacy and the memorialization process of the darkest aspects of its past.Originality/valueThis research suggests that international Instagram influencers as well as local photographers, artists and history amateurs promote many shades of light–dark chiaroscuro tourism approaches. Their posts tell new narratives about the past and its memorialization, far from the silence and denial promoted by Croatian official Instagram accounts. Mainstream IG Croatian lifestyle marketing influencers and institutional accounts consistently shows beaches, blue waters and bikinis strictly respecting a monolithic, shortsighted and amnesic destination branding strategy. This study shows that some destination and nation-branding strategies could hinder rather than enhance public diplomacy.
有缺陷的公共外交:克罗地亚Instagram上的里维埃拉叙事目的地品牌忽视了黑色旅游爱好者
目的这篇文章探讨了克罗地亚的公共外交、目的地和国家品牌,以及Instagram上出现的一种趋势,即有时使用官方标签CroatiaFullOfLife发布与旅游业相关的黑暗图片;因此,戳破克罗地亚旅游发展账户,将该国宣传为仅仅是里维埃拉的目的地,并删除了南斯拉夫和第二次独立战争的记忆。这种单一、短视和遗忘的目的地品牌战略忽视了替代公共旅游和公共外交机会。设计/方法论/方法这篇文章可能会通过对克罗地亚黑暗旅游爱好者经历的探索性研究,提高对公共外交、国家和目的地品牌概念之间联系的理解,照片发布在目的地品牌的关键数字社交媒体Instagram上。它还概述了克罗地亚旅游业的历史,以及自2015年发起“克罗地亚充满活力”目的地品牌宣传活动以来,政府为宣传阳光明媚的海洋目的地的压倒性形象所做的努力。这项研究比较了黑暗旅游爱好者和克罗地亚主要社交媒体影响者发布面向外国公众的内容的内容和方式。FindingsCroatia的官方公关策略和Instagram账户忽视了外国游客、当地年轻一代和艺术家对废弃地区以及南斯拉夫和国土战争遗产纪念碑日益增长的兴趣。这些“明暗明暗明暗”的地方在克罗地亚的官方Instagram账号上看不到。克罗地亚政府未能接受国家身份的某些方面,也未能利用Instagram趋势和小众的黑暗旅游影响者来促进和丰富其公共外交以及对其过去最黑暗方面的纪念过程。创意/价值这项研究表明,国际Instagram网红以及当地摄影师、艺术家和历史爱好者都在推广多种明暗明暗对比的旅游方式。他们的帖子讲述了关于过去及其纪念的新故事,与克罗地亚官方Instagram账户提倡的沉默和否认相去甚远。主流IG克罗地亚生活方式营销影响者和机构账户一贯表示,海滩、蓝色水域和比基尼严格遵守单一、短视和遗忘的目的地品牌战略。这项研究表明,一些目的地和国家品牌战略可能会阻碍而不是加强公共外交。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
5.40
自引率
6.50%
发文量
29
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