Social semiotics: realizing destination image by means of cultural representations

Abstract

This paper discusses the ways in which cultures are used as a part of tourism commodities to realize destination image. Tourism advertisements were analyzed using multimodal discourse framework. The findings show that both, linguistic and nonlinguistic, modes complement each other as social semiotic resources in realizing cultures as destination image. Different ethnic groups that reside in Malaysia and traditional lifestyles which compose Malaysian cultures are linguistically described as to instill the sense of pleasure, impressiveness and recreational. On the other hand, images that portray Malaysian cultures, for example, people from different ethnicities, traditional costumes and traditional houses are found to be exclusively adopted in tourism advertisements as persuasive tools.