1The Lake Constance region, which is characterised by its diverse natural environment, is considered to be an economically strong leisure and tourism destination with a high quality of life. In tourism marketing, characteristics such as the scenic attractiveness and recreational value of the more rural four-country region are also strategically utilised, and in some cases, alternative narratives are avoided (Hassemer, 2010, p. 23). In the context of the present contribution, the recurring stereotypical landscape descriptions and narrative patterns in the tourism marketing of Lake Constance as a destination will be analysed. The use of possible creative economic narratives for Lake Constance tourism will also be discussed. After all, the creative industry has potential not only for expanding the range of tourism products, but also for tourism marketing. As the following article will show, this has not yet been fully utilised in the Lake Constance region. There has always been close economic interdependence between the two economic segments. For tourism, the creative industries with their sub-markets (e.g. music industry, film industry, performing arts, or the art market) are an important “content supplier” for cultural tourism products. But positive effects are also emerging for tourism marketing. In large cities, the touristic value of creativity and creative companies is enhanced. For example, by marketing creative economic districts as “must-see”. Examples of this are the Brera design quarter in Milan or the “MQ” museum quarter in Vienna.
2The aim of this article is to use a discourse-analytical evaluation of product information from tourism intermediaries to gain insights into the current tourism image of the Lake Constance region and, based on the results of this investigation, to discuss the relevance of creative economic narratives for the Lake Constance region. Against this background, this article deals with the following research questions:
-
What are the landscape stereotypes in the tourism marketing of Lake Constance? What narrative patterns are emerging?
-
What role does the creative appropriation of landscape play in tourist advertising material?
-
What potentials do creative economic narratives hold for regional tourism marketing?
3In the everyday use of the term, landscape usually refers to a spatial unit that exists as real and independent of an observer. In scientific disciplines such as geography, the term landscape was increasingly rejected because of theoretical deficits and its ambiguity. However, it was never completely out of use (Schenk 2006, p. 17). Since the 1990s, the concept of landscape has increasingly found its way back into human geography research using social constructivist approaches (Kühne, 2013, p. 134). These social-constructivist perspectives experienced their upswing in the course of the cultural turn, an increased shift towards constructivist approaches in geography in general (Pott 2017, p. 26 & Bachmann-Medick 2006, p. 7). In tourism, this approach was particularly appropriate because the process of construction takes place before, during, and after the journey (Wöhler, 2011, p. 48). For example, in connection with virtual or augmented reality (Hunter et al. 2015) or by analysing the online presentation of destinations (Hunter 2016), tourist construction processes can be well demonstrated. From a socio-constructivist perspective, landscape in tourism is a social construct that is created in social and cultural processes (Kühn,e 2013, p. 31f). In this context, landscape is a “way” of looking at a space and is dependent on attributions of meaning negotiated by people in social interaction (Cosgrove & Daniels 1988, p. 1). When an individual is confronted with secondary information such as tourism advertising or other forms of communication about landscapes (e.g. films, social media), stereotypical landscapes or “landscape stereotypes” arise (Kühne, 2013, p. 206). They guide our ideas of spaces that differ from our native landscape. However, these are not representations of the world but rather representations of the spaces of which we have knowledge (ibid., p. 231; Ashenbrand, 2017, p. 42).
4Kühne (2013) divides landscape into four dimensions: social landscape (knowledge and ideas about landscape existing in society), individually updated social landscape (individual knowledge and ideas about landscape), external space (objects of physical space), and appropriated physical landscape (objects of external space used to construct landscape).
5Based on Kühne’s landscape theory, Aschenbrand (2017, 2018) addresses the significance of landscape in tourism and explains how tour operators reproduce ideas of landscape in order to influence the individually updated social landscape of potential customers (Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 238). According to Aschenbrand, this is done out of a business logic because landscape stereotypes shape mental imaginary geographies (i.e. our inner ideas of destinations) and thus influence the choice of destinations (ibid.; Thimm, 2013). Here, landscape stereotypes initially anticipate the image of a destination and are interspersed with individual projections in the form of fantasies and wishes that arise as surplus requirements in everyday life. Urry (2002) describes these ideas and expectations of a destination as well as the desire for an authentic experience as “tourist gaze”.
6In addition to the reception of tourism advertising, the consumption of films, television, literature, magazines, pictures, photographs, or visual art also contributes significantly to the creation of mental imaginary geographies (Hennig, 1995, 1998; Urry, 2002, p. 3). Another source of mental imaginary geographies are stories of friends and acquaintances who were in a certain tourist space before a potential traveller (Freytag, 2010).
7Stereotypical landscape representations in particular can be used strategically for tourism marketing because they allow tourism providers to position complex entities such as regions as products in such a way that is easily condensed into a comprehensible statement (Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 137). In an investigation of tourist advertising material for the Salzburg region, Kühne, Weber & Weber, (2013) also note that landscapes are decomplexed by reductions in order to make them tangible for tourists. Because the more complex tourism marketing becomes, the greater the risk of a stimulus satiation (which the tourist wants to escape with this journey) (ibid., p.43, 50).
8In a study on the identity and image of the Lake Constance region as a location (in the course of which a quantitative online survey was carried out), Hassemer concluded that the contrast between dynamism and calmness was the best way to convey the brand essence and differentiate the region in international competition (Hassemer, 2010, p. 26). For the Lake Constance region, there has not yet been any consideration of tourism marketing that also takes into account the use of landscape descriptions in tourism marketing.
9Cultural and creative industries include those cultural and creative enterprises that are predominantly profit-oriented and deal with the creation, production, distribution, and/or media dissemination of cultural/creative goods and services (BMWi, 2014, p. 3). Eleven sub-markets form the economic segment of culture and creative industries. The economic sectors of the cultural industry include the sub-markets music industry, book market, art market, film industry, broadcasting industry, performing arts market, architecture market, design industry, and press market. The creative industry sector, in turn, includes the sub-markets of the advertising market as well as the software and games industry. In common parlance as well as in the context of this study, creative industries are often used as an umbrella term to designate all sub-markets of the cultural and creative industries.
10Because of its heterogeneous composition of 11 sub-markets, the cultural and creative industries have different production conditions and marketing structures. The planning and control processes of traditional economic fields are difficult to transfer to the sub-markets of the cultural and creative industries. The characteristics of the cultural and creative industries include, a predominance of micro-enterprises, the short half-life of the validity of market-relevant knowledge, high innovation pressure, and project-based work structures (Streit, 2011, p. 22). It is regarded as a growing and dynamic economic segment that is particularly relevant for regional planning as a field of action because of its influence and interaction with areas such as urban development or city and tourism marketing.
- 1 According to Florida, the “creative class” comprises those whose work consists essentially of ident (...)
11US economist Richard Florida with his Creative Capital Theory significantly influenced the political debate and local politics in European cities. In his highly successful monograph “The Rise of the Creative Class” from 2002, Richard Florida argues that only those cities and regions that succeed in attracting highly qualified and creative workers can survive in global competition. In the location selection of the latter, which he refers to as the “creative class”1, the principle of “people follow jobs” no longer applies. Instead, a special urban living environment is decisive.
12In contrast to Florida, who focuses on attracting external creative capital to create competitiveness and innovation in one location, the publication “Creative City. A toolkit for urban innovators” by British urban researcher Charles Landry focuses on the development of endogenous creative capital (Merkel, 2008, p. 23). Landry understands the creative city as a new method of strategic urban planning, which aims to develop creative approaches and solutions to urban problems on the part of functionaries (Landry, 2008, p. xii–xv). According to Landry, seven factors form the basic prerequisites for a creative city. These include personal qualities, appropriate leadership with will, human (cultural) diversity and talents, a creative organisational culture, local (cultural) identity, available urban spaces and buildings, and dynamic networks (ibid., pp. 105–131).
13Richards and Raymond (2000) first dealt extensively with the role of creativity in tourism and introduced the concept of creative tourism. In accordance with their understanding, the term “creative tourism” refers to formats that enable visitors to develop their creative potential through active participation in courses and learning experiences (ibid., p. 18).
14Richards (2018) also explains the role of the creative industries on the basis of four development phases of creative tourism. Whereas in 2000, the development of creative tourism offers still primarily focused on active learning experiences in the form of workshops, from 2005, the focus shifted to the use of local network initiatives such as “Creative Tourism Barcelona” or “Creative Tourism Austria”. Since 2010, tourism has been increasingly induced by the creative industries. The creative industries are now used – mostly in the context of initiatives to promote local creative industries – to profile and market destinations. Especially in city branding, the theme “music” is often marketed as the dominant identity aspect of a city (e.g. Bayreuth, Vienna, Salzburg, Liverpool, New Orleans, Memphis, or Nashville (Thimm, 2014, p. 578). Tourism is also seen as a potential export market as well as an opportunity to globalise creative content. Since 2015, the relationship aspect has also been gaining in importance in the development of creative tourist offers. This is because joint co-production leads to interactions between “locals” and tourists based on common interests and breaking down linguistic barriers. This form of “relational tourism” is shown, for example, in the “Experience” programmes launched by Airbnb. Richards emphasises that the different forms of creative tourism formats coexist. For example, one form was not replaced by another. Instead, the various forms build on each other.
15The creative industries have also been subjected to social constructivist approaches, for example, for the investigation of paradigm shifts in start-up-related activities in the creative industries (Penaluna & Penaluna 2009), the integration of creativity in learning environments (Sawyer 2015), the production of innovations or innovation-promoting processes (Taylor 2011), or the analysis of political agendas (O’Conner, 2011) in connection with the creative industries.
16For the Lake Constance region, the role of the creative industries for the development of creative tourism formats was addressed in the first creative industries report for the Lake Constance region (Leuschen & Thimm, 2019). A quantitative survey of regional cultural providers and tour operators as well as expert interviews with tourism marketing companies in the region have shown that cooperation between actors from the creative industries and cultural tourism is quite common in the creation of cultural tourism offers – to varying degrees depending on the Lake Constance destination and with varying potential in the individual sub-markets of the creative industries. However, formats in which cultural and creative professionals give cultural tourists the opportunity to participate creatively themselves are found only occasionally in the Lake Constance region. The importance of creative tourism for the competitiveness of the Lake Constance region was rated as rather important by the stakeholders interviewed (ibid., p. 56f).
17The present study of tourist product information on the Lake Constance region is based on a social constructivist perspective. The subject of this study is therefore not the physical landscape itself but rather the question of how tourist intermediaries construct landscapes.
18The closer social-constructivist consideration of landscape in the tourism marketing of the Lake Constance region is carried out using a discourse-analytical procedure based on the hegemony and discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe. In discourse-theoretical considerations, social reality is accessed via language. Different representations of social reality are created through language. Thus language cannot simply depict the world “as it is” (Kühne, Weber, & Weber, 2013, p. 39). A distinction must be made between “signified by” and “signifying” between which there is no firm connection in post-structuralist discourse theories such as that of Laclau and Mouffe (ibid.; Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 89).
19Laclau and Mouffe assume that meanings can never be definitively fixed and that discourses are only temporary fixations of meaning (Laclau & Mouffe, 1985, p. 112). Their concept of discourse goes beyond language and integrates any kind of social interaction (ibid: 89). Furthermore, Glasze and Mattissek (2009, p. 158f) state that:
“… in accordance with the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, all social relations are the ultimately always fragile and temporary results of discursive disputes. The idea that every object, every social phenomenon, is an object of discourse does not necessarily mean that there is no world outside of language and thought. But such a world, according to its conception, becomes relevant for human beings only if it is discursively provided with meaning by people for people”.
20Consequently, there is no area of the outside or pre-discursive accessible to humans (ibid.). In the discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe, the inside and outside of discourses is also designated by the terms ‘moments’ and ‘elements’. Moments are different positions expressed in a discourse. Elements, on the other hand, denote those positions that exist in other discourses but which have not (yet) been articulated in the discourse under consideration (Aschenbrand, 2017, pp. 31, 89). A discourse represents the attempt to fix the meaning of elements and thus to transform them into the moments of a discourse (Glasze & Mattissek, 2009, p. 159). In principle, several discourses can exist simultaneously. Laclau and Mouffe describe dominant strands of discourse that marginalise possible alternative meanings as hegemonic. They arise through equivalencies as well as the demarcation from an external “discursive field” (Kühne et al., 2013, p. 40; Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 31). With reference to Stäheli (2000) and Leibenath & Otto (2012), Aschenbrand explains:
“The ‘constitutive outside’ of a discourse is not everything that lies outside the discourse but rather “only that which must necessarily be excluded so that its inner ‘purity’ is not violated” (Stäheli 2000: 25 cf Leibenath/Otto 2012: 122). Demarcation can manifest itself in the establishment of a second, antagonistic chain of equivalence through the establishment of contrarian relationships (Leibenath/Otto 2012: 122). Travelling by train, for example, could be advertised with reference to the negative environmental impact of flying. However, even a positively worded reference to environmentally friendly travel by rail derives its effectiveness from the distinction from more polluting modes of transport because nobody would use rail primarily to protect the environment but rather to get from one place to another. Along chains of equivalence, moments that agree only in that they delimit themselves from the same outside can stabilize a discourse” (Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 90).
21The nodes along which chains of equivalence are formed are referred to as empty signifiers. In order to establish an equivalence relationship, these nodes must be emptied of a specific meaning. An empty signifier thus represents the lowest common denominator of various elements and links them into a discursive context (Glasze & Mattissek, 2009, p. 165). Events and situations that undermine the existing structures of a discourse are referred to as dislocations (ibid., p. 161).
22In the following, tourist product information on the Lake Constance region is examined on the basis of the discourse-theoretical approach of Laclaus and Mouffe. The discourse-analytical procedure is guided by questions such as: Which elements join together in chains of equivalence? Where are the nodes located and what is possibly marginalised? Which landscape stereotypes are used? What are the narrative patterns? In view of the subsequent discussion of the relevance of creative economic narratives in the tourism marketing of the Lake Constance region, the question of the role of creative appropriation of landscape in the tourism marketing of the Lake Constance region will also be addressed.
23The discourse and hegemony theory of Laclau and Mouffe deconstructs discourses with regard to aspects of power. It thus offers a theoretical and terminological frame of reference for the profitable analysis of text and image material. However, no recommendations for action for tourism practitioners that would also “contradict the constructivist approach” can be derived (Webe,r 2015).
24With the aim of analysing the current touristic positioning of the Lake Constance region, tourist advertising material will be examined within the framework of a discourse-analytical investigation based on the theory of hegemony and discourse of Laclau and Mouffe. The corpus of material on which this study is based comprises current advertising images and text material for the destination Lake Constance and was extracted from the websites of Germany’s top-selling tour operators and well-known travel portals (TUI, DER Touristik, Thomas Cook, Neckermann Reisen, Ab in den Urlaub).
Table 1: Material body
Serial no.
|
Type
|
Source
|
Mat 1
|
Text; general destination profile with banner image
|
TUI, Last updated 31 March 2019: http://www.tui.com/pauschalreisen/deutschland/bodensee/.
|
Mat 2
|
Text; general destination profile with banner image
|
Thomas Cook, Last updated 31 March 2019:
https://www.thomascook.de/reise-angebote/deutschland/bodensee/?gclid=CJDxvbHzktUCFUK7Gwod86kOWg
|
Mat 3
|
Text; general destination profile with banner image
|
Neckermann, Last updated 31 March 2019:
https://www.neckermann-reisen.de/urlaub/deutschland/bodensee/
|
Mat 4
|
Text; general destination profile without image material
|
Ab in den Urlaub, Last updated 31 March 2019:
http://www.ab-in-den-urlaub.de/hotels/europa/deutschland/281/region/bodensee/159653
|
Mat 5
|
Text; general destination profile with banner image
|
DER, Last updated 31 March 2019:
https://www.der.com/reiseziele/europa/deutschland/bodensee
|
Mat 6
|
Text; general destination profile with banner image
|
FTI, Last updated 31 March 2019:
https://www.fti.de/last-minute/bodensee.html
|
25Own illustration 2019
26Using a coding procedure, recurring elements and regularities in text and image material were analysed in order to identify tourist discourse strands as well as hegemonic supra-individual patterns (Mattissek, 2008, p. 115). The category system of the coding scheme was developed inductively in an open process, which makes it possible to modify categories during the coding process and to adapt the findings. By means of frequency analyses using the qualitative data processing program MaxQData, it is examined which codes occur frequently in the material. Based on these results, conclusions are drawn about discursive rules such as the dominance and marginality of certain explicit links between elements (Glasze, Husseini, and Mose, 2009, p. 296ff).
27Based on these results, tourist landscape stereotypes for the Lake Constance region are outlined. It should be noted that, as with all qualitatively interpretive coding procedures, the results are subject to the positionality of the researcher and largely depend on his or her prior knowledge and understanding (Glasze, Husseini and Mose 2009, p. 300 adapted from Bublitz, 2001, p. 237). By using several coders, this limitation should be balanced out. The method described above using the terminology of Laclaus and Mouffe thus forms a systematic framework that makes it possible to assess the current tourism image of the Lake Constance region and to discuss further possible creative-economic narrativeon the basis of the results obtained. This discussion will be based on the findings of a stakeholder workshop in Constance in May 2018, which was held with regional representatives from politics, administration and tourism. The results of the tourism discourse analysis were presented and discussed with regard to the perspectives of creative economic narratives. On the other hand, the findings of various qualitative expert interviews on the topic of synergies and potentials between creative industries and cultural tourism in the Lake Constance region will be taken into account. The tourism experts interviewed belonged to the following institutions:
-
St. Gallen Lake Constance Tourism
-
Bregenz Tourismus & Stadtmarketing GmbH
-
Liechtenstein Marketing
-
Marketing und Tourismus Konstanz GmbH
-
Business Development Constance
-
IHK Hochrhein Bodensee
-
Wirtschaftsförderung Bodenseekreis GmbH
-
Tourismus- und Stadtmarketing Radolfzell GmbH
-
Internationale Bodensee Tourismus GmbH
28In the tourism marketing of Lake Constance as a destination, the materials examined show commonalities with regard to the target groups addressed by the tourism intermediaries as well as the geographical focus and the leisure activities presented.
29The advertising material is aimed at a broad target group spectrum. It is particularly aimed at families, athletes, and children. Target groups also include wellness holidaymakers, cultural tourists, and seniors. Couples and singles are not explicitly mentioned in the advertising material.
30The destinations of Lake Constance presented in the material corpus include, with decreasing frequency, Konstanz, Lindau, Friedrichshafen, Meersburg, and Bregenz. The leisure activities at Lake Constance advertised primarily include swimming and water sports, cycling, and hiking. Frequent mention is also made of leisure programmes aimed at families with children (e.g. petting zoos and amusement parks). Furthermore, reference is made to the many opportunities for city tourism. Friedrichshafen with its Zeppelin Museum, the Lake Festival in Bregenz, the pile dwellings in Unteruhldingen (which are part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site), and the churches and minsters on the island of Reichenau are particularly important for cultural tourism.
31If one considers the absolute cumulative word frequencies in the material corpus, the following picture emerges:
Figure 1: Word cloud of material body
Own illustration 2019
32The equivalence of the Lake Constance region as Mediterranean terrain in the home country is a recurring landscape construction. The constitutive outside here is the native landscape or other regions of Germany with different characteristics. Shore promenades, a pleasant climate, and Mediterranean flora form a chain of equivalence around the Lake Constance junction.
33The latter is also the centre of the visual advertising material for the Lake Constance region. The banner image of the online booking platform of the tour operator Neckermann primarily emphasises the vastness of Lake Constance and its similarity to the sea. The picture is placed directly above the headline “Urlaub Bodensee – das deutsche ‘Binnenmeer’” [“Holiday in Lake Constance – the German ‘inland sea’”]. Maritime–Mediterranean elements such as boats and ships, a beach bar, and sunshine form the motif (Link: www.neckermann-reisen.de/urlaub/deutschland/bodensee/).
34Lake Constance is also the central element in the banner image of tour operator DER. The local architecture fades into the background. A Mediterranean harbour scene is shown (Link: /www.der.com/reiseziele/europa/deutschland/bodensee).
35This hegemonic landscape construction marginalises the winter months in the Lake Constance region. The lower temperatures and the typical fog of the winter months represent a dislocation that could undermine this discourse.
Figure 2: Narrative patterns on the Lake Constance landscape as a symbol of a piece of Mediterranean flair
“Past historical façades, colourful meadows, and fruit plantations – the Mediterranean climate at Lake Constance makes it easy to forget that you are still in your home country” (Mat 1)
Designation of Lake Constance as the “Swabian Sea” (Mat 3, Mat 4)
“Clear water, alpine panorama, and palm-lined promenades can be found practically everywhere on Lake Constance” (Mat 4)
“Visitors who want to relax and recharge their batteries at Lake Constance will find a modern Kneipp spa and a Mediterranean holiday town with over 50 years of experience in holistic naturopathy in Überlingen” (Mat 4)
“Medieval towns on Lake Constance such as the idyllic island town of Lindau or the Meersburg Castle rising steeply from the shore radiate Mediterranean flair with promenades and beaches” (Mat 5)
“Swim and enjoy on Germany’s Riviera: Holiday on Lake Constance” (Mat 5)
“One of the highlights is the medieval wine-growing town of Meersburg, the beautiful promenades of which gives a Mediterranean feeling” (Mat 6)
|
Own illustration 2019
- 2 The differentiation between natural and cultural landscape indicates how strongly a space has been (...)
36Within the framework of this touristic landscape construction, the cultural landscape2 of Lake Constance in particular comes into focus. In the tourist product information studied, culture is equated with the historical heritage of Lake Constance (e.g. the World Heritage Sites or medieval interiors) and forms the hub of an antagonistic chain of equivalence for the delimitation of the natural landscape (cf also Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 179).
37The natural landscape of Lake Constance is contrasted with the cultural landscape in the form of the cultural offerings of the more urban Lake Constance towns. This “culture/nature” or “city/country” dichotomy is omnipresent in tourism marketing and is consolidated by tourism communication (ibid, p. 143).
38In the case of Lake Constance, this contrast is intended to represent diversity. The touristic interpretation of the Lake Constance landscape as a historical legacy expands the range of destinations. The impression of diversity is to be created by contrasts (ibid: 148) as the following text passage of the TUI product information on Lake Constance shows:
“The island of Reichenau can almost be described as the vegetable garden of Baden-Württemberg. This is where the cultural centre of the Christian West used to be. Today you can admire the unique Romanesque murals in the church of St. George and taste the fresh harvest of the vegetable farmers” (Mat 1).
39In addition to agricultural conditions, reference is also made to the historical cultural heritage of the island of Reichenau.
Figure 3: Narrative patterns on the Lake Constance landscape as a historical legacy
“As early as 6,000 years ago, humans settled on the shores of Lake Constance. They appreciated the mild climate of the region, the abundance of fish, and perhaps also the magnificent view of the Alps” (Mat 1)
“In Konstanz, the secret capital of the Lake Constance region, as well as in Überlingen, Friedrichshafen, and Lindau, urban flair, numerous sights, and cultural offerings await you in addition to natural idyll. Stroll through the old island town of Lindau or the medieval alleys of Überlingen” (Mat 2)
“The romantic castle and wine town of Meersburg sparks the imagination just as much as the Unteruhldingen open-air museum with its famous pile dwellings from prehistoric times. The famous buildings that can be admired in miniature in Mini Mundus Park come from all eras of world history” (Mat 2)
“The largest island in Lake Constance, Reichenau, together with Reichenau Monastery, has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List as an outstanding testimony in term of religion and culture. Reichenau is a worthwhile destination for tourists at Lake Constance. In addition to the fantastic panorama of the lake landscape, the St. Georg Basilica, the church St. Peter and Paul, and the Monastery of Reichenau are among the most famous sights” (Mat 3)
“The monastery island of Reichenau on the Untersee is also quickly reached from Constance. With its various churches and the cathedral, it is an interesting destination during a holiday on Lake Constance – the island has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2000” (Mat 5)
“Finally, in the very east of the lake lies Lindau, which inspires tourists with its medieval old town on an island. Lindau’s most recognised landmark is the Mangturm, which dates from the 12th century. It offers magnificent views of the south bank, the Bregenzerwald in Austria, and the Swiss Rhine Valley” (Mat 5)
|
40Own illustration 2019
41In the tourist product information investigated, the Lake Constance landscape is equated with local food production. Wine, fruit, vegetables, and local markets form a chain of equivalence. This creates a hegemonic concatenation between these moments of discourse and authenticity. The desire to eat typical food can be interpreted as a romantic desire for the authentic (Aschenbrand, 2017, p. 216 adapted from Schäfer, 2015).
Figure 4: Narrative patterns of the Lake Constance landscape as a backdrop of agricultural fertility and rural culinary delights
“The island of Reichenau can almost be described as the vegetable garden of Baden-Württemberg. This is where the cultural centre of the Christian West used to be. Today you can admire the unique Romanesque murals in the church of St. George and taste the fresh harvest of the vegetable farmers” (Mat 1)
“Nature reserves along the lake shores offer good opportunities for wildlife observation: great crested grebes and coot in particular use the lake as a breeding area. In addition to summer, the time of fruit tree blossoming, which often begins as early as mid-April, as well as late summer and autumn until the grape harvest in September and October, are considered the most beautiful time for a holiday at Lake Constance” (Mat 5)
“On the gentle slopes north of Lake Constance, wine, fruit, and vegetables have been grown since the Middle Ages – probably even since Roman times. In Meersburg, Friedrichshafen, or Lindau, you can still taste the delicious products of the region directly on site. For example, at the Friedrichshafen gourmet market, which is held every Saturday near the lake” (Mat 5)
|
Own illustration 2019
42Within the framework of the present tourism discourse analysis, three tourism landscape stereotypes were outlined. The Lake Constance region is marketed as a Mediterranean alternative to the native landscape and is associated with its historical cultural heritage and fertile landscape.
43In the marketing of Lake Constance for cultural tourism, the focus is primarily on the historical heritage and in particular the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. In the tourist product information on Lake Constance investigated, the creative-artistic appropriation of landscape plays no role.
44For a rural region such as Lake Constance, it is important to show new forms of creative-artistic appropriation of landscape as well as the strategic value of this for tourism. New narratives for cultural tourism can be created by innovative formats of creative people (e.g. creative workshops), which can also be developed for tourism. It is therefore advisable to survey the needs of Lake Constance cultural tourists:
How much involvement and activity do they want on holiday? What activities would they like to partake in? How long should the activity last? (Leuschen & Thimm, 2019, p. 58).
45In the medium-sized and rural Lake Constance region, the topic “Creativity in rural areas” can be a new cultural tourism narrative. Using this, the four-country region can distinguish itself from international competition and position itself as an alternative to city tourism. This narrative can be linked thematically to cultural landscape, crafts, customs, sustainability or building culture (ibid.) An interpretation shaped by the specifics of rural areas thus broadens the range of topics of creative cultural tourism narratives, which are still strongly associated with urban areas
46The potential of creative cultural tourism must also be viewed against the background of demographic change. The 60-plus target group is increasingly and traditionally open-minded towards cultural offers. Moreover, after retirement, they are no longer bound to certain holiday periods. They may also have more time to devote to creative/cultural tourism interests. This group thus also represents a great potential for extending the season or increasing the utilisation of the low season because offers in the creative industries/cultural tourism sector can be pursued all year round and independently of weather conditions.
47The hegemony and discourse theory of Laclau and Mouffe was chosen as a theoretical and conceptual frame of reference to investigate questions of socially constructed landscape stereotypes and the relevance of creative economic narratives in the tourist region of Lake Constance.
48With regard to the first research question, it can be said that in the material corpus examined, three stereotypes of the Lake Constance landscape are revealed in the tourism marketing. These include the presentation of the Lake Constance region as: a) a symbol of a piece of Mediterranean flair; b) a historical legacy; and c) a backdrop of agricultural fertility and authentic rural culinary enjoyment as evidenced by corresponding narrative patterns found in the material corpus. These three landscape stereotypes are more dominant than alternative discourse strands in the tourism marketing of the Lake Constance region. In the sense of Laclau and Mouffe, chains of equivalence were established around nodes such as the lake. Elements such as riverside promenades or medieval town centres are used. Equivalences are used to marginalise alternative strands of discourse (e.g. with regard to the winter months) of the summer destination Lake Constance. Antagonistic chains of equivalence such as the “culture–nature dichotomy” are intended to illustrate the diversity of the range of tourism products. The creative-artistic appropriation of landscape does not play a role in the tourist advertising material. Thus – to answer the last research question – creative economic narratives for regional tourism marketing in the Lake Constance region are far from being exhausted and hold potential with regard to demographic change.