Tourism Discourse
Analysis of Travel Catalogues,
Brochures and Itineraries
Adventure World Travel Brochure
Anna Cecchini Manara 1065916
a.cecchinimanara@studenti.unibg.it
English for Tourism – Prof. Maci
UNIBG – a.y. 2019/2020
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Organization features
Travel brochures and catalogues are
part of promotional tourism texts, and
tend to display a fixed set of moves
Evaluative claims Brief history of the
1 2
about the location facility/organization
Regulations
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Guided tours 3
Practical
details
2
Composition Images not strictly confined
to the top, but occupying the
whole left page and more
Headline at the The IDEAL with a
top-left, attracting representation of
the reader’s eye the destination
Image as stereotyped Visual division by
visual information white space
The REAL with
more specific,
evaluative
Z-reading pattern information
leads the eye from
headline, to map, to
picture, to text The image as the Visual division The map and the text
GIVEN, on the left by contrast as NEW, on the right
3
Throughout the brochure, the images are either at the top,
Composition or towards the margins, while the text is given more
importance and kept more towards the center
4
Itineraries
Providing a timetable and Substantives hold the key
The guided tours show a clear schedule of the activities is
structure providing tourist packages features of the tour
essential for itineraries
Terms for state and
movement, indicating
the proposed activities
Aesthetically Activities and locations
pleasing are describes using highly
image with evaluative adjectives
bright colors
and sharp
contrast,
aiming to
entice the Disjunctive grammar
reader includes noun groups and
minor clauses, lacking
subject or finite verb,
magnifying the declarative
force of the sentences, and
creating the illusion of orality
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Lexical Features The language is overall
Use of most to highlight the
The structure reflects the
uniqueness of the place
empathic and evaluative steps of the proposed trip
Travel brochures and catalogues
target a wide audience and therefore
show a more general vocabulary Arrival
check in
Details about dates and kind of
trip are given in a table-like form
Conciseness is based on the principle of
minimax, achieved through:
• abbreviations
• zero-derivation
• acronyms
• juxtaposition EXPERIENCE
Use of imperative
form, listing the
Adjectives magnify the positive activities and
appraisals of the locations locations, evaluative
language so the
Deictic terms achieve reader can feel like
contextualization they are experiencing
it already.
Departure
Details about services are on the other
hand given with informative language 6
Syntactic Features
Omission of phrasal elements
achieves syntactic conciseness,
through telegraphic, purely
informative language
Expressive conciseness is
achieved through lack of relative
and subordinate clauses
Affixation helps achieve expressive
conciseness by substituting relative
clauses with adjectival lexemes,
making the structure lighter
Using the local language conveys a
feeling of authenticity and exoticism
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Syntactic Features Premodification is the left-dislocation of terms that act as adjectival modifiers or the
nouns, leading to syntactically denser expressions with greater semantic importance
The promotional purpose of tourism
brochures leads to the use of a
highly evaluative language
PRESENT SIMPLE
gives permanent
validity, offering
epistemic lenses
through which the Adjectives and attributes
place is perceived It could lead to loss of conceptual clarity,
present the destination with indicated by the need for further explanation
unique characteristics
IMPERATIVES create
a pseudo-dialogue
that urges the reader,
and makes them feel
part of the experience
Ego-targeting establishes a direct relationship The use of the modal (you) will
with the reader, creating empathy and conveys the idea of certainty,
identification through the use of we and you so the reader can feel assured
that this is the right choice
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Textual Features
Catalogues and brochures
are characterized by simple The Theme-Rheme
textual structure positioning overlaps
with the given-new
distribution in a text
Premodifiers are linked in
apposition, heightening the
appraisal of the place Thematization of non
finite adverbial
clauses emphasizes
the information
Juxtaposition of
wilderness and luxury
The simple textual construction
recreates the experience to entice
and involve the potential tourist
Interrogative structures and
exclamations involve the reader and
transmit a sense of enthusiasm
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Textual Features The regulations display a more
specialized discourse, as the text is
considered a tourist contract
Legalese is used with
Monoreferentiality is a crucial informative language, void of
aspect of specialized discourse evaluative components
The use of positive
Legal clarity requires than anaphoric connectives expresses positive
reference is sacrificed for lexical repetition semantic polarity in the text
The use of adversative
connectives reflects
negative semantic polarity
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