Digital Storytelling in Travel and Tourism

Digital Media, Culture and Communication,
Fani Galatsopoulou

DIM 109 Digital Storytelling in Travel and Tourism

Elective
Semester:
B
ECTS:
10

About This Course

Course Description

This course provides students with a broad understanding of the global Tourism and Hospitality sector, the latest trends in the travel industry, and the role of storytelling in destination branding and digital marketing. It also focuses on the challenges, crises, and global issues that affect tourism in the post-pandemic era and explores the impact of storytelling on awareness raising and attitude change for responsible tourism and sustainable travel behavior.  The course offers a combination of theory, case studies, assignments, hands-on activities, and group projects aiming at exploring new forms of travel communication through digital media.

Course Objectives

    • Understand the role of digital media in travel and tourism.
    • Recognize, understand, analyze, and discuss the travel article typology.
    • Recognize the structure and narrating techniques of travel stories.
    • Gain knowledge about tools and techniques for mobile writing, editing, and publishing.
    • Appreciate the role of travel journalism and travel User Generated Content (UGC) in communicating culture, understanding and respecting the ‘Others’, and promoting a sustainable and responsible travel lifestyle.

    Learning Outcomes

    1. Have knowledge of the latest trends and industry sectors in Tourism and Hospitality.
    2. Be able to produce online travel stories and audiovisual travel content.
    3. Have the knowledge and develop skills for strategic storytelling in the tourism and hospitality sector.

    Class/Learning activities

    In-class presentations- workshops, discussions, case studies, literature study, assignments, final project.

    Workload

    Type of work Description Hours
    In-class activities, lectures/presentations and experiential tasks Thirteen 3-hours 39
    Research and literature review for discussion topics Online research and preparation for discussions 30
    Independent study Study of the suggested literature 40-45
    Project based group work Small creative in class group tasks 20-25
    Digital Media storytelling project Final project hands on 100-110
    Total workload 229-249

    Assessment

    Type of assessment Learning outcome Impact on final grade Date of assessment
    Participation in discussion topics 1,3 10% Weekly
    Presentation of creative tasks and experiential exercises 1,2,3 20% 3th-12th week
    Written assignment 1,3 20% 8th-9th week
     Final Project 1,2,3 40% 9th-12th week
    Presentation of the Final Project 1,2,3 10% 13th week

    Suggested Reading

    • Buhalis, D. (Eds.). (2022). Encyclopedia of Tourism Management and Marketing. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing
    • Fürsich, E. (2002). How can global journalists represent the ‘other’? A critical assessment of the cultural studies concept for media practice’ Journalism, 3(1), 57–84.
    • Fürsich, E., & Kavoori, A. P. (2001). Mapping a critical framework for the study of travel journalism. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 4(2), 149–171.
    • Hay, N. A., Chien, P. M., & Ruhanen, L. (2022). Tell me your story: Branding destinations through residents’ (place) stories. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 28(3), 319–334
    • Hanusch, F., Fürsich, E. (2014) Travel Journalism. Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Hartman, S., Parra, C. Roo, G. (2019) Framing strategic storytelling in the context of transition management to stimulate tourism destination development, Tourism Management, 75 (1), 90-98.
    • Youssef,K.B., Leicht, T., Marongiu, L. (2019) Storytelling in the context of destination marketing: an analysis of conceptualisations and impact measurement, Journal of Strategic Marketing, 27:8, 696-7
    • Mansfield, C. (2017). ‘Travel writing in place branding–a case study on Nantes’, Journal of Tourism. Heritage & Services Marketing, 3(2), 1–7.
    • McGaurr, L. (2015). Environmental Communication and Travel Journalism. NY: Routledge.
    • Pan, B., MacLaurin, T., & Crotts, J. C. (2007). Travel blogs and the implications for destination marketing. Journal of Travel Research, 46(1), 35–45.
    • Pera, R. (2017) Empowering the new traveller: storytelling as a co-creative behaviour in tourism, Current Issues in Tourism, 20:4, 331-338
    • Tran, N. L., & Rudolf, W. (2022). Social Media and Destination Branding in Tourism: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Sustainability, 14(20)
    • Urry, J. and Larsen, J. (2011) The Tourist Gaze 3.0. London: Sage.