Universal filtering reality depends on PERCEPTION Deletion we see/hear what we EXPECT to see we tend not to see/hear what we are not prepared for what we see we INTERPRET Distortion we fit what we see/hear to ready-made frames we EVALUATE what we interpret Generalisation we make what we see an example of anOTHER’s behaviour, style, value, belief , person, culture… according to OUR WORLD

PIEs How do we Perceive? How do we Interpret? How do we Evaluate? Through our senses – blind spots How do we Interpret? Categorise according to known ‘types’ How do we Evaluate? According to own experience and own arbitrary system of values and according to what is normal …

The Tourist Gaze The notion of ‘tourist gaze’ was first introduced by sociologist John Urry (2002), who examined the concept of tourism from a sociological perspective in terms of perception, exploring the ideological and cultural dynamics that lead to a different approach to reality. He defines the ‘gaze’ as the most important tourist activity within the tourist experience. In other terms, the gazing process is what constitutes tourism. When tourists ‘are away’, they privilege sight over other senses, gaze upon landscapes, places or objects, and observe the surrounding environment with “interest and curiosity” (2002: 1). “the model of perception tourists adopt while performing the practice of sightseeing” (Francesconi 2007: 47) the ‘tourist gaze’ becomes one way of understanding the experiential elements of tourism and also helps explain why people visit certain environments and attach meanings to tourist settings. Objects suitable for the tourist gaze include unique objects, which are “famous for being famous” (Urry 2002:12) and out-of-the-ordinary, particular signs, which tell tourists that what they are looking at is extraordinary and worth seeing, or unfamiliar aspects not typically encountered in daily life.

The Tourist Gaze Tourism is both a significant component of modern life and an object of study and research. It has become a part of the global process of change and development known as ‘globalisation’. Understanding what motivates people to travel is therefore a common challenge now faced by the tourist industry. In today’s multicultural world, tourism organisations need new skills to communicate with customers, interact with stakeholders and promote tourist destinations. In recent years, the development of the Internet and the increasing number of people accessing the Internet have brought about some significant changes, not only in the way travellers from around the world leave a record of their personal experiences, but also how they obtain information on destinations.

The Tourist Gaze Despite the large number of text genres in use, new text types emerge every year. In the world of tourism, according to Gotti (2006), the most popular publications are the following: Tourist guides – They describe places and give practical information; Brochures and other advertising materials – They are informative but also persuasive since their aim is to attract travellers; Professional correspondence – It is used between travel agencies, tour operators, hotels, and customers; Travel blogs or discussion forums – They are used to express opinions about travel, holiday destinations and services provided; Travel articles – They can be found in travel journals, in the travel section of newspapers or magazines, and provide a record of personal experiences.

Travel blogs and trip reports: two genres to identify the tourist gaze With the evolution of technology traditional forms of travel narratives have yielded to digital story-telling in the form of individual travel blogs and trip reports published on various public blog hosting websites or online travel communities, such as TravelPod, TravelBlog, YourTravelJournal, RealTravel, TravelPost, Igougo, VirtualTourist; and in Italian, Turistipercaso, Paesionline and ViaggiScoop. These new forms of travel writing allow travellers to share and leave a record of their travel experience. Travel blogs and trip reports have been brought together because they share several common features. 1. First, they are initiated at the tourist destination and published on the road or when the holiday is over.

Travel blogs and trip reports: two genres to identify the tourist gaze 2. They are personal accounts spontaneously written for the benefit of other travellers or future travellers. Tourists write their travel blogs or trip reports without being influenced by others. Freedom and spontaneity in the act of writing may make travel blogs and trip reports a more reliable source of information on real travel experiences than guidebooks or brochures, which are mainly written with promotional purposes in mind. Linguistically speaking, it is not surprising that in travel blogs and trip reports the narration is in the first person (plural or singular). 3. Positive and negative evaluative expressions are also very common in both genres. They convey the writer’s subjectivity regarding the various aspects of the destination and holiday in general, and the traveller’s cultural needs and expectations. 4. Travel bloggers and trip reporters have been considered “unmediated witnesses to the events, places, services or facilities they describe” (Francesconi 2014, 64) and evaluate.

Travel blogs and trip reports: two genres to identify the tourist gaze The mass communication technologies of our globalised world have changed ways of perceiving the tourist experience. Understanding relationships between tourism and culturally different travellers is of growing significance in a globalised world. As Reisinger (2009: 32) argues, the concept of cultural diversity can be defined as “The mosaic of individuals and groups with varying backgrounds, characteristics, values, beliefs, customs, and traditions”, and expectations (cf. D’Egidio 2009; 2014). Every year Italy receives huge numbers of culturally diverse visitors but, unfortunately, not many tourism organisations that operate in a multicultural environment develop a thorough understanding of culturally distinct tourists or think about cultural differences and similarities as a source of competitive advantage to meet tourists’ needs and expectations. Tourists behave differently when they are away from home, and the tourist culture depends on the fact that tourists travel abroad with their culture, mental maps or model of reality (Katan 2012).