The semiotic paradigm: implications for tourism research

This paper examines the application of semiotics to tourism studied. The first section of the paper provides the theoretical background by briefly outlining the history, concepts, ontology and epistemology of the semiotic approach. The second section of the paper reviews the applications pf semiotics to date in tourism research, focusing mainly on studies of tourism marketing. It highlights the usefulness of this approach for uncovering the systems of signs and the 'deep structure' of meaning in tourism marketing discourse. A framework for integrating semiotics with the study of tourism marketing is also introduced. In the final section, this framework is used to identify existing gaps in the research and to suggest directions for future applications of semiotics to tourism research. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.