The perceived image of en plein air tourism: Evidence from Italy

Tourists have been classified in the literature over the years in many different ways, with different methods of analysis and objectives. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the self-perception of en plein air tourists, in particular the caravanning tourists. Caravanning is a subset of drive tourism where the vehicle provides both transport and accommodation and is a growing although under-researched phenomenon. To reach our goal we will analyze the results of a recent survey, whose primary purpose was to find a name for the most important Club of en plein air tourists in Italy. More specifically, by analyzing in a semantic perspective the names proposed by the tourists themselves, we will outline the main types of mental associations related to en plein air tourism image. Some researchers have shown that all operators in the touristic sector benefit from a deeper understanding of the ‘meaning’ that each tourist gives to the tourism that he/she practices. We therefore believe that the results of this research can provide, from an academic point of view, a deeper awareness of a subject which is still understudied and, from a management point of view, better explain the ‘values’ and consequently the connected expectations of en plein air tourists. This seems an essential step in order to facilitate and make more effective business decisions. So far, linguistic analyses on brand-names, even within the specific domain of tourism have generally adopted a sort of ‘top-down’ approach, i.e. considered brand-names chosen by professionals and brand-naming has been seen as a management strategy. On the contrary, for this study we chose the opposite perspective, which can be defined as a ‘bottom-up’ approach, as we focused on brand-names suggested directly by tourists. In our view, this perspective is better suited to grasp the self-perception of en plein air tourists and is more informative on tourists’ values, attitudes and behaviors. The image which emerges through this kind of analyses can be in line with the profile of the en plein air tourists outlined by the specialists or, on the contrary, contradict it and eventually challenge it. We claim therefore that our approach can lead to a reflection on the relationship between the perception of tourists and more generally of consumers on one side and the perception of the marketing professionals and touristic service providers on the other.