Introducing sense of place narratives in image projection for marine destinations

Abstract

There is a research gap around destination image projection for natural outdoor destinations, specifically the potential that the use of sense of place – a construct used to characterise the relationship between people and spatial settings – has for these destinations. This is especially the case for some preserved marine destinations. Here, public and private destination management organisations (DMOs) have an opportunity to develop collaborative promotion strategies that highlight local cultural imaginaries to boost and provide more authentic visitor experiences. The study seeks to bridge the research gap by analysing the coast of the Busturialdea comarca (county) in the province of Biscay in the Basque Country (Spain). It performs a qualitative analysis of the online destination image projected by the DMOs and study the presence and social significance of the Cantabrian Sea in this image. Findings show how the construction and projection of this image still follows a limited conventional strategy based on specific markets and ad hoc activities. There is therefore scope for DMOs to collaborate and to work with locals to take advantage of a new destination image based on the area’s marine imaginaries. This would naturally incorporate social attachments and meanings. In other words, a sense of place.