Interaktionsmuster in destinationsbezogenen Internetforen am Beispiel des Themas Kulinarik

Abstract

The tourism industry represents an important economic factor on a global, national, and regional level, and depends heavily on communication. Alongside traditional tourism genres, such as travel guides, brochures, and catalogues, the diffusion of digital communication has originated new forms of text-based interaction. Among these, destination-related internet forums allow users to interact directly with each other by requesting or giving information, or sharing experiences, thereby contributing to the informal promotion of tourist destinations.

Sardinia is a particularly popular destination among German-speaking tourists, who constitute the largest group of foreign visitors to the island. Many of them are interested in forms of sustainable tourism seeking authentic cultural and gastronomic experiences away from touristified places, in line with an internationally expanding trend. By adopting a pragmatic-functional (hyper)textual approach, this study analyses German-language internet forums dedicated to Sardinia in which the topic of traditional gastronomy plays a prominent role. The study aims to identify the recurrent interaction patterns adopted by internet forum users that intertwine information, evaluation, and emotion.