Exploring travel blogs on tourism and landscape heritage ::representations of the Swiss Alps

Alpine tourism is one of the most popular forms of travel. Despite the prominence of information and communication technology in shaping travel perceptions and behaviour, a research gap has been identified concerning how this phenomenon is represented online. By taking the case of Alpine tourism in Switzerland, in this qualitative research we use a thematic content analysis to investigate themes and narratives about Alpine landscape and tourism in 158 blog posts. Findings show, first, that Alpine tourism representations can be grouped into six themes: Accessible Mountains, Captured Landscapes, Isolated Land, Healing Place, Cultural Discovery, and Natural Heritage. Second, representational narratives that can be ascribed to the Authorised Heritage Discourse appear to coexist with counter-narratives where the purely visual and aesthetic aspects of the Alps are combined with critical, experiential, and cultural elements. Research implications include the role of visual experiences in heritage representation and commodification, and the importance of integrating blogs in mountain tourism destination websites