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Accepted Paper:
The touristic space between mytical construction and production of reality: the case of Rimini
Ivo Giuseppe Pazzagli
(University of Bologna)
Paper short abstract:
Moving from the analysis of the changes occurred in the last quarter of XX century in Rimini, the proposal discuss the productivity of an approach which focuses on the relationships between "images", worked out for positioning the resort town in the global market, and the production of locality.
Paper long abstract:
Many studies in the last years have underlined the role of the representational theme, thus the role of analysing the complex network of mutual viewpoints and representations between hosts and guests which constitutes the communicational space where the identities of place and of involved actors are performed.
Moving from the analysis of the changes occurred in the last quarter of XX century in Rimini, a seaside resort town in central Italy, the proposal aims at discussing the productivity of an approach which focuses on the relationships between "images", worked out for positioning the resort town in the global market, and the production of locality.
A special focus will be posed on how and why those images do play a role of signifiers, capable of being used within the discoursive strategies devised by each group, according to its own interests, in the local public arena.
In the field of tourism, due to its fragmentary productive structure, the local authorities have a peculiar role, since they are in charge of irreplaceable tasks such as the pinpointing and implementation of active measures aimed at local development. This role is performed partly throught urban politics and the creation of infrastructures, partly throught the assumption of a proper business function , as far as they intervene whereas the private capital is not able to develop autonomously effective interventions.
This fact has significant consequences, since it implies the publication of the debate which inevitably characterizes the "decision-making process". What in a company is prerogative of restricted circle of managers here takes place in the public sphere, where, in a framework ruled by "image" issues, identity strategies, shared fantasies and power conflicts are continuously performed.
E-paper: this Paper will not be presented, but read in advance and discussed
The cultural politics of touristic fantasies: addressing the 'behind-the-scene' scene
EPapers