The Wake of Modernistic Tourism in the Kingdom: A Multimodal Analysis of Online Discourse

Abstract

Aim. Revolutionising the tourism industry is one of the key components in the Suadi Vision 2030 for developing a sustainable economic source as well as representing the versatility of the Saudi landscape and culture to the outer world. To attract tourists from around the globe, it is pertinent to clearly and persuasively elucidate what the country has to offer in terms of its tourist attractions, facilities, and activities. The cur-rent project aimed at analysing the effectiveness of linguistic and semiotic representation of the content provided online to attract foreign tourists specifically. Methods. The multimodal framework was adopted to analyse the selected content. To evaluate the written discourse, Fairclough’s critical analysis consisting of “descrip-tion, interpretation, and explanation of text” (1989, p. 109) was implemented. Similarly, to scrutinise the images, the “grammar of images” model promulgated by Kress & van Leeuwen (2006) was employed. Results. The findings of the study demonstrate that the website discourse effectively presents the Kingdom as a modern, multicultural, and rich landscape for prospec-tive tourists. Also, the imagery and discursive strategies applied positively exhibit the vitality and vivacity of Saudi culture, lifestyle, and tourism experience by complemen-ting each other effectively. Conclusion. The Kingdom’s identity as a multicultural and modern place with reference to its lifestyle and culture is effectively created and convincingly advocated. Moreover, the verbal and visual discourse meritoriously compliments each other and presents the Kingdom as a technologically advanced state which is diverse in its land-scape, culture, and tourist attractions.