Storytelling about places: Tourism marketing in the digital age

Storytellingaboutplacesisrecognizedasatooltoenhancethereputationofregionsastheycompetefortourism andeconomicdevelopmentspendinginthedigitalage.Throughdigitalmedia,peoplecanbeencouragedtotell theirtourismstoriesandsharetheirexperiences. OurdesignapproachintegratesServiceScience,Management,Engineering,plusDesign,ArtsandPublicPolicy(SSME+DAPP,sojustSS)andViableSystemsApproach(VSA)perspectives.Storytellingcanbemanagedin alocalservicesystemtoenhancebrandcompetitiveness.Thewaylocalgovernmentsandculturalorganizations understand and encourage storytelling about places (“place storytelling”) can have a significant impact on the successofaregioncompetingfortourismanddevelopmentspending.Placestorytellingenableslocalstakeholderstotelltheirpersonalstoriesabouttheirbelovedplaces. Ouranalysisandcasesdemonstratethatplacestorytellingenablesstrategiccommunicationthatsupportssustainable competitive advantage. By means of an analysis of “Umbria on the Blog”, which is an innovative projectwhichjoinsplaceandweb2.0,and “IlMangiastorie”,whichpromoteswineandfoodandtourismofsome Campaniainternalarea,wehighlighttherelevanceofmanagingplacestorytellingasastrategiccommunication involvingstakeholdersintheplace-identity-buildingprocess. Thispaperpresentsamodelofplacestorytellingthatlocalgovernmentsandculturalorganizationscanuse toencourageandmanagestakeholderengagementinamultilevelprocessforimprovingregionalservicesystem marketingandcommunicationsinthedigitalage.