Montpellier’s story on TV. Building the territory, marketing the city, and generating tourism through the series Un si grand soleil

Abstract

This article analyses the role of the series Un si grand soleil in Montpellier’s territorial narrative: how is Montpellier and its broader territory depicted in the series? How do local stakeholders use the series to promote the territory and enhance the city’s image and attractiveness? After examining how the locations selected in the locality and across the region determine how Montpellier is represented, I argue that the series partakes in a mythology of Montpellier while also serving as a marketing tool for promoting the city and métropole within a broader imaginary of Mediterranean towns. The article closes on discussion of how the series is instrumentalised to generate tourism, looking at target nationalities, economic development, and story-telling.

Keywords

• TV Series
• Montpellier
• territorial narrative
• tourism development
• imaginary