Projected and Perceived Tourist Image of a Destination: A Regional-Scale Comparison Based on Travel Guides and Instagram in Senegal

Abstract

Various studies have analysed the image of tourist destinations on social networks. However, most of them have tended to focus on urban spaces. The current article analyses the presence of tourist images on a wider scale: for the whole of Senegal. Photographs taken by Instagram users are compared with the information presented in travel guides. The results show that although travel guides include a much greater number of attractions than Instagram, it is Instagram that provides much wider spatial coverage. This shows the need for comparative studies between different sources of tourist information and, at the same time, points to the need for approaches that consider the local and regional scales in their analyses.

Keywords

• representative dissonance
• travel guides
• user-generated content
• instagram
• senegal