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Abstract

Abstract

The present paper draws on the concept of Online Linguistic Landscape (Kallen, Ní Dhonnacha & Wade, 2020) to explore code preference on hospitality websites at international tourist destinations. The analysis of a purpose-made database comprising the websites of all 254 accommodation establishments in Palma (Mallorca, Spain) reveals that although major tourist markets condition code presence on websites, the wide array of languages displayed does not correspond to the narrower catalogue of visiting nationalities. Beyond the strictly informative, websites have become effective promotion and sales tools, and marketability derived from vogue associations may mean that a language is listed on a website, even when other, more frequent guest languages are not. The scant online presence of Catalan, the autochthonous language of Mallorca, illustrates how, in mass tourism environments, minority languages are at the crossroads of succumbing to the demands of the market or submitting to processes of commodification of uncertain outcome.

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2024-09-24
2024-10-06
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  • Article Type: Research Article
Keywords: Mallorca ; tourism ; regional languages ; Catalan ; Online Linguistic Landscape ; hospitality websites
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