Narratives, Memory and the Making of Destinations: Arts, Storytelling, Heritage and Identity In Tourism

Title of the Session

Narratives, Memory and the Making of Destinations: Storytelling, Heritage and Identity in Tourism

Type/Format

Open Paper Session

Session Description

Stories play a central role in shaping how destinations are imagined, experienced, and represented. Narratives influence understandings of heritage, culture, identity, belonging, and place while contributing to broader processes of inclusion, exclusion, remembering, and forgetting. As destinations increasingly compete through storytelling and experiential tourism, there is a growing need to examine the relationship between narratives, memory, and destination formation.

This session invites theoretical, empirical, and methodological contributions exploring how destinations are produced, interpreted, and negotiated through storytelling practices. Particular attention is given to heritage narratives, collective memory, destination image formation, community storytelling, tourism interpretation, and representations of the past. The session also welcomes research on contested, divided, or post-conflict destinations, where narratives may contribute to peacebuilding, reconciliation, and dialogue or reinforce competing interpretations of history.

Potential topics include: storytelling and destination image formation; heritage interpretation; collective memory; identity and place-making; community narratives; contested heritage; peacebuilding; destination storytelling; digital narratives; dark tourism; destination branding; indigenous and minority voices; and methodological approaches to studying narratives and memory in tourism.

Keywords

Storytelling; Narratives; Collective Memory; Heritage; Identity; Destination Image

Language

English

Session Organizer

Dr Vasilis Papavasiliou, CTL Eurocollege, Cyprus

Interested Participant

Dr Vasilis Papavasiliou – Shared Memories and Divided Narratives: Community Storytelling and Destination Image Formation in Cyprus