Cover not available

Article published In: Linguistic Landscape
Vol. 11:1 (2025) ► pp.1–31

Get fulltext from our e-platform
JBE logo with link
PDF logo with download linkDownload PDF
EPUB logo with download linkDownload EPUB
authorization required

‘Dear guest, pay for your language’. How accommodation rating and ownership effect language presence on the Online Linguistic Landscape

The case of Palma de Mallorca

ORCiD logo with link | University of the Balearic Islands
Published online: 24 September 2024
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/ll.23061.bru
Abstract
The present paper draws on the concept of Online Linguistic Landscape (Kallen, Jeffrey, Ní Dhonnacha, Esther & Wade, Karen (2020). Online Linguistic Landscapes: Discourse, Globalization and Enregisterment. In Malinowski, David & Tufi, Stefania (Eds.), Reterritorializing Linguistic Landscapes. Questioning Boundaries and Opening Spaces (pp. 96–116). London: Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) 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.
Resumen
El presente trabajo parte del concepto de Paisaje Lingüístico Online (Kallen, Jeffrey, Ní Dhonnacha, Esther & Wade, Karen (2020). Online Linguistic Landscapes: Discourse, Globalization and Enregisterment. In Malinowski, David & Tufi, Stefania (Eds.), Reterritorializing Linguistic Landscapes. Questioning Boundaries and Opening Spaces (pp. 96–116). London: Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar) para explorar la preferencia de código en los sitios web de establecimientos de alojamiento en destinos turísticos internacionales. El análisis de la base de datos creada al efecto con los sitios web de los 254 establecimientos operativos en Palma (Mallorca, España) revela que, aunque los principales mercados turísticos condicionan la presencia de códigos en los sitios web, el amplio abanico de idiomas que se muestra no se corresponde con el catálogo más reducido de nacionalidades visitantes. Más allá de lo estrictamente informativo, las páginas web se han convertido en eficaces herramientas de promoción y venta, y la rentabilidad derivada de ciertas asociaciones en boga puede suponer que un idioma determinado figure en una página web, incluso cuando otros más frecuentes entre los huéspedes no lo hagan. La escasa presencia online del catalán, lengua autóctona de Mallorca, ilustra cómo en entornos de turismo de masas, las lenguas minoritarias se encuentran en la encrucijada de sucumbir a las exigencias del mercado o someterse a procesos de mercantilización de resultado incierto.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Literature review
    • 2.1Online Linguistic Landscape
    • 2.2The OLL of tourism
      • 2.2.1The language of hotel websites
  • 3.Setting and method
  • 4.Findings
    • 4.1Code choice and preference in the OLL
    • 4.2Multilingual writing
    • 4.3Websites, hospitality rating and ownership
    • 4.4The case of Catalan
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1The shaping of multilingual writing in the OLL of hospitality
    • 5.2Rating and ownership
    • 5.3Local minority languages: Catalan
  • 6.Conclusions and further research
  • Acknowledgements
  • References
References (80)
References
Androutsopoulos, Jannis (2014). Computer-mediated communication and Linguistic Landscapes. In Holmes, Janet & Hazen, Kirk (Eds.), Research methods in sociolinguistics: A practical guide (pp.74–90). Chichester: Wiley.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Aramberri, Julio (2001). The host should get lost: paradigms in the tourism theory. Annals of Tourism Research, 28(3), 738–761. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Balearic Islands Tourism Board (2017). Balearic Islands Context Survey. Palma: Agència de Turisme de les Illes Balears. [URL] (accessed 13 December 2021).
Bell, David (2009). Tourism and hospitality. In Jamal, T., & Robinson, M. (Eds.). The SAGE Handbook of Tourist Studies (pp. 19–34). London: Sage. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Belmar, Guillem (2019). Les xarxes virtuals i el català: actituds, usos i el paper de les comunitats virtuals com a refugis d’ús. Révue d’Etudes Catalanes, (5), 26–39.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Berezkina, Maimu (2018). ‘Language is a Costly and Complicating Factor’: a Diachronic Study of Language Policy in the Virtual Public Sector. Language Policy, 17(1), 55–75. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Biró, Enikő (2019). More than a Facebook Share: Exploring Virtual Linguistic Landscape. Acta Universitatis Sapientiae, Philologica, 10(2), 181–192. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Brown, Jacki (n.d.). Your website is the new hotel lobby. AMADEUS Hospitality. [URL] (accessed 23 November 2021).
Bruyèl-Olmedo, Antonio & Juan-Garau, Maria (2009). English as a Lingua Franca in the Linguistic Landscape of the Multilingual Resort of S’Arenal in Mallorca. International Journal of Multilingualism, 6(4), 368–411. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2020). Tourism and the visibility of local languages: Reflections on the introduction of Catalan in the Majorcan tourist public space. In Jarazo-Álvarez, Rubén & Prieto-Arranz, José Igor (Eds.). The Humanities Still Matter. (pp. 253–272). Oxford: Peter Lang.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Buswell, Richard (2011). Mallorca and Tourism. History, Economy and Environment. Bristol: Channel View Publications. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Calvi, Maria Vittoria (2005). Il linguaggio spagnolo del turismo. Mauro Baroni Editore.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cantón-Rodríguez, Mª Loreto (2014). Gestión del léxico turístico en páginas webs hoteleras de promoción: un ejemplo de alojamientos de la comunidad Balear. Normas, 41, 9–26. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Christou, Loizos (2012). Is it possible to combine mass tourism with alternative forms of tourism: the case of Spain, Greece, Slovenia and Croatia. Journal of Business Administration Online. Spring 2012.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, Erik (1972). Toward a sociology of international tourism. Social Research, 39(1): 164–182.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cohen, Erik & Cooper, Robert L. (1986). Language and Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 13(4), 533–563. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Conselleria de Cultura, Participació i Esports (2017). Enquesta d’Usos Lingüístics a les Illes Balears 2014. Anàlisi. Palma: Govern de les Illes Balears.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Córdoba-Azcárate, Matilde (2020). Stuck with Tourism. Space, Power and Labor in Contemporary Yucatan. University of California Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Dann, Graham (1996). The Language of Tourism: A Sociolinguistic Perspective. CAB International.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2012). Remodelling a changing language of tourism: from monologue to dialogue and trialogue. Pasos, 10(4), 59–70. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
De Carlos-Villamarín, Pablo, Alén-González, Elisa, Pérez-González, Ana & Figueroa-Revilla, Beatriz (2019). Cultural Differences, Language Attitudes and Tourist Satisfaction: A Study in the Barcelona Hotel Sector. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 40(2), 133–147. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Díaz-Bizkarguenaga, Koldo (2011). Euskal Identitatearen Garapena Online sare Sozialen Bidez: Gazteen Praktika Sozialak Facebooken. Gogoa, 11(1), 61–85.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Djamasbi, Soussan, Siegel, Marisa & Tullis, Tom (2011). Visual Hierarchy and Viewing Behavior: An Eye Tracking Study. In Jacko, Julie (Ed.), Human-Computer Interaction. Design and Development Approaches. HCI 2011. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, Volume 6761 (pp. 331–340). Berlin: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Escobar-Rodríguez, Tomás & Carvajal-Trujillo, Elena (2013). An Evaluation of Spanish Hotel Websites: Informational vs. Relational Strategies. International Journal of Hospitality Management, (33), 228–239. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ederson, Tim (2000). Staging tourism. Tourists as Performers. Annals of Tourism Research, 27(2), 322–344. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Fuster-Márquez, Miguel (2014). Lexical Bundles and Phrase Frames in the Language of Hotel Websites. English Text Construction, 7(1), 84–121. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Generalitat Valenciana (2021). Encuesta. Conocimiento y uso social del valenciano. Síntesis de resultados 2021. Generalitat Valenciana.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Goethals, Patrick (2014). La acomodación lingüística en contextos profesionales turísticos. Un enfoque didáctico basado en los testimonios de turistas. Ibérica (281), 181–202.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
(2016). Multilingualism and International Tourism: A Content — and Discourse-based Approach to Language-related Judgments in Web 2.0 Hotel Reviews. Language and Intercultural Communication, 16(2), 235–253. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Gomaa, Yasser Ahmed (2020). Language Policy in the Virtual Linguistic Landscape: the Case of the Kingdom of Bahrain E-government National Portal. Cadernos de Linguagem e Sociedade, 21(2), 21–37. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heller, Monica (2003). Globalisation, the new economy, and the commodification of languages and identity. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 7(4), 473–492. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Heller, Monica, Pujolar, Joan & Duchêne, Alexandre (2014). Linguistic commodification in tourism. Journal of Sociolinguistics, 18(4), 539–566. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Holmqvist, Jonas (2011). Consumer Language Preferences in Service Encounters: a Cross-cultural Perspective. Managing Service Quality, 21(2), 178–191. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Honeycutt, Courtenay & Cunliffe, Daniel (2010). The Use of the Welsh Language on Facebook. Information, Communication & Society, 13(2), 226–248. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Institut d’Estadística de Catalunya (2015). Enquesta d’Usos Lingüístics de la Població 2013. Barcelona: Generalitat de Catalunya.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ivković, Dejan & Lotherington, Heather (2009). Multilingualism in Cyberspace: Conceptualising the Virtual Linguistic Landscape. International Journal of Multilingualism, 6(1), 16–34. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jasper, Chris (2017, March 30). Thomas Cook Abandons Practice of Separating Hotel Guests by Nationality. Skift. [URL] (accessed 21 September 2021).
Jaworski, Adam & Piller, Ingrid (2008). Linguascaping Switzerland: Language ideologies in tourism. In Locher, Miriam & Strässler, Jürg (Eds.). Standards and norms in the English language. (pp. 301–321). New York: Mouton de Gruyter. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jaworski, Adam & Thurlow, Crispin (2010). Language and the Globalizing Habitus of Tourism: Towards a Sociolinguistics of Fleeting Relationships. In Coupland, Nicholas (Ed.). The Handbook of Language and Globalisation (pp. 255–286.). Chichester: Wiley-Blackwell. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jaworski, Adam, Thurlow, Crispin, Lawson, Sarah & Ylänne-McEwen, Virpi (2003). The uses and representations of local languages in tourist destinations: A View from British TV Holiday Programmes. Language awareness, 12(1), 5–29. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Jie, Ding & Hemchua, Saengchan (2022). The Authenticity of Online Linguistic Landscape in Historical Heritage Tourism: A Consumer-Based Model. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 6(6), 5158–5170Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kallen, Jeffrey, Ní Dhonnacha, Esther & Wade, Karen (2020). Online Linguistic Landscapes: Discourse, Globalization and Enregisterment. In Malinowski, David & Tufi, Stefania (Eds.), Reterritorializing Linguistic Landscapes. Questioning Boundaries and Opening Spaces (pp. 96–116). London: Bloomsbury. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kasanga, Luanga A. (2014). The Linguistic Landscape: mobile signs, code choice, symbolic meaning and territoriality in the discourse of protest. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2301, 19–44. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Kim, Sungwoo & Chesnut, Michael (2020). Teaching with Virtual Linguistic Landscapes: Developing Translingual and Transcultural Competence. In Malinowski, David, Maxim, Hiram H. & Dubreil, Sébastien (Eds.), Language Teaching in the Linguistic Landscape. Mobilizing Pedagogy in Public Space (pp. 69–92). Cham: Springer. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Koens, Ko, Postma, Albert & Papp, Bernadett (2018). Is overtourism overused? Understanding the impact of tourism in a city context. Sustainability, 10(12), 4384. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Landry, Rodrigue & Bourhis, Richard Y. (1997). Linguistic landscape and ethnolinguistic vitality. An empirical study. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 16(1), 23–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Lee, Carmen (2017). Multilingualism Online. Oxon: Routledge.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Li, Xu, Wang, Youcheng & Yu, Yixiu (2015). Present and future hotel website marketing activities: Change propensity analysis. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 41, 131–139. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Maci, Stefania (2007). Virtual Touring. The web language of tourism. Linguistica e Filologia, (25), 41–65.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Malenkina, Nadezhda & Ivanov, Stanislav (2018). A Linguistic Analysis of the Official Tourism Websites of the Seventeen Spanish Autonomous Communities. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management, (9), 204–233. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Manca, Elena (2018). Verbal Techniques of the Language of Tourism across Cultures: An Analysis of Five Official Tourist Websites. In Bielenia-Grajewska, Magdalena & Cortes-de los Rios, Enriqueta (Eds.). Innovative Perspectives on Tourism Discourse (pp. 91–110). Hershey: IGI Global. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Markovic, Suzana, Raspor, Sanja, Car, Tomislav & Komšić, Jelena (2012). Content Analysis of Hotel Websites: Case Study of Croatia. Studia Ubb Negotia, 57(4), 27–37.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Mastercard (n.d.). Global Destination Cities Index 2019. [URL] (accessed 4 October 2021).
McNaughton, Darlene (2006). The ‘host’ as uninvited ‘guest’: Hospitality, violence and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 33(3), 645–665. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Melià, Joan (2005). El turisme i la projecció exterior de la lengua catalana. Revista de Llengua i Dret, 441, 207–227.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Molz, Jennie Germann & Gibson, Sarah (2007). Introduction: Mobilizing and mooring hospitality. In Molz, Jennie Germann & Gibson, Sarah (Eds.). Mobilizing Hospitality. The Ethics of Social Relations in a Mobile World. (pp. 1–25). Aldershot: Ashgate.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Moshnikov, Ilia (2016). Karjalankieliset Verkkosivut Virtuaalisena Kielimaisemana. Lähivõrdlusi — Lähivertailuja, (26), 282–308. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Murphy, Jamie, Schegg, Roland & Olaru, Doina (2006). Investigating the evolution of hotel internet adoption. Information Technology & Tourism, 81, 161–177. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Pernice, Kara (2019, August 25). Text Scanning Patterns: Eyetracking Evidence. NN/g Nielsen Norman Group. [URL] (accessed 3 September 2021).
Qian, Jianwei & Law, Rob (2021). Examination of Website Language Strategies Adopted by Five-Star Hotels in China: A Corpus Approach. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Electronic Commerce Research, 161, 1066–1078. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reershemius, Gertrud (2017). Autochthonous Heritage Languages and Social Media: Writing and Bilingual Practices in Low German on Facebook. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 38(1), 35–49. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Reh, Mechthild (2004). Multilingual Writing: A Reader-oriented Typology — with Examples from Lira Municipality (Uganda). International Journal of the Sociology of Language, (170), 1–41. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ruzaitė, Jüratė (2017). The Linguistic Landscape of Tourism: Multilingual Signs in Lithuanian and Polish Resorts. Journal of Estonian and Finno-Ugric Linguistics, 8(1): 197–220. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Ryan, Johnny (2010). A History of the Internet and the Digital Future. London: Reaktion books.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sassi, Massimiliano (2018). Mobility, work, and language hierarchy in a tourist community on the Costa Brava. Language and intercultural communication, 18(4): 377–389. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Schmidt, Serje & Bohnenberger, Maria Cristina (2005). Websites of Majorca Hotels: An Evaluation. Revista Gestão e Desenvolvimento, 2(1), 113–124.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Scollon, Ron & Scollon, Suzie Wong (2003). Discourses in Place. Language in the Material World. Routledge. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Sebba, Mark (2013). Multilingualism in written discourse: An approach to the analysis of multilingual texts. International Journal of Bilingualism, 17 (1), 97–118. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Smith, Valene L. (1977). Hosts and Guests. The Anthropology of Tourism. Basil Blackwell.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spain (1983). Ley Orgánica 2/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía para las Islas Baleares. Boletín Oficial del Estado 51, de 1 de marzo de 19831: 5776–5783.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Spolsky, Bernard & Cooper, Robert (1991). The Languages of Jerusalem. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Staiff, Russell, Waterton, Emma & Lean, Garth (2017). Travel and representation: Past, present and future. In Lean, Garth, Staiff, Russell, and Waterton, Emma (Eds.). Travel and Representation. (pp. 1–13). Oxford: Berghahn. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Suen, Amy (2018). The Language of Luxury Hotel Websites in China. In Kim, Young-Chan, & Chen, Pi-Chi (Eds.). The Digitization of Business in China. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thurlow, Crispin & Jaworski, Adam (2011). Tourism discourse: Languages and banal globalization. Applied Linguistics Review, 2(2011), 285–312. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Thurlow, Crispin, Lengel, Laura & Tomic, Alice (2004). Computer Mediated Communication. Social Interaction and the Internet. London: Sage Publications.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Torkington, Kate (2014). Tourism-related Mobilities and Discursive Landscaping in the Algarve. Dos Algarves: A Multidisciplinary e-Journal, (24), 40–63.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Turner, Louis & Ash, John (1976). The golden hordes: International tourism and the pleasure periphery. New York. St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Urry, John (2002). The Tourist Gaze (2nd. ed.). London. Sage.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Warner, Mark, Quadri-Felitti, Donna & Chandnani, Priya V. (2010). A History of Travel Distribution: 1915–2009. St. Paul: HEDNA.Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Yao, Xiaofang (2023). Metrolingualism in Online Linguistic Landscapes. International Journal of Multilingualism, 20(2), 214–230. Google Scholar logo with link to Google Scholar
Cited by (1)

Cited by one other publication

Cao, Fan
2025. ‘Yo! Yo! Welcome to 茂名特产秀’: identity construction of a new farmer on the online linguistic landscape of Douyin in China. International Journal of Multilingualism ► pp. 1 ff. DOI logo

This list is based on CrossRef data as of 26 november 2025. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.

Mobile Menu Logo with link to supplementary files background Layer 1 prag Twitter_Logo_Blue