Postcards as representation of a destination image: The case of Berlin

Abstract

The study adopted a qualitative approach to assess the role of postcards in representing a destination image. Twenty-five postcard racks were sampled in a variety of retail outlets in Berlin, using an observation and photography of the postcards. The 150 postcards sampled were analyzed and sorted according to the pictorial content and other iconic symbols featured on the postcards using certain photographic typologies employed in previous research. The findings revealed that unlike many other large metropolitan cities, Berlin was distinctively represented in its postcards. The analysis concluded that the postcards lacked human portrayal and featured a limited sample of its cultural and heritage attractions. Instead, the majority of the postcards featured Cold War themes, as well as generic icons and legendary mascots of the city. The lack of a focus representation of contemporary Berlin in tourists’ postcards may be explained by Berlin’s historical, economic, political, and social background. Recommendations for developing more pertinent images of the tourist experiences to be featured on postcards are discussed.

Keywords

Berlin content analysis destination image icons identity postcards

Introduction

Destination Management Organizations (DMOs) and tourism suppliers are actively involved in developing, presenting, and promoting images and identities of destinations to attract visitors and subsequently increase market share (Dredge and Jenkins, 2003). Visual methods like TV advertising, billboards, picture postcards, slides, photographs published in travel brochures, souvenir booklets, and travel magazines are vital in creating and communicating images of any destination. These visual images have been used extensively to reflect on the tourist’s experience at the destination and to represent the destination to potential market segments (Albers and James, 1988).

Photographs play a crucial role in the promotion of tourism destinations through a range of media (Garrod, 2009). Visual images are a powerful component of destination marketing and dominate all forms of tourism promotion (Jenkins, 2003). Photography is the primary medium through which people relate to visual images and make their own interpretations. In many cases, the photographed picture replaces the direct tourist experience as a primary source of knowledge (Albers and James, 1988).

The popularity of postcards as an illustrated representation of destinations has been attributed to its broad visual communication appeal. The glossy images of natural and man-made attractions, as well as iconic and abstract descriptions of destinations, are designed and produced so tourists will have evidence for their travel experience. Travelers send postcards to friends and relatives to validate their trip, either by sharing their travel experiences at the destination or to merely let significant others know that they are thinking about them. Sending a postcard is an act of reinforcement of common perceptions of place and an insight into both past and present geographies (Kuhlken, 2007). Postcards are also symbols that sustain notions of “exoticism” and “authenticity” of destinations (Markwick, 2001).

From a commercial perspective, destinations and tourist suppliers value postcards as consumers purchase an advertisement medium and disseminate it at their own expense and hence create free publicity for the destination (Butler, 1990). The picture postcard is the most widely distributed and easily accessible souvenir at various retail outlets at almost any tourist destination (Albers and James, 1988; Markwick, 2001). Picture postcards not only represent destinations but also communicate attributes, characteristics, concepts, values, ideas, and popular culture (MacKay and Fesenmaier, 1997). Pritchard and Morgan (2003) also argued that the postcard is as important as promotional material, travelogues, and travel writing in creating communication of place. Such dialogues shape and even determine destination images and therefore influencing tourists’ expectations of a place, their interactions with it, and their postexperience evaluation of the destination (Pritchard and Morgan, 2003).

Despite of the continuous popularity of postcards, some argue that the tendency of sending postcards from vacation destinations is declining due to the availability of alternative visual and vocal means of communication that travelers can use from their vacation destination. With the advance of electronic communication, new forms of postcards emerged, often referred to as e-cards. These e-cards are mostly offered for free by websites and DMOs for consumers to e-mail. Several years ago, a number of software companies started developing an array of video postcards that allow users to send personal video messages via electronic mail (Attraction Management (editorial), 2006).

While technology continues to offer creative alternatives to the traditional postcard, several studies confirmed the sustainability of the popularity of old-fashioned postcards, both as souvenirs and as a means of communication used by tourists. A survey conducted by the Marplan Institute (2007) in Germany indicated that 53% of the respondents said that they had sent picture postcards from their recent vacation to relatives or friends. The contemporary popularity of postcards was also confirmed empirically by Yüksel and Olcay’s (2007) survey about the role of postcards as effective image makers. The findings revealed that 54.8% of the respondents sent postcards from their last holiday destination.

Postcards show little sign of disappearing from popular culture and continue to feature multiple interpretations of destinations. Given the sustainable role of postcards in promoting destinations, very few studies evaluated and analyzed the images shown on the postcards or explored the reasons for selecting the images and messages portrayed on them. More specifically, there is very little research investigating why the Eiffel Tower is a common image featured in many postcards offered for sale in Paris or Mickey Mouse is featured on postcards offered for sale in Orlando.

This exploratory study is an attempt to investigate the various images presented in postcards offered for sale in Berlin, a major European tourist destination. The study evaluates the various styles and methods in which postcards represent the destination to tourists as evidence for their travel (Hillman, 2007). It aimed to speculate on the impact of postcards in developing an authentic destination image and identity; evaluating the motives, meanings, emotions, and other subjective aspects featured on postcards will allow us to conclude whether the tourist destination images are indeed produced to endorse the “real” or “true” experience of tourists.

Literature review

Postcard research in the context of tourism and travel

The role of postcards in the context of tourism and travel has been examined in the literature, mainly from political, cultural, sociological, anthropological, historical, and economic perspectives. Most studies adopted a content analysis approach and examined past and present representation of destinations. For example, Burns (2004) analyzed several colonial era postcard pictures from Arabia and pointed out the visual communication of power and the interrelationship between history and politics (Burns, 2004). Edwards (1996) studied a museum postcard collection to understand how cultural identities are shaped by tourism photography, and Mamiya (1992) explored how Hawaiian culture was represented and shaped by postcards.

Some studies looked at the sociological and anthropological representation in postcards and the messages associated with human images. Cohen (2007) suggested that recent postcard studies have mainly focused on the critical analysis of photographic representations of native and ethnic people. He reviewed the transformation of the Santa Claus image from a wintry patron of children to a tourist in the tropical south (Cohen, 2007). Thurlow et al. (2005) studied the image of ethnic minorities in South Africa and Finland and concluded that the postcards communicated “intense exoticization and commodified cultural representation.” Mellinger (1994) examined photographic postcards of African Americans during the 1893–1917 period and concluded that the photographers used specific symbolic strategies to culturally sketch black bodies’ distinctiveness. Finally, Albers and James (1988) studied the relationships between tourism, ethnicity, and photography using a sample of postcards.

Other studies adopted an economical approach of postcards in the marketplace by investigating the commercial and social impact of producing postcards. Larsen’s (2006) study of the Danish island of Bornholm concluded that “producing” and “consuming” a tourist destination through pictures may vary between tourists and commercial photographers. Postcards offered for sale were questionable as commercial photographers and tourists picture the island differently (Larsen, 2006).

Finally, the literature also provides several theoretical contributions for classification of postcards. Cohen (1993) suggested five dimensions of a postcard analysis: beautiful images, exotic images, cute images, comic images, and designed and neutral images. Cohen’s (2007) study of the Santa Claus theme on Thai postcards analyzed the well-known figure on three dimensions: the background environment featured on the postcard, appearance of Santa Claus, and Santa’s activities. The study of vacation advertisements by Olson et al. (1986) identified three main categories of pictorial images: natural landscapes and scenery, people involved in recreational activities, and man-made landmarks and buildings. A similar approach was adopted by Hashimoto and Telfer (2007) who studied souvenirs offered for sale in Niagara Falls, Canada.

Postcard research in the context of destination image

A destination image is the sum of perceptual beliefs, ideas, and impressions based on information processed from a variety of sources over time (Gartner, 1993; MacKay and Fesenmaier, 1997). A wide range of factors may influence the individual’s perception of a specific destination, including picture postcards and other images featured on postcards. However, regardless of the images on the postcard, the consumer’s process of developing a tourism destination’s image engages a subjective or a blurry view that is different from its objective reality.

Visual images are indeed a powerful component of tourist destination marketing and dominate all forms of tourism promotion, from travel brochures and television commercials to Internet websites (Jenkins, 2003). Image is perceived as a mental picture formed by a set of characteristics that define a destination and implements a strong influence on the tourist’s behavior (Beerli and Martín, 2004; Yüksel and Olcay, 2007). Yüksel and Olcay (2007) concluded empirically that postcard-induced feelings about the tourist destination determine the degree to which the destination would be valued as a travel destination. Image may also be crucial in the process of a consumer’s choice of destinations. This is especially crucial when tourists have limited information about the destination, particularly if they had not visited it previously (Beerli and Martín, 2004).

Tourist destination images have been developed by a variety of public and private organizations through an assortment of mass media tools like websites, brochures, newspapers, magazines, television, and so on. One of the most prevailing findings in consumer behavior research suggested that pictures are more easily recalled or recognized by consumers than words (Singh and Formica, 2006). Empirical research confirmed that advertising pictures had a positive effect on consumers’ memories for product-relevant information (Lutz and Lutz, 1977) and that the effect of visuals was superior to texts on memory (Childers and Houston, 1984). Since tourism activities are primarily experience based, photographs, pictures, or other symbolic images are crucial when communicating the destination’s image to consumers (Mackay and Fesenmaier, 1997).

The majority of the studies that addressed photography and destination images concluded that written text and visual images were not neutral but rather communicated meanings “beyond any initial intended messages” (Small et al., 2008: 19). More specifically, some studies pointed out to the bias and prejudice in the representation of destinations as well as to the audience communicated. Jordan and Fleming (2005) and Morgan and Pritchard (1998), for example, concluded that some travel brochures adopted a chauvinistic stereotype.

Other empirical research pointed out to ethnicity typecasting in tourism brochures that helped establish a sense of the Western self-identity (Dann, 1996; Klemm and Burton, 2005; Small et al., 2008). Markwick’s study (2001) of postcards from Malta concluded that while certain stereotypical images of Malta were sustained, the image presented in postcards has expanded the destination’s image (Markwick, 2001). More recently, Milman’s (2011) study of a resort destination in Turkey concluded that a large proportion of the postcards offered for sale were classified as “refurbished reality, misleading, or fantasy postcards.”

With a few exceptions, these qualitative and quantitative studies evaluated a limited number of postcards and did not always use a comprehensive compilation of postcards offered for sale at the destination. Postcards may be regarded as an input source for representing a destination’s image, not only for remote recipients but also for tourists who visit the destination. Browsing through a large number of postcards may develop, enhance, or even change tourists’ image of the destination just by being exposed to new features and messages that they have not been previously seen or exposed to.

It is estimated that millions of postcards are mailed from a single country with multiple tourist destinations every year (Yüksel and Olcay, 2007). Therefore, featuring and producing effective visual images of a destination on postcards should be a major area of concern for all constituencies involved in the development, production, and sale of destination postcards.

Traditional postcards continue to be a popular form of souvenir for travelers as well as an economical means of communication. Postcards provide an icon of a “culture in a hurry” and have become commonplace signals that someone we know is traveling or just thinking about us (Kuhlken, 2007). An analysis of a representative sample of postcards offered for sale at a destination would help understand better the role of postcards in representing a destination image.

Methodology

Instrument development

While the literature on destination image is quite extensive, it is necessary to expand the body of knowledge on the role of postcards in representing the images adopted and developed by the various constituencies that produce the images of a specific destination. The study aimed to discover information and develop an understanding about the unknown world of all stakeholders involved in the postcard experience: photographers, producers, vendors, tourists, or even local residents.

Since there is limited research on the meaning of postcards within the context of destination image representation, a qualitative approach was adopted to understand the perception and interpretation of reality featured on the postcards offered for sale at a specific destination (Schwartz and Jacobs, 1979). While this method does not necessarily produce “truths, factual, and data based results,” it provides a source of insight and ideas that continuously take place (Wells, 1991: 39).

The most widely held approach employed in postcard research was a content analysis. Some examples include Hunter and Suh’s (2007) study that employed a content analysis to evaluate visual perceptions of the Dolhareubang, large mushroom-like statues found on Jeju Island, off the southern tip of Korea. Albers and James (1983, 1988) analyzed photographs of First Americans in the form of postcards. Markwick (2001) used a sample of 500 randomly collected postcards to assess symbolic meanings of Malta, and Edwards (1996) analyzed 1500 postcards collected over 2 years on Australian aboriginal representations.

This study also adopted a content analysis approach to analyze a sample of postcards offered for sale in Berlin, using a constructive viewpoint by examining what were the images or representations on the postcards themselves, rather than the subjective perspective of tourists or other buyers of what they believed to be represented in the pictures or the images portrayed on the postcards.

The study’s setting

Berlin is located in the northeast of Germany with a population of about 3.5 million. Approximately one-third of the city’s area is covered by woodland, parks, and waterways (About Berlin, 2011). With an area of 891 km², Berlin is nine times larger than Paris and has more bridges than Venice (Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH, 2011). Berlin was successively the capital of the Kingdom of Prussia (1701–1918), the German Empire (1871–1918), the Weimar Republic (1919–1933), and the Third Reich (1933–1945) (Modern History Sourcebook, 2011).

In the 1920s, Berlin was the third largest municipality in the world (Hake, 2008). After World War II, the city was divided; East Berlin became the capital of East Germany, while West Berlin became a de facto West German exclave, surrounded by the Berlin Wall (1961–1989). Following German reunification in 1990, the city regained its status as the capital of Germany (Germany information, 2011).

The number of visitors to Berlin has increased steadily in the past 6 years. In 2010, 9,051,430 visitors arrived in Berlin, an increase of 9.5%, compared to the previous year. The majority of the visitors were from Germany (59.1%), and the remainder were international visitors (30.3% European and 9.2% overseas visitors) (Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH, 2011). In 2010, the city hotels hosted 20.8 million room nights, an increase of 10.2% compared to the previous year. The top overnight stays were generated by German, Italian, and British tourists. Tourists from the Netherlands, Spain, the USA, and Denmark followed (Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH, 2011).

In spite of its tourist popularity, efforts to promote Berlin continue with the city trying to position itself as a big European city (Hammer, 2009). Yet, Berlin’s history, its location between East and West may be both a strength and a weakness for developing a unique destination image or tourism identity. Contemporary Berlin offers a mixture of recent past, the wars and the differences between Eastern and Western Europe. Wide-reaching media coverage of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall throughout 2009 has promoted a positive image of the contemporary Berlin, and German tourism officials expect to generate continued strong visitor interest in the German capital.

Sampling and data collection

There are three common sampling strategies in qualitative research: convenience sampling, judgment sampling, and theoretical sampling (Marshall, 1996). For the purpose of this study, a judgment sampling was adopted, where the researcher selected the most “productive sample” to answer the research questions (Marshall, 1996: 523). The research also adopted a nonprobability sampling, where the researcher collected, coded, and analyzed the data and decided what data to collect next (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Ryan, 1995). Finally, the data collection process also employed opportunistic sampling with postcard vendors who provided the permission to take pictures of the postcard racks and the individual postcards (Ryan, 1995).

A sample of postcards offered for sale in Berlin was used to evaluate the pictures and other iconic representations of the tourist destination featured on the postcards. The photography technique was implemented for convenience purposes only. Pictures were only taken of the display racks, the location of the rack in the retail outlet, and the actual postcards.

The data were collected during the summer all of 2009, using an observation technique coupled with camera photography of postcard racks positioned in the city’s areas frequented by tourists. The study sampled 25 postcard racks and included 150 postcards. Although Berlin has 12 official districts (Visit Berlin, 2011), the postcard racks sampled were observed in Berlin’s four major tourist districts, located both in the former East and West Berlin: Mitte, Tiergarten, Charlottenburg, and Kreuzberg (Inyourpocket, 2011). Table 1 summarizes the three types of postcards sampled. Since the postcards sold in the four districts were not necessarily corresponding to any specific district, identical postcards were displayed in all four tourist districts.

Table 1.

Categorization of Berlin’s postcards sampled

Type of postcards sampled	N	%
Realistic and true photographs	35	23.33
Iconic images	60	40.00
Generic or nonspecific postcards	55	36.67
Total	150	100.0

The selection process of the postcards was different at the beginning and at the end of the sampling process that took several days. At the beginning of the process, postcards were selected diagonally at any rack. Toward the end of the sampling process, the selection criteria focused on postcards that were not already included in the sample.

While there was no control on traffic bias, the postcards sampled were displayed in high passage areas of Berlin’s tourist attractions. It was assumed that the quality of the postcard distribution, in terms of the display and consumer access, was comparable in all locations.

Qualitative data analysis

The postcards were analyzed and sorted according to the pictures and other iconic representations featured on the postcards. The first round of analysis assessed the level of realism displayed in the pictures. The postcards were individually listed and classified according to Berlin’s pictorial and symbolic representations displayed. The analysis identified which postcards featured landmarks, people, plants, trees, sea, animals, or other realistic and nonrealistic symbols featured on the postcards. Photographs or caricatures of people featured on the postcards were then classified according to gender, estimated age, crowd type (single, couple, family, and friends), or national or ethnic origin (Small et al., 2008).

The second round of analysis adopted Hunter’s (2008) typology of photographic representations for tourism pictures. The postcards were independently listed and categorized according to space and the level of subjects (people) featured in the pictures. The analysis aimed to determine the presence of certain concepts, messages, and other images communicated on the postcards.

Findings

The postcards’ display methods

Berlin postcards offered for sale were part of the tourist souvenir portfolio and were readily available for purchase. The largest selection and best prices were offered by small souvenir shops or kiosk vendors. Other commercial outlets included hotels, open market stalls, and other tourist establishments like attractions, historical buildings, and museums. In most cases, similar postcards were featured by the different shopping outlets.

There were two types of postcard displays: (1) rectangular displays of postcards, where all postcards could be browsed through one at a time, and (2) traditional circular postcard racks, where postcards were arranged in a circle display and shoppers could browse the postcards while turning the rack 360°.

In some instances, the price tag on top of the postcard rack indicated an intense competition in the postcard market. This might also suggest a message to the buyers that there was no need for verbal communication or price negotiation in the purchasing process. Furthermore, some vendors offered “packages” where a certain number of postcards were offered for sale at a reduced price; for example, some vendors offered five postcards for €1, probably estimating that the postcards would be sold both as souvenirs and postal material to friends and relatives.

Postcards’ themes and their display frequency on sales racks

The postcards were divided into three major groups. The first group featured realistic and true photographs of Berlin. Some photographs enhanced the city’s identity by superimposing the name “Berlin” on some pictures (Figure 1). However, only a small proportion of the total postcards sampled were part of this group.

Figure 1.

Realistic photograph of Berlin.

The second group of postcards presented iconic images of Berlin. The postcards predominantly displayed bears, Berlin’s famous pedestrian traffic lights, and Currywurst, a local sausage (Figure 2). The third group of postcards included generic or nonspecific postcards, featuring the name Berlin in different designs, as well as caricatures, and other nonspecific images of the city (Figure 3). The majority of the postcards sampled represented images from these two groups.

Figure 2.

Iconic photograph of Berlin.

Figure 3.

Generic or nonspecific postcards of Berlin.

Postcards’ content and their meaning

Based on Hunter’s (2008) typology of photographic representations for tourism, Berlin was distinctively and uniquely represented in postcards. A content analysis of the pictures generated the following conclusions:

First, a review of the postcards offered for sale indicated that none of the pictures displayed on the postcards portrayed humans. Referring more specifically to Hunter’s (2008) typology of photographs, the postcards did not portray tourists, hosts, or a combination of tourists and hosts. This is not necessarily the case in other destinations, including major European and German metropolitan regions, where humans are featured in postcards. Figure 4 portrayed a boy drinking beer. The postcard was photographed in Munich. This style is very different from the excessive display of human images, especially the Royal Family in London.

Figure 4.

Humans in Munich’s postcard.

Second, the postcards did not present any natural or cultivated landscapes (Hunter, 2008). According to Hunter (2008: 360), natural landscapes are open spaces that feature “pure and unspoiled mountains, oceans, beaches, forests, lakes, wild animals, fields or sky.” Cultivated landscapes are “open spaces that feature the beauty of nature as pruned, gardened or otherwise altered” (Hunter, 2008: 360). Once a hunting ground, the Tiergarten is the second-largest urban park in Germany spanning over 210 hectares (520 acres). In spite of the Tiergarten’s popularity among local residents and tourists, the natural attraction was not featured in any of the postcards sampled. This was even more surprising given the fact that numerous tourist attractions are located in the park, including the zoological park, Siegessäule, Bauhaus-Archiv Museum für Gestaltung, and Akademie der Künste (Berlin.de, 2011). Other major tourist attractions are located in the vicinity of the park like the Reichstag and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche (Berlin.de, 2011). Please note that several of Berlin’s attractions featured on the postcards were geographically located in the Tiergarten. However, their location was not referenced on the postcards and hence lack of representation of Hunter’s (2008: 360) “cultivated landscape.”

Third, Berlin postcards featured “heritage and material culture” (Hunter, 2008: 360). These include “all situations where a specifically ethnic and unique history has made itself evident” including the pictures of “ancient ruins, arts, carvings and relics or their reproductions, temples and shrines and landmarks and cityscapes (alleys and streets) that have typically been gentrified into sites” (Hunter, 2008: 360). The pictures representing heritage material culture were divided into two major groups: contemporary Berlin and Cold War Berlin.

The most common pictures featured on the postcards were (1) The Reichstag (the seat of the German Parliament, including the glass dome over the plenary hall), (2) The Brandenburger Tor (a monumental gate built in the 18th century as a symbol of peace), (3) Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church with its damaged tower, a symbol of Berlin’s goal to rebuild the city after the war, (4) The Siegessäule victory column, (5) The Potsdamer Platz, currently occupying modern buildings, a shopping arcade and entertainment center, (6) The Berliner Dom, a baroque Cathedral built between 1894 and 1905, (7) The Neue Synagogue, the symbol of the Jewish community in Berlin, and (8) Holocaust Memorial, designed to commemorate the murder of 6 million Jews by the Third Reich (a view on cities, 2011). A sample of these postcards is presented in Figures 5 and 6. In some instances, several pictures of Berlin’s tourist attractions were presented on a single postcard (Figure 7).

Figure 5.

Berlin tourist attraction: Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church.

Figure 6.

Berlin tourist attraction: The Reichstag.

Figure 7.

Berlin tourist attraction (multiple features).

Heritage and material culture pictures were mainly associated with the Cold War. Checkpoint Charlie, one of the ultimate symbols of the Cold War was a dominant representation, but other pictures were also featured. It is interesting to mention that a large proportion of the Cold War postcards displayed pictures of signs and documentation from that era (Figures 8 to Figures 9 10). Please note that while Hunter’s (2008) heritage and material culture category also includes “ethnic peoples and their costumes and lifestyles,” there was no evidence for humans in Berlin’s postcards.

Figure 8.

Berlin Cold War.

Figure 9.

Berlin Cold War (pictorial).

Figure 10.

Berlin Cold War (documentation memorabilia).

Fourth, the majority of Berlin’s pictures were not a representation of the city’ attractions and therefore would be classified as generic or neutral images (Cohen, 1993). These included postcards depicting Berlin’s name in various designs (Figures 11 and 12).

Figure 11.

Generic Berlin (Example 1).

Figure 12.

Generic Berlin (Example 2).

Fifth, a large proportion of the postcards featured three major icons associated with the city: bears, a pedestrian traffic light, and a sausage associated with Berlin’s popular culture. These postcards could also be classified as “cute” or “comic” images (Cohen, 1993).

The bears presented on the postcards were divided into four categories: (1) authentic bears, (2) art showcase of bears, (3) authentic bears superimposed over Berlin attractions, and (4) caricatures of bears (Figures 13 to 16).

Figure 13.

Berlin bear icon (Panda).

Figure 14.

Berlin bear icon (Man-made artistic bears).

Figure 15.

Berlin bear icon superimposed on an attraction in the background.

Figure 16.

Berlin bear icon (caricature).

It is interesting to mention that the association of Berlin with different types of bears is not realistic. Some postcards featured polar bears, whereas others displayed Panda bears, both not indigenous to Berlin. The bear has been a symbol for the city for more than 700 years and was first used on official correspondence in 1280 and is still part of the city’s coat of arms. It is not clear why a bear was chosen as the city’s “mascot,” but probably, it was adopted because the German word for bear (“Bär”) is quite close to the sound of the word Berlin (Virtual Tourist, 2011). Whatever the reason, in an attempt to develop an identity for the city, the bear was chosen as a mascot displayed on many postcards.

Another attempt to develop a pictorial identity for Berlin via postcards was the city’s best known post-unification symbol: a pedestrian traffic light in the form of a little man known as Ampelmann (traffic light man). Today, key chains, shirts, and other souvenir items bearing the traffic light man’s images are sold citywide. The East Berlin Ampelmann was created in 1961 by traffic psychologist Karl Peglau. He theorized that people would respond better to the traffic signals if they were presented by a friendly character, instead of meaningless colored lights (Ampelmann, 2011) (Figure 17).

Figure 17.

Berlin Ampelmann (traffic light man).

The third noticeable Berlin icon featured on the postcards was the Currywurst, a part of Berlin’s fast food culture. It is a cooked hot dog cut into sections and covered with ketchup mixed with curry powder. According to a Berlin legend, the Currywurst sauce was invented in 1949 by Herta Heuwer who started experimenting with the ingredients out of sheer boredom while waiting for customers at her sausage stall (Associated Content, 2011) (Figures 18 and 19).

Figure 18.

Berlin Currywurst.

Figure 19.

Berlin Currywurst and French champagne.

Discussion

Berlin is among several tourist destinations that were transformed from a hostile border destination to an appealing tourist destination. The geopolitical changes have influenced the development of its tourist infrastructure and attractions and impacted the development of its image and perceived tourist’s identity (Gelbman and Dallen, 2010).

In former border destinations, unique attractions have been developed and offered observation points and commemorations of the heritage of the closed border (Gelbman and Dallen, 2010). Unlike major European metropolises, Berlin provides a different visitor experience blending the legacy of World War II and the former East and West. The city’s unique past has prompted the development of Cold War and post-Cold War images that are primarily portrayed on its postcards. It is interesting to mention that the history portrayed in the pictures goes back as far as the Cold War and not beyond; there is no reference to the Third Reich or previous regimes when Berlin played a major political, social, and economic role.

For over three decades, the Wall made Berlin the ultimate border city, the place where the Iron Curtain went from symbol to reality. It symbolized Berlin the way the Eiffel Tower represents Paris and Big Ben stands for London. Today, the Berlin Wall is almost absent from the city. However, its ever-present image continues to provoke controversy and interest among tourists, primarily with its role as an “unintentional” monument (Saunders, 2009). There is no doubt that the Wall will always dominate people’s minds, and therefore, it became “inseparable from the city’s identity” (Ladd, 1997: 20). This may explain why many postcard images regress back to historical Cold War landmarks and memorabilia (Hammer, 2009), and Berlin’s postcard portfolio is overrepresented and contribute to the city’s image.

But the major discovery from the content analysis of the postcards was that Berlin lacks a unique and clear identity. The majority of the postcards do not represent its touristic sites, museums, parks, heritage attractions, and people. The Berlin postcards, however, offer an overrepresentation of generic icons (featuring exclusively the name Berlin in different designs) or icons not necessarily associated with Berlin like polar bears, panda bears, and bear sculptures. One distinctive example of unrelated representation of the destination was a postcard featuring a picture of champagne and Currywurst (Figure 19). This certainly creates a confusing message regarding the identity and authenticity of the popular food item.

Some scholars argue that the search for an identity was a challenge for Berlin long before the Cold War. After Prussia was absorbed by the German Empire in 1871, Berlin rose to be the capital of Germany and became a sophisticated metropolis (Molnar, 2010). However, some argue that Berlin never became a source of identity for the German people, and somehow remained “without a firm shape or definition—an unfinished capital in the middle of an unfinished nation” (Engert, 1985: 150). Ladd (1997) discussed the challenge of the physical rebuilding of central Berlin in the 1990s, as a continuous attempt to restore the city and develop its identity. This was a major task, in particular dealing with the problem of confronting German history, especially the urban landscape of the National Socialist past.

At the turn of the 21st century, Berlin is still lagging behind many European cities like London, Paris, or Vienna. It continues struggling to compete in economic terms even with German regional centers like Stuttgart or Düsseldorf (Krätke, 2004). Since the reunification, Berlin experienced increasing urban economic downturn, a continuous psychological and socioeconomic East–West partition, as well as a deficiency in economic benefits deriving from the return of the German government to the city (Krätke, 2004). These historical, economic, political, and social influences may partially explain why Berlin has been very unique in its attempt to develop an identity through tourist postcards. Contrary to Berlin, postcards found in other European cities feature pictures of landmarks and people that reflect the continuity of tradition and heritage and hence create an identity for the destination (e.g. The Louvre Museum in Paris, The Royal Family in London, and Beer drinking in Munich).

Conclusion

The study is an addition to the body of literature on postcard research and adopted a qualitative approach to evaluate the symbolic role of postcards in representing a destination image. The study aimed to offer initial assessment of the tangible and symbolic role of photographs, symbols, icons, caricatures, and other images featured on postcards offered for sale in tourist venues in Berlin.

Photographs have been vital to create and communicate an image of a destination (MacKay and Fesenmaier, 1997). The printed images represent traditions blended with perceived reality and reflect certain relationships in the destination’s social structure (Morgan and Pritchard, 1998). In the past several decades, various studies investigated tourism’s pictorial media like brochures, postcards, travel guides, and other modes of advertising. This study is an addition to this body of literature and provides a preliminary analysis to better understand and classify the various features displayed on destination postcards and to assess their potential impact in representing the destination.

The analysis concludes that the majority of the postcards offered for sale in Berlin did not feature realistic or authentic representations of the destination (Milman, 2011). Most of the postcards displayed a vague view of contemporary Berlin, with no clear communication of the city’s current identity. Instead, the majority of the postcards adopted images of Berlin’s past or different icons and mascots. These ambiguous multiple meanings of Berlin may yield an unclear and confusing representation of the destination for tourists, excursionists, and recipients of the postcards.

The meaning communicated by postcards’ images might be complex and comprehensive and may require methodical “unpacking” to reveal and understand the messages (Markwick, 2001). With the flashback to the Cold War and the newly rebuilt Berlin, the postcards represented sequential snapshots of both the city’s setting and society’s value changes over time. Contemporary postcards tend to communicate information about trends and cultural shifts and have also been used as vehicles for diffusion of new ideas and of local artistic styles of expression (Kuhlken, 2007). This was not evident in the case of Berlin. As tourists’ motivations and desires become more sophisticated and complex, consumers demand the production of images that expose more of the intimate and even controversial realities of local life (Markwick, 2001).

The qualitative approach used in this study to examine a variety of features displayed on destination postcards may have some weaknesses. First, although attempts were made to sample postcards at various geographical areas and vending outlets throughout the destination area, not all Berlin postcards available for sale were observed, photographed, and analyzed. Second, the research methodology was subjective and may cause some bias in the interpretation of the truths, information, and messages displayed on the postcards studied. Third, while the postcards were sampled during a specific time frame, there is no guarantee that the same postcards would be available in subsequent time periods, and therefore, the observation presented in this article may not be accurate. Finally, the interpretation of the postcards may vary from one subject to another. The variation may be associated with sociodemographic characteristics of the buyers and recipients, as well as their cultural and psychological background.

The implications of this study suggest that postcards are still a popular sale item for many vendors at certain tourist destinations, both as souvenirs as well as postal and greeting cards to friends and relatives. While the current postcards may provide cognitive satisfaction for the tourists and economic value for the vendors, decision makers in the destination’s public and private sectors should consider enhancing the image of Berlin as a tourist destination through postcards and creating a more focused identity.

To enhance a destination’s image, it is necessary that local authorities, tourism industry leaders, and operators work together to develop exclusive images of the destination. Their input should also be coordinated with the constituencies involved in the production, selling, and buying of postcards. Tourism marketing organizations should take into consideration the authenticity of the images featured on the destination’s postcards to represent the destination in a more realistic way.

Finally, this exploratory study will allow us to develop future research propositions in an attempt to understand whether destination postcards are indeed produced to endorse the “real” or “true” experiences of tourists. The postcard analysis may also yield research agendas regarding the reasoning of postcard designers and producers to feature one image or another on the destination postcards.

Footnotes

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

References

About Berlin (2011) Available at: http://www.about-berlin.org/fastfacts.htm (accessed 9 November 2010).

Albers

James

(1983) Tourism and the changing photographic image of the Great Lakes Indians. Annals of Tourism Research 10(1): 123–148.

Albers

James

(1988) Travel photography: a methodological approach. Annals of Tourism Research 15(1): 134–158.

Ampelmann (2011) Available at: http://www.ampelmann.de/html/verkehrssicherheit.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

Associated Content (2011) Available at: http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/10098/currywurst_berlins_contribution_to.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

Attraction Management (editorial) (2006) Video postcards. Attraction Management 11(3): 79.

Beerli

Martín

(2004) Tourists’ characteristics and the perceived image of tourist destinations: a quantitative analysis—a case study of Lanzarote, Spain. Tourism Management 25(5): 623–636.

Berlin Tourismus & Kongress GmbH (Visit Berlin) (2011) Available at: http://press.visitberlin.de/en/article/tourism-statistics (accessed 9 November 2010).

Berlin

(2011) Available at: http://www.berlin.de/orte/sehenswuerdigkeiten/tiergarten/index.en.php (accessed 11 September 2010).

10.

Burns

(2004) Six postcards from Arabia: a visual discourse of colonial travels in the orient. Tourist Studies 4(3): 255–275.

11.

Butler

(1990) The influence of the media in shaping international tourist patterns. Tourism Recreation Research 15: 46–53.

12.

Childers

Houston

(1984) Conditions for a picture-superiority effect on consumer memory. Journal of Consumer Research 11(2): 643–655.

13.

Cohen

(1993) Mitigating the stereotype of stereotype. In: Pearce

Butler

(eds) Tourism Research: Critique and Challenges. London: Routledge, pp. 36–69.

14.

Cohen

(2007) From benefactor to tourist: Santa on cards from Thailand. Annals of Tourism Research 34(3): 690–708.

15.

Dann

(1996) The people of tourist brochures. In: Selwyn

(ed.) The Tourist Image: Myths and Myth Making in Tourism. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons, pp.61–81.

16.

Dredge

Jenkins

(2003) Destination place identity and regional tourism policy. Tourism Geographies 5(40): 383–407.

17.

Edwards

(1996) Postcards: greetings from another world. In: Selwyn

(ed.) The Tourist Image: Myths and Myth Making in Tourism. New York: Wiley, pp.197–222.

18.

Engert

(1985) Berlin between East and West: lessons for a confused world. In: Merritt

Merrit

(eds) Living with the Wall: West Berlin, 1961–1985. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, pp.149–165.

19.

Garrod

(2009) Understanding the relationship between tourism destination imagery and tourist photography. Journal of Travel Research 47(3): 346–358.

20.

Gartner

(1993) Image formation process. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing 2 (2/3): 191–215.

21.

Gelbman

Dallen

(2010) From hostile boundaries to tourist attractions: images. Current Issues in Tourism 13(3): 239–259.

22.

Germany information (2011) Available at: http://www.germany.info/ (accessed 9 November 2010).

23.

Glaser

Strauss

(1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Hawthorne, NY: Aldine Transaction.

24.

Hake

(2008) Topographies of Class: Modern Architecture and Mass Society in Weimar Berlin (Social History, Popular Culture, and Politics in Germany). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

25.

Hammer

(2009) A night to remember. Forbes, 17 October, 184(7): 108–113.

26.

Hashimoto

Telfer

(2007) Geographical representations embedded within souvenirs in Niagara: the case of geographically displaced authenticity. Tourism Geographies 9(2): 191–217.

27.

Hillman

(2007) Travel authenticated? Postcards, tourist brochures, and travel photography. Tourism Analysis 12(3): 135–148.

28.

Hunter

(2008) A typology of photographic representations for tourism: depictions of groomed spaces. Tourism Management 29(2): 354–365.

29.

Hunter

Suh

(2007) Multimethod research on destination image perception: jeju standing stones. Tourism Management 28(1): 130–139.

30.

Inyourpocket (2011) Berlin’s districts. Available at: http://www.inyourpocket.com/germany/berlin/berlins-districts_54822f (accessed 9 November 2010).

31.

Jenkins

(2003) Photography and travel brochures: the circle of representation. Tourism Geography 5(3): 305–328.

32.

Jordan

Fleming

(2005) “Beachwatch babes” and “summer scorchers”: sexualised discourses of tourism in UK men’s lifestyle magazines. In: International conference on critical tourism studies—embodying tourism research: advancing critical approaches (ed Harris

), pp. 26–27. Dubrovnik: Institute for Tourism.

33.

Klemm

Burton

(2005) Tourists or servants: the portrayal of ethnic minorities in tourism brochures. In: International conference on critical tourism studies—embodying tourism research: advancing critical approaches (ed C

Harris

), pp.85–94. Dubrovnik: Institute for Tourism.

34.

Krätke

(2004) City of talents? Berlin’s regional economy, socio-spatial fabric and “worst practice” urban governance. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 28(3): 511–529.

35.

Kuhlken

(2007) Postcards. In: St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Available at: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_g1epc/is_tov/ai_2419100980 (accessed 25 March 2010).

36.

Ladd

(1997) The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

37.

Larsen

(2006) Picturing Bornholm: producing and consuming a tourist place through picturing practices. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism 6(2): 75–94.

38.

Lutz

(1977) The effects of interactive imagery and learning: application to advertising. Journal of Applied Psychology 62(4): 493–498.

39.

MacKay

Fesenmaier

(1997) Pictorial element of destination in image formation. Annals of Tourism Research 24(3): 537–565.

40.

Mamiya

(1992) Greetings from paradise: the representation of Hawaiian culture in postcards. Journal of Communication Inquiry 16(1): 86–101.

41.

Markwick

(2001) Postcards from Malta: image, consumption, context. Annals of Tourism Research 28(2): 417–439.

42.

Marplan Institute (2007) Wetter super, Essen toll—Postkarte statt SMS. Available at: http://www.welt.de/reise/article1207136/Wetter_super_Essen_toll__Postkarte_statt_SMS.html?nr=1&;pbpnr=0 (accessed 9 November 2010).

43.

Marshall

(1996) Sampling for qualitative research. Family Practice 13(6): 522–525.

44.

Mellinger

(1994) Toward a critical analysis of tourism representations (photographic postcards of African Americans from the south). Annals of Tourism Research 21(4): 756.

45.

Milman

(2011) The symbolic role of postcards in representing a destination image: the case of Alanya, Turkey. International Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Administration 12(2), 144–173.

46.

Modern History Sourcebook (2011) Available at: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

47.

Molnar

(2010) The cultural production of locality: reclaiming the “European City” in post-wall Berlin. International Journal of Urban & Regional Research 34(2): 281–309.

48.

Morgan

Pritchard

(1998) Tourism Promotion and Power: Creating Images, Creating Identities. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.

49.

Olson

McAlexander

Roberts

(1986) The impact of the visual content of advertisements upon the perceived vacation experience. In: Benoy

Moutinho

Vernon

(eds) Tourism Services Marketing: Advances in Theory and Practice. Proceedings of the Special Conference on Tourism Services Marketing. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland State University, pp.260–269.

50.

Pritchard

Morgan

(2003) Mythic geographies of representation and identity: contemporary postcards of Wales. Tourism and Cultural Change 1(2): 111–130.

51.

Ryan

(1995) Researching Tourist Satisfaction. New York: Routledge.

52.

Saunders

(2009) Remembering cold war division: wall remnants and border monuments in Berlin. Journal of Contemporary European Studies 17(1): 9–19.

53.

Schwartz

Jacobs

(1979) Qualitative Sociology: A Method to the Madness. New York: The Free Press.

54.

Singh

Formica

(2006) Level of congruency in photographic representations of destination marketing organizations’ websites and brochures. Journal of Hospitality and Leisure Marketing 15(3): 71–86.

55.

Small

Harris

Wilson

(2008) A discourse analysis of in-flight magazines: the “social sorting” of airline travelers? Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change 6(1): 17–38.

56.

Thurlow

Jaworski

Ylänne-McEwen

(2005) Half-hearted tokens of transparent love? “Ethnic” postcards and the visual mediation of host—tourist communication. Tourism Culture and Communication 5(2): 93–104.

57.

Virtual Tourist (2011) Available at: http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Europe/Germany/Land_Berlin/Berlin-75302/Local_Customs-Berlin-Bears-BR-1.html (accessed 9 November 2010).

58.

Visit Berlin (2011) Berlin’s districts: Berlin to the power of 12. Available at: http://www.visitberlin.de/en/plan/city-info/berlin-districts?tid=813 (accessed 5 December 2010).

59.

Wells

(1991) Wet towels and whetted appetites or a wet blanket: the role of analysis in qualitative research. Journal of the Market Research Society 33(1): 39–44.

60.

Yüksel

Olcay

(2007) Postcards as affective image makers: an idle agent in destination marketing. Tourism Management 28(3): 714–725.