A Visual and Linguistic Analysis of Tourism Authority of Thailand’s Posters

Abstract

The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) has used the slogan "Amazing Thailand" to promote Thai tourism internationally since 2009 and tourism posters are considered an important advertising tool which includes both images and language. This research focuses on an analysis of visual images and linguistic patterns in tourism posters prepared by Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). The analysis of the study is based on the theory of multimodality and content analysis. Twenty Thai tourism posters were selected from TAT’s Facebook webpage ‘Amazing Thailand’ from March 1, 2017 to March 1, 2018. The study explored different types of visual design as well as different types of linguistic information in the posters in order to attract potential international tourists. It sheds new light on the implications for tourism poster designing in terms of visual design patterns, linguistic patterns, representation of Thainess, and the target audiences.