Narrative and Its Contribution to Tourism

The landscape approach can be formed by narrative, identity definition, and functional examination. In other words, to transform the landscape into an attraction, an architectural element, or a ritual or tradition, it is plausible to explore its pertinent narratives, define and interpret its identity, or scrutinize its functions over time. The narrative plays a unique and impactful role in the landscape approach, serving as the reason for explaining the emergence or transformations of identity and performance over the lifespan or ritual. It can be expressed from different angles. Angles are not necessarily limited to a specific geometric shape and line; rather, they reflect the mentality of storytellers and their angle of view towards the problem, and such differences can contribute to an attraction. One of the significant components of the tourism output is the memories that tourists have from the trip. Such memories will stick in the mind and be revived for years. In addition to the contribution of narrative to the perception of the landscape, one of the ways to preserve memories is to convey the narrative and stories of the attractions by word of mouth through tourists who have visited them. Storytelling is more memorable than seeing the attraction visually and can be a reminder of the destination, attraction, ritual tradition, or physical element for a long time. Tour guides or people who are in charge of presenting attractions or rituals try to increase the charm of their commentary by adding different narratives and stories about the tourist attraction, thereby creating more memorable memories for tourists. Put differently, identifying genuine narratives and conveying them along with their trajectories in the form of stories can have an impact on the permanence of travel memories in addition to influencing the perception of the landscape. The most important difficulty that arises is distinguishing between genuine and documented narrations. One of the challenges of this issue is the emergence, formation, and perception of distorted, false, imaginary, or exaggerated narratives by different people. Sometimes stories lacking genuine sources might be taken as genuine ones due to frequent repetition, thereby influencing the integrity of the original narrative. To create a more enticing speech, instead of recounting a genuine story, the narrator might narrate what he has made up in his mind or has heard from undocumented sources. In doing this, the narrator can affect not only the integrity of the attraction but also the perceptions of visitors. Examining, recording, and publishing authentic narratives and stories about attractions, rituals, and traditions by researchers could be a way to prevent their distortion. It is also the documentation of authenticated narratives that have been verified. This will be a great contribution to landscape tourism and create authentic memories that tourists will keep in mind.