From benefactor to tourist santa on cards from thailand

Erik Cohen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Scopus citations

Abstract

This article extends the study of postcards, heretofore limited to the critical examination of photo postcards representing people and sites at destinations, to Christmas cards from Thailand, depicting the legendary figure of Santa Claus. While such cards appear to be unrelated to tourism, in this study an unexpected link is found: Santa's figure becomes subtly transformed on the cards, turning him from a wintry benefactor of children to a tourist in the tropical South. The figure thus becomes amenable to exploitation for the promotion of tourism, as it implicitly encourages Northerners to spend their (Christmas) vacations in balmy Thailand, instead of the cold North.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)690-708
Number of pages19
JournalAnnals of Tourism Research
Volume34
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2007

Keywords

  • Christmas
  • images
  • postcards
  • Santa claus
  • vacations

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