Abstract

MARONNA, Mónica. Las representaciones del Uruguay turístico en 1930. Estud. perspect. tur. [online]. 2012, vol.21, n.3, pp.568-584. ISSN 1851-1732.

The mass media are one of the main conduits for the development and narration of tourism in Uruguay. The "tourism industry" has become a "national enterprise" and in doing so has promoted the comparative advantages of Uruguay, considered in both their material and immaterial aspects, and typically expressed in terms of "singularity" and "exception". Tourism Industry marketing initiatives focused on the modernist seaside city of Montevideo, the privileged destination for tourists, and deployed media campaigns to promote the undiscovered territories and landscapes of the country. My research analyses the media representations of Uruguay made by the tourism industry in 1930, the year marking the creation of the National Commission of Tourism which resulted in the production of a series of specific commemorative publications, which, engaging with the prevalent ethos of the country that time, emphasized optimism and confidence in the prospects for the future. The subject of tourism played an important role in the media agenda developed to sustain this narrative. The development and circulation of this new narrative suggests the hypothesis that the media were a conduit that catalyzed internal tourism and saw its expansion during the following decades.

Keywords : Media and tourism; Tourism history; Culture.