STORYTELLING FOR HOSPITALITY

The course provides critical and practical tools for analysing and producing narratives of place in hospitality, tourism, and destination communication. The course is centred on storytelling for hospitality: hotel websites, destination narratives, itineraries, reviews, digital contents, pre-arrival communication, and guest experience. Venice is the main case study: a tourist and hospitality destination, an over-narrated city, a heritage space, and a Mediterranean threshold. Through this case, the course addresses the relationship between narrative, experience, authenticity, cliché, cultural representation, and tourist consumption.

For students enrolled through the cross-listing with Travel Literature and the Mediterranean, the course offers a contemporary and applied perspective on the analysis of place, stereotype, and gaze, with particular attention to the field of destination storytelling. The teaching structure and assessment are common to all students; Moodle provides a differentiated reading path.

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

- recognise the main applications of storytelling in hospitality, tourism, and destination communication;
- analyse texts, websites, itineraries, reviews, and digital contents as narratives of place, applying the key concepts of the course (tourist gaze, staged authenticity, cliché, focalization, narrative voice, place as palimpsest, guest experience, multimodality);
- recognise continuities and transformations between travel writing, cultural representations of place, and contemporary forms of tourism and hospitality communication;
- critically assess the representation of Venice as a destination, heritage space, literary city, and Mediterranean threshold;
- produce a short narrative or communication redesign based on the critical analysis of a concrete case study, writing clearly and without relying on stereotypes;
- reflect on the ethical aspects of destination storytelling (overtourism, cultural simplification, stereotypes, inclusion, sustainability).

Students are expected to have at least a B2 level of English. No specific previous knowledge of storytelling, hospitality communication, travel writing, or digital storytelling is required: introductory and supporting materials will be provided on Moodle. For students enrolled through the cross-listing, module 1 of Travel Literature and the Mediterranean is a prerequisite, according to the study plan.

The course is built around a limited number of recurring analytical concepts, applied to different objects of study: travel texts, hotel and destination communication, itineraries, reviews, and digital and visual narratives. Venice is the main case study: a hospitality destination, an over-narrated city, a heritage space, and a Mediterranean threshold.

The course will focus on:
- storytelling, hospitality, and the narrative construction of places;
- tourist gaze, narrative voice, focalization, temporality, space, and atmosphere in narratives of place;
- place as palimpsest, over-narration, and the representation of Venice;
- luxury hospitality, cliché, staged authenticity, and the rhetoric of experience;
- guest experience as narrative structure: before, during, and after the stay or visit;
- hotel websites, homepages, promotional descriptions, itineraries, reviews, and pre-arrival communication;
- digital destination storytelling: analysis of short digital forms (reels, StoryMaps) and one digital production option (a StoryMap section or a reel storyboard);
- the relationship between travel writing, Mediterranean imaginaries, and contemporary forms of destination storytelling;
- ethical issues in destination narration: overtourism, stereotypes, cultural simplification, inclusion, and sustainability.

Foundational materials (basic text typologies, elementary narratology, the history of web/digital communication) are provided as Moodle primers and are not covered at length in class: in-class time is reserved for the core concepts, guided analysis, and production work. Laboratory activities support the progressive construction of the Final Dossier.

The bibliography is organised into a common core and differentiated reading paths. The common core introduces the main texts and concepts used throughout the course. The Hospitality path focuses on tourism storytelling, hospitality communication, guest experience, and digital narratives. The Mediterranean Studies path provides introductory materials on travel writing, Venice as a Mediterranean city, cultural representation, and narratives of place.

Common core:
- Christian Salmon, Storytelling: Bewitching the Modern Mind, London-New York, Verso, 2010: introduction and selected chapters.
- Joseph Brodsky, Watermark, New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992, or later editions.
- Tiziano Scarpa, Venice is a Fish, London, Serpent’s Tail, 2009, or later editions.
Selected materials on storytelling for hospitality, destination narratives, guest experience, tourist gaze, staged authenticity, and digital storytelling will be provided on Moodle.

Hospitality reading path:
- selected readings on hospitality storytelling, destination branding, guest experience, heritage tourism, luxury communication, and digital destination storytelling;
- case studies: hotel websites, destination campaigns, homepages, itineraries, reviews, reels, StoryMap, and promotional materials.

Mediterranean Studies reading path:
- selected passages from travel writing and literary texts will be made available on Moodle;
- selected materials on travel writing, cultural representations of place, Venice as a Mediterranean city, and narratives of the gaze will also be provided.

Additional materials will be provided during the lectures and on Moodle.

1. Final Dossier 50%. A cumulative dossier based on a concrete case of storytelling in hospitality, tourism, destination communication, travel writing, or cultural narratives of place. It includes: (1) critical analysis of an existing narrative object; (2) narrative production or redesign (e.g. a rewritten homepage, an anti-cliché description, an itinerary proposal, pre-arrival communication, a StoryMap section, a reel storyboard); (3) critical reflection on the choices made, the concepts used, the limits of the original material, and the cultural/communicative/ethical aspects of the case.

2. Oral exam 50%. Assesses knowledge of the contents, bibliography, materials discussed, and concepts used in the dossier; during the oral, students discuss their dossier and connect it to the course's tools.

There are no separately-graded intermediate tests. A short dossier proposal is required during the course as a formative step: it is not graded on its own and is incorporated into the final dossier.

oral

The instructor is responsible for ensuring the authenticity and originality of all examinations and coursework. In cases of suspected academic misconduct, an additional on-site assessment may be required during the exams, which may differ from the standard format.

27-30 with distinction: comprehensive, in-depth knowledge of topics and materials; excellent ability to apply course concepts to concrete cases; a clear, coherent, well-argued dossier with an original production/redesign component; high linguistic accuracy and clarity in the oral.
23-26: good knowledge of the programme; adequate ability to analyse and discuss cases; a coherent dossier with some methodological, content-related, or writing imperfections; good command of language with some uncertainties.
18-22: acceptable but limited knowledge; partial understanding of materials; reduced analytical ability; a dossier that is not fully developed or coherent; expression not always appropriate.
Fail: poor knowledge of texts and topics; inability to discuss the dossier; inadequate analysis; incorrect expression.

In-class work prioritises a limited number of concept lessons and short production labs, in which students apply each concept to concrete objects and progressively build parts of their dossier with feedback moments. Expository and foundational content is delivered through Moodle primers, in order to protect in-class time for analysis and production.

Moodle is a structured support environment, not a second course. It contains: a Start here page; one page per teaching unit; key-concept sheets; a glossary; worked examples; activity briefs; dossier templates; the assessment rubric; the Mediterranean Studies reading path; optional resources on digital tools.

Attending and non-attending students prepare the same dossier: the former develop its components through in-class labs and feedback; the latter use the same briefs, templates, and worked examples available on Moodle.

Regular consultation of Moodle is required for materials, readings, assignment briefs, updates, and dossier information.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Cities, infrastructure and social capital" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development