Scenic postcards as objects for spatial analysis of tourist regions

• Scenic postcards were considered through their dual locations, site depicted and point of sale.
• Four quantitative indicators were proposed to analyse dispersion links.
• The method was illustrated with sites and tourist resorts in Savoy, France.
• Analysis of the dispersion links may reveal spatial pattern of tourist regions.

Among the media available for showcasing territories, scenic postcards on sale in tourist destination regions may be thought of as revealing relations among actors in the tourist industry and the spaces in which tourism develops. Scenic postcards have the peculiarity of being associated with a dual location in geographical space: the point of sale and the landscape or site that they depict. This dual location leads us to define several objects (dispersion links, dispersion area of the sites depicted and catchment area of the points of sale) and synthetic indicators. Two mountain peaks and two tourist resorts of Savoy (French Alps) are taken as examples to show the value of the indicators. This leads us finally to emphasise the potential of the offering of postcards for analysing tourist regions.