China's Chairman Mao: A visual analysis of Hunan Province online destination image

Chairman Mao Zedong, founder of the People's Republic of China, is the main attraction in Shaoshan Village, Hunan. The Great Helmsman was born here and his likeness lives on after him in the form of statues, portraits, and souvenirs. His legacy is commemorated at his childhood home and family shrine – filled with markers, displays and artifacts. This paper describes how these representations of Mao work as a key element of the Hunan (湖南) Province online tourism destination image. The study was based on a compound content analysis-semiotic analysis method and a purposive sample of 995 photographs gathered from 257 websites. It was found that Mao-related photographic representations found online make up an interconnected and internally self-referential destination image of Hunan. The image combines intrinsic cultural value with commercial use value in ways that complement China's Green and Red Tourism policy. The control of this complex image is not, however, entirely in the hands of tourism marketers.

► Representations of Mao form the Hunan Province online destination image.
► A sample of online photographs is analyzed using visual methods.
► Representations of Mao indicate site maintenance in various visitor experiences.
► Representations of Mao are interconnected and internally self-referential.
► Tourism marketers do not fully control the online Mao destination image.