What is going on in the media?

The Role of the Written Media in Forming the Image of the Lake Balaton as a Tourism Destination

Abstract

The image of a tourism destination is strongly influenced by the media.
Taking the Lake Balaton as a case study, the analysis seeks to provide an overview of the image forming role of the media as a stakeholder. The work is based on the news published during 2009-2010 about the Lake Balaton. The mainly positive media image reflects the main characteristics of the destination, furthermore is often the scene for actual problems. The conclusions aim to understand the complexity of tourism image, and so help to find out the added values that a tourism destination can offer for its stakeholders, among them potential visitors or tourism professionals.