Themed Issue: Fashion in Tourism Communication and Marketing
Fashion plays a crucial role in tourism marketing, influencing travelers’ perceptions, choices, and overall experiences. In recent years, the convergence of fashion and tourism has emerged as a captivating and influential force in shaping consumer behaviours and tourism destination choices. Despite the increasing recognition of the symbiotic relationship between fashion and tourism, which is also in academic studies (Gravari-Barbas & Sabatini, 2023), communication and marketing aspects remain with a notable research gap.
The ‘Fashion in Tourism Communication and Marketing’ themed issue seeks to unravel the multifaceted relationship between these two industries, exploring how fashion influences travel decisions and how tourism destinations leverage fashion in their marketing strategies. This issue seeks to deepen academic understanding of the intersections between fashion, tourism communication, and marketing, while offering new insights into how destinations and brands can strategically integrate fashion into their storytelling, positioning, and value creation processes. It will explore fashion’s potential to act as a driver of destination competitiveness, an instrument of cultural diplomacy, and a bridge between heritage and modernity.
Suggested Themes
We invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
- Destination marketing branding through fashion
- Examine how destinations use fashion identity, aesthetics, and style narratives
- Policy, partnerships, and creative industry synergies
- Strategic collaborations between tourism organisations and fashion brands
- Fashion partnerships with cultural institutions to enhance destination appeal and competitiveness
- Fashion communication and distinctive brand personalities
- Attracting diverse fashion traveller segments
- Fashion events and tourism communication
- The impact of fashion shows, festivals, and exhibitions to promote destinations
- Using fashion to generate cultural and media visibility for tourism organisations
- Fashion influencers and digital storytelling
- Exploring the growing role of fashion influencers, bloggers, and social media personalities
- Exploring how fashion shapes travel aspirations, lifestyle trends, and destination choice
- Cultural and heritage dimensions of fashion in tourism
- Fashion and cultural heritage, craftsmanship, and authenticity within tourism experiences.
- Luxury, identity, and travel experience co-creation
- Symbolic and experiential value of luxury tourism, shopping tourism, and creative tourism
- Sustainability, ethics, and responsible fashion tourism
- The role of sustainable fashion practices and ethical consumerism
- Using fashion to reshape tourism marketing and visitor engagement
- Fashion digital marketing and e-commerce in tourism ecosystems
- Fashion digital platforms and travel experiences
- Fashion metaverse spaces and online retail channels influence the fashion-related tourism.
Timeline
Announcement: October 2025
Deadline: January 15, 2026
Publication of Themed Issue: 2027
Themed Issue Curators
Prof. Dimitrios Buhalis, Bournemouth University Business School, UK, dbuhalis@bournemouth.ac.uk
Dr. Nadzeya Sabatini, Institute of Digital Technologies for Communication, Switzerland, nadzeya.sabatini@usi.ch
Professor Eduardo Parra López, Universidad de La Laguna, Spain, eparra@ull.edu.es
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