La complejidad de la imagen de los destinos de costa: aportaciones metodológicas a partir del estudio de Menorca

In this article, we try to conceptualize the image of coastal destinations based on the analysis of a specific place, Menorca. Both the content of the images and their meaning are studied to unravel their function in the configuration of the tourist image, as well as the role they play in the appropriation of universal archetypes. Two types of images are confronted: posters and public leaflets, on the one hand, and tourist guides, on the other, with a diachronic approach. As a result, coastal destinations are shown as a complex product in which, along with its obvious implications associated with the concept of sun and beach, an important landscape aspect emerges, and where their population centres are also relevant. In this way the projected image cannot be separated from the image perceived by tourists.