The document analyzes the newsletter of the Greek National Tourism Organisation as a new internet genre. It provides linguistic and theoretical analysis of various parts of the newsletter, including the header, titles, editorials, leads, and a special feature section written by tourist guides. Over time, the newsletter has adopted changes to be more interactive through incorporating social media and using rhetorical techniques in the titles and leads to intrigue and engage readers. The analysis examines how the newsletter aims to promote Greece as a year-round destination through its use of language and multimodal elements.

1. Analysing the Greek National Tourism Organisation
genre.
newsletter as a new internet genre
Periklis Politis: Asst. Professor at the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Dept. of Journalism & Mass Communication
Elli Vazou: PhD candidate at the Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, Dept. of Journalism & Mass Communication

2. What will we present to you?
general info about the newsletter
a linguistic analysis of the newsletter
parts as we scroll down and read it
through: (the header, the theme, the
titles, the editorial section, the leads, the
video section, the “special feature”
section, the social media section, the
footer)
a few comments on translation
general conclusions

3. within a theoretical framework of:
• CDA and its main tenets with regard to discourse as a form of social action.
• Genre theory
• Multimodality theory
• Tourism & Promotional Discourse
• New Media, i.e. the Internet

4. IDENTIFICATION GENRE SPECIFICATION GENRE LEVEL
CRITERIA
Rhetorical Act DESCRIPTION EVALUATION Generic Value
Genre Colony
Communicative Purpose Promotional Genres
(General)
Communicative Purpose
(Specific) Book Blurbs Advertisements Job Applications Genre
TV Ads Print Ads Radio Ads
Sub-genres
Medium
Sub-genres
Product Car Ads Airline Ads Cosmetic Ads
Participants Sub-genres
for holiday travelers for business travelers
Diagram 1 Versatility in generic transcription
Adapted from Bhatia’s Worlds of Written Discourse (2004: 59)

5. Annual
Company Reports Company
Reports Brochures
Book
Book
Blurbs
Reviews Advertorials
Job Sales Job
Applications Advertisement Promotion Advertisements
Grant
Reference
Fundraising Proposals
Letters
Letters
Travel Film Public
Brochures Reviews Campaigns
Diagram 2 Colony of promotional genres
Adapted from Bhatia’s Worlds of Written Discourse (2004: 62)

7. general info
When was it first published? • Who writes it?
The first issue appeared in July 2010
(only the English version) • Copy editors (staff working at the GNTO)
write and proof the articles
• Web designers design the layout
Why was it created?
• Social media experts are responsible for
The Greek National Tourism its distribution (i.e. creating a sign-up list,
Organisation produced its first monitoring the number of recipients of
newsletter in an attempt to create a the newsletter, calculating the number of
fresh positive destination image by Greek or foreign readers, etc.)
exploiting the opportunities offered by
the Internet.

8. July 2010
• the first newsletter
• written only in English

9. from July 2010 up to now
Monthly schedule:
the newsletter goes online the first Thursday of every month
with 3- 4 topics in English and in Greek
the topics are selected according to:
(a) the time of year (November: olive harvesting; January: skiing, etc.),
(b) the tourist activity in order to promote Greece as a year-round
destination,
(c) important cultural events (Dimitria in Thessaloniki), and so on.

10. December 2010 vs
July 2010
Major changes:
• in the layout (December 2010):
colours, title and teaser length,
framing
• in the content (January 2011):
social media are present:
• a topic is chosen based on the
response to a question posted on
facebook;
• and a follower is rewarded
according to their tweet with the
best tweet being included in the
newsletter…
• …which has now become more
interactive.

11. January & May 2011
• in January 2011 an editorial
section was added so the
Organisation could speak to
readers more directly;
• a “special feature” section is
added where texts written by
licensed tourist guides are
presented;
• every month those who receive
the newsletter see an intriguing
title in their inbox that invites
them to click & read;
• since May 2011 the newsletter
has included video clips (instead
of a 4th topic) linked to the
general topic of the month, e.g.
Summer holidays:
SEASIDEINGREECE

12. header

13. header
Pictorial items:
signature line &
logo used to focus
the DESIRE on a
certain brand.

14. subject

15. the subject
Let’s hit the slopes!
• These titles are brief and telegraphic, due Πάμε για σκι
to frame/layout constraints (max 100 Let’s have fun!
characters including logo and date) Ας διασκεδάσουμε!
• Rule of thumb: key-words Greek islands celebrate the Spring
• Extensive use of exclamation and Η Ελλάδα γιορτάζει το Πάσχα
question marks
Summer romance in the Cyclades
• Use of English titles taken from lyrics of
Ανακαλύπτοντας το ρομαντισμό στις
famous songs (mnemonic techniques). Κυκλάδες
Summer? Greece, of course.
Where else?
Καλοκαίρι στην Ελλάδα. Πού αλλού;
It’s a family affair!
Οικογενειακές διακοπές!
Forever young!
Νέοι για πάντα!

16. titles

17. titles I
informative The islands of Paxoi & Antipaxoi
translated as such in English, or Greek Παξοί και Αντίπαξοι
Rock climbing on Kalymnos island
Αναρρίχηση στην Κάλυμνο
Top 6 family destinations: Just for
you, kids!
6 κορυφαίοι προορισμοί για
οικογενειακές διακοπές

18. titles II
A mastic-scented island with fascinating
history
Ένα γλυκά «αρωματισμένο» νησί με
πλούσια ιστορία
Great use is made of figures of
speech (metaphor, personification)
and poetic language, not always On Easter Sunday a gastronomic marathon
takes place.
translated/transferred into the
other language. Μύρισε Πάσχα…ελληνικό!
Love, Made in Greece
Όταν ο κινηματογράφος ερωτεύεται την
Ελλάδα.
Colours and Aromas of Spring in the Garden
of Music
Πάσχα στην Κέρκυρα. Τι άλλο να πει κανείς;
Crete gazes at the Libyan Sea. Do the same!
Ένα βραχώδες έργο της φύσης αγγίζει τη
θάλασσα.

19. titles III
The Armata reenactment lights up the sky!
Εκρηκτική Αρμάτα!
(1) Use of rhetorical punctuation
Revitalise your senses!
usually the same when the meaning is Αναζωογόνησε νου και σώμα!
the same and the title is translated
quite different if a totally different title
is written in English A spiritual celebration…
Δεκαπενταύγουστος: Το Πάσχα του
καλοκαιριού
(2) Extensive use of telegraphic speech
Loving nature while bathing in sunlight!
(3) Extensive use of noun phrases Στη Φύση της Ελλάδας με αγάπη...
(especially in Greek)
“I will” you said. To be continued on Santorini…
Γάμος με θέα…την καλντέρα!
Stand still…A butterfly might touch you.
Καλοκαιρινές διακοπές και πεταλούδες. Τέλεια;

20. titles IV;(rhetorical) questions
Stand still…A butterfly might touch you.
Καλοκαιρινές διακοπές και πεταλούδες. Τέλεια;
• Use of rhetorical questions
Do skiers find Vassilitsa the most beautiful ski resort
• Use of questions (sometimes in Greece?
transferred as answers in Greek)
Για κάποιους σκιέρ η Βασιλίτσα είναι το ομορφότερο
• Use of playful language (especially in χιονοδρομικό στην Ελλάδα.
English)
Hmm…Still in Crete. Let’s try something different.
Είστε έτοιμοι για τη διαδρομή που σας προτείνουμε;
Cross these bridges when you come to Epirus.
Αναζητήστε τα πέτρινα γεφύρια της Ηπείρου.
The IMF is being celebrated at the carnival of Xanthi.
Ξανθιώτικο Καρναβάλι: ΔΝΤ και η μεγαλύτερη
μάσκα στον κόσμο.
Intense ski activity on Mt. Helmós
Ατελείωτες χιονοδρομικές πίστες, μυθολογία,
ιστορία, μυστήριο. Καλάβρυτα;

21. So, the visitgreece newsletter titles & subject:
• Entice the reader (the potential client) …triggered by the changes in the layout adopted
as attention-grabbing devices. in December:
• Present the text’s main theme (core Titles became shorter: increase of rhetorical
info), or the topics of the newsletter in means, rhetorical questions, playful language
general. creating mystery/decrease in rhetorical
• Reinforce the message sent by the punctuation…
GNTO according to the general. …trying to impress the reader with an enigmatic
marketing plan, i.e. promote Greece as way of presenting the information.
a year-round destination.
June: numbers are used in titles for the first
• In the way titles are written, we may time. The idea is to give the reader more
observe some differences in text condensed focused information to help
writing... potential tourists decide (i.e. Top 6 family
destinations).

22. editorials

23. editorials I
• This is the classic form of
editorial in which we find:
• Use of the first-person
plural we think/πιστεύουμε
• Use of the second person
Μην ξεχάσετε/Don’t forget,
etc.
• Use of didactic tone
• The message
communicated is linked
with the general social and
political climate in Greece
often through hints.

24. editorials II
II
Depending on the
topics (more romantic,
or when presenting a
great celebration, such
as Easter), this could be
replaced by:
(a) a poem (April 2011),
or

25. editorials III
(b) an unconventional
type of writing,
(March 2011) (use of
iconicity techniques:
rhetorical
punctuation, capital
letters, lack of
punctuation, full stops
that break up phrases
and isolate words,
etc.).
• The sender of the
message now has
its own
recognisable
identity despite
being a large
national
organisation.

26. leads

27. about leads I (or opening paragraph)
• What do they do?
• Persuade or inspire readers to read the • They are constricted by the layout/frame
article (hypertext); provoke a reader’s (max 450 characters)
curiosity to continue reading on
visitgreece website, creating another • They form part of a
viewing opportunity. unit/constellation/module that consists
of: a title, a photo (image), a text, and
• Support the title (headline) and save colour (the blue frame around them)
reader’s time. (multimodality).
• They give readers the most important
information in a clear, concise and
interesting manner. They also establish
the voice and direction of an article, and
the point of the story.

28. about leads II; how
do they do it?
Redundant expressions
(enormous variety)
Cliché epithets
(marvellous, glorious,
μοναδική, μαγευτική etc.)
High degree of
collocability (μαγευτικές
παραλίες, αρχέγονη
φυσικότητα, ιδανικό
σκηνικό, αυθεντική
επαφή, rare natural
wealth, unique wildlife
habitats,etc.)
Rhetorical punctuation

29. about leads III
• Rhetorics of
Writing: words
written with capital
first letters
• Mental state
attribution;
generics (οι
άνθρωποι, Ολόκληρος
ο κόσμος απολαμβάνει
τα δώρα της Αρχαίας
Ελληνικής
Αρχιτεκτονικής)

30. about leads IV
Addressee-oriented:
Use of active voice; first
and second-person
plural pronouns;
imperative and
subjunctive mood
A conversational style
is adopted
(conversationalization)
Intermediated,
asynchronous,
interactive

31. more about leads
Personification (…βουνά…τον
καλούν να…)
Hyperbole (H ιππασία
συνδυάζει μοναδικά τη δυνατή
περιπέτεια.)
Diptychal structure: readers
ascertain facts from the text
and are then encouraged to try
things out themselves.

32. the “special feature”
section

33. The “special feature” section (since January 2011)
•Use of synonym
phrases, expressing in
different ways the tours
that the tourist guides
take us on: “they tell
their own story…”; “they
will give all the
necessary
information…”; «οι
ξεναγοί μάς οδηγούν»,
«καθοδηγούν την
περιπλάνησή μας», «μας
υποδέχονται» etc.
• Use of suggestions:
mostly for social
advertising rather than
commercial (Let’s follow
them…)

34. the “special feature”
section
• inclusive “we” and
“you”
• extensive use of
present tense (the tour
is being conducted as
we speak)
• limited use of future
tense (e.g. together we will
discover, they will give all
the necessary information,
etc.)

35. the video section

36. the video section I
In May 2011 the video
section was first
introduced. As we can
see, the English text
has not been
translated into Greek,
as the videos contain
testimonials by
visitors speaking in
English.

37. the video section II
YOUINGREECE: The text is
taken from the ID-project
YOUINGREECE where the
goal of this campaign is
presented.
From June onwards the
same text has been used in
both languages thus
promoting the campaign
YOUINGREECE as a
tourism marketing
initiative implemented by
the GNTO.

38. the social media
section

39. the social media section
The newsletter has
become more
interactive and a
follower is rewarded
according to their
tweet with the best
tweet being
included in the
newsletter.

40. footer

41. footer
Standing details:
help to transform
DESIRE into
ACTION.

42. What you will see: The permanent exhibition includes unique
works of Cretan art, found in excavations across the central and
eastern part of the island, which roughly span 5500 years, from
hyperlinks the Neolithic (5000 BC) to the Late Roman period (late fourth
century AD). Most objects date to prehistoric times and to the so-
called Minoan period, named after the island's mythical king,
Minos. They include pottery, carved stone objects, seals, small
sculpted items, metal objects and wall-paintings discovered in
•clear call to action messages palaces, mansions, settlements, funerary monuments, sanctuaries
and caves. The Museum is unfortunately closed due to renovation
(Δείτε το βίντεο, Πήγαινέ με εκεί, works but thanks to a temporary exhibition you can still admire
400 of its most important artefacts. Shortly it will re-open in its
Read more, Take your pick, etc.) complete renovated form.
•that take us on a tour inside the
website
•where we find a multimodal
hypertext
•text and image, or
Highlight: Phaistos Disc, a round clay disc with hieroglyphics
and ideograms inscribed on it, is certainly one of the most
impressive artefacts of the Museum. The snake goddess, the
Minoan Frescos, like “La Parisienne”, the King Minos ring and the
famous “Bees” jewel are among the most mesmerising exhibits.
Extra tip: Combine your visit to the Museum with a visit to the
Palace of Knossos, 5km southeast of Herakleion, in an idyllic
location among olive groves and cypresses. Knossos is the largest
one of the preserved Minoan palatial centres and the site of the
most important palace of Minoan civilization. According to
tradition, it was the seat of the legendary king Minos. The Palace
is also associated with thrilling legends, such as the myth of the
Labyrinth with the Minotaur, and the story of Daidalos and Icaros.

43. hypertext
• text, image and video
• inside the hypertext
more links lead the
reader to a path made
by the copywriter
• according to key
information (again use
of key words)
• i.e., general info about
a place or a site
• Newsletter and
hypertexts: the
structure is similar to
that of a journey. From
the general
presentation we move
to a specific place, to
the heart of the
information…

44. a few comments on translation

45. about translation
Greek is not always the source language, • “Localization” is a process adopted in
since some of the texts are written in English language texts: great care is
parallel in English and in Greek (by taken to reflect the target language’s
different copy-writers). linguistic and cultural preferences.
• Key words , keying and cliché phrases are
Either way, the texts (and the translated used in both languages (special attention
versions) fulfill the same function (to is paid to the use of English collocations)
promote Greece and persuade readers to • Emphatic language (language euphoria)
visit Greece). is common.
There are stylistic and rhetorical • In general, the strategies of tourism and
differences: in the use of punctuation and promotional discourse are followed in
poetic language. both languages.
The copywriters and translators pay
serious attention to each language’s basic
principles, e.g. lighter constructions in
English.

46. general conclusions

47. the visitgreece newsletter:
is a multimodal semiotic entity (Kress 2010; Unlike other genres of tourism discourse (e.g.
van Leeuwen 2011), because: brochures, guidebooks, etc.), the newsletter
it uses a wide range of multimodal resources demonstrates a certain degree of
(text, video, image) aimed at “encouraging” interactivity and intimacy:
people from all over the world to visit (a) the addressee signs up to receive it;
Greece; (b) the mode of address (use of the pronoun
its layout is determined by the medium: it is systems) minimizes the social distance,
vertically organised to be easily read on the showing familiarity and equality;
Internet. (c) present tense verbs foster a sense of
involvement.

48. in the visitgreece newsletter:
• Texts are written according to the • It forms a novel hybrid cybergenre
main principles of (Ungerer 2004; Bhatia 2004), since:
Promotional/Advertising/Tourism
Discourse: They (a) it constitutes a conventionalised web-
(a) meet the classic requirements of the textual form;
AIDA principle: capture Attention, create (b) it is wholly dependent on the new
Interest, foster Desire and inspire Action medium, i.e. the Internet;
(b) contain evaluative language (repetition of (c) incorporating discursive elements of
positive adjectives; Erjavec: 567) promotion, drawing upon news report
(c) make use of hyperbolic language and discourse, and
images to enhance their persuasive (d) offering favourable information encoded
power (Ip 2008)
into promotional messages…
(d) employ special words and
formulae/specific vocabulary (the …according to underlying principles of
ingredients of a spell, cf. Dann 1996) credibility (news writing) & desire (ads)
(e) utilise key-words (authentic, discover,
adventure, dream, destination, etc.).
(f) Imperatives and directives are frequently
found (to guide potential tourists; Maci
2007)
(g) plus prototypical advertising discourse;
extensive use of NPs (πανύψηλα βουνά,
κατάφυτες πλαγιές, απαράμιλλο φυσικό
τοπίο…).

49. the GNTO
as a social actor and a governmental entity • The GNTO (drawing upon pre-existing
conventional discourse types) in order to
has been using the reconstruction of the create a positive image for Greece has
visitgreece.gr portal, and the newsletter in made use of:
particular to convey values that enhance (a) new technologies: the Internet,
a certain political message smartphones –the so-called “computer-
mediated environment”;
(b) new media: social media: facebook,
twitter, flickr;
(c) specific discourse strategies within a
specific socio-cultural situation
(communicative situation: Kress 1990);
in order to influence and persuade.