Tourism and the Branded City: Film and Identity on the Pacific

摘要

This book is well written, authoritative and original in its sources, innovative in its juxtaposition of elements and inventive in its inferences. It is both entertaining and informative. My only difficulty with it is that I remain unclear as to what it is actually supposed to be about and equally unclear as to whether this matters. The title suggests it is about urban branding and a chapter is devoted to the process of place branding as part of place marketing. The title also suggests it is a book about tourism and it appears in a series called 'new directions in tourism analysis' but what direction it is taking, new or otherwise, remains obscure. The content is overwhelmingly focussed upon the cinema and specifically the representation of places in films over the years. The geographical application is to three large contemporary cities, namely Hong Kong and Shanghai, China and Sydney, Australia. Other cities of the region are given small supporting roles but much of the book is a fulsome description, almost a travelogue, of three cities the authors clearly know and love well.