Sense of Place, Identity and Memory as Elements of the Design for Tourism

The design of spaces and products for tourism invests on memorable experiences and sense of place. Identity is of major significance in defining uniqueness in touristic products. It is contextual and related to local, spatial, cultural and material characteristics, and values that are reflected to the designed environment. Spaces and their elements are invested with meaning and as such are experienced by tourists through sensory, emotional, and cognitive perception. Within this process the designer has to capture the intangible and tangible values that a place and its people have to offer and transform them into the material substances that tourists experience. The conceptual development within the design process and the segmentation of the elements that the designer has to take in mind, while designing for tourism, are essential. The different scales of the designed environment, from building design to objects, stimulate the storage of information related to heritage, cultural identity and place that will be remembered by tourists and create anticipation during and after their trip. So, design affects to a great extent tourism success. The aim of this study is to clarify the relation of the above subjects to the design discipline. A number of contemporary case studies of large, medium and small scale designed products related to tourism are analysed under a semiotic perspective to justify and visualize the attempt.