Terms and conditions apply: Fine print and the selling of tourism

The commodification of tourism includes the production and dissemination of words and images used to sell experiences. Tourism marketers use highly visible assurances that the experiences available are pleasurable, safe and convenient. These assurances are projected into a promotion-oriented front region. However, fine print terms and conditions – the rules that define the rights and obligations of tourism providers and consumers – occupy a back region that, in part, runs counter to the impressions fostered in the front region. Tourism marketing, it is argued, involves two mutually supportive domains that drive the sale of tourism: conspicuous (front region) words and images as well as inconspicuous (back region) fine print. A more comprehensive conceptualization of tourism marketing should consider the functions performed by the fine print. The four Ps typically associated with the marketing mix – product, price, promotion and place – are used for the purpose of organizing the analysis of the complexly crafted small type that is often hidden in plain sight but sometimes receives highly publicized scrutiny within a media-generated front region. Fine print terms and conditions (whether successfully obfuscated or the subject of a media expose) are responsible for creating a ‘stipulation surplus’, money earned or saved via the imposition of restrictions. The marketing of tourism involves the making of front region promises tempered by the imposition of back region parameters.