This summer, I had the exciting opportunity to intern on a research project titled Tracing Tourism Trends, a study that investigates how the language of tourism promotion has evolved over time. This project takes a unique diachronic approach, comparing tourism discourse across different time periods, specifically 2012 and 2021, using texts from the Visit Britain website, Visit Scotland and Visit London websites. What makes this research particularly innovative is its focus on how language both reflects and shapes broader tourism trends, such as the shift from traditional sightseeing to more immersive, experience-driven travel.
As an intern, I played a key role in the data collection and preparation phases of the project. My main task involved gathering promotional texts from archived versions of the Visit Britain, Visit Scotland and Visit London websites using the Wayback Machine. This meant carefully selecting, copying, and pasting relevant web content into Word documents, making sure that the data was accurate and consistent. The main focus of language for this study was verb use, which meant that I had to be proficient at scanning each text to ensure that they included a rich diversity of verbs, focusing on the reader. Once collected, I converted these files into plain text format, preparing them for inclusion in a larger corpus that would eventually total around 400,000 words across the two time periods. This work may have been considered tedious for some, but I found that it was a relaxing and satisfying task that I found myself becoming absorbed in.
Another important part of my role was working with Sketch Engine, a powerful tool for analysing linguistic patterns in large text corpora. I uploaded the cleaned data to this platform, helping to generate word frequency lists and concordance lines, which will later be used to explore features of verb use. These findings will help researchers understand how promotional language in tourism has adapted to changing cultural expectations and consumer behaviours over time. Using this software, which was something I had never done before, was a great learning experience for me and I know it will be a useful skill to have when going into a data analysis career.
This internship has been an eye-opening experience for me. I’ve learned a lot about corpus linguistics, gained hands-on experience with digital tools like Sketch Engine and the Wayback Machine, and developed a deeper appreciation for how language reflects social change. Working with my intern manager, Dr Sofia Malamatidou, was a fantastic opportunity to create valuable connections within the corpus linguistics field and it was an honour to be guided by her.
Overall, contributing to a project that bridges language and culture through a historical lens has been incredibly rewarding. I’m grateful for the chance to be part of something that not only advances academic understanding but also deepens our insights into the evolving world of travel.