Graduate Adriana Wacker receives WKT Science Award

Adriana Wacker, a graduate of MCI’s Master program in Management, Communication & IT (MCIT), receives the Science Award of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce (WKT) for her master's thesis "Projected and Perceived Image of Tyrol as an Alpine Tourism Destination".

In her thesis, Adriana Wacker deals with the presentation of tourism destinations in the Alps on the image platform ‘Instagram’ and whether there are differences between the holistic image of Tyrol as a destination projected by the Tyrolean Tourist Board and the image perceived by tourists.

To answer her research questions, Ms. Wacker collected images from Instagram and analyzed the projected and perceived destination image by means of a comparative content analysis. On the one hand, Instagram contributions of the Tyrolean Tourist Board were analyzed as a broadcasted destination image and on the other hand, postings from tourists were analyzed as a perceived destination image and presented in destination image maps in order to create a better comparability.       

It could be determined that there are differences between the Instagram contributions of the Tirol advertisement and those of the tourists. An example would be the landscape: The Tyrolean Tourist Board communicates a mixture of beautiful landscapes, outdoor sports, traditional food and the people in their daily work, while visitors to Tyrol portray the landscape or natural scenery only.

The head of the study program, Prof. Dr. Peter J. Mirski, confirms the jury's assessment: "Social media is becoming increasingly important in tourism. I am very proud that Mrs. Wacker has succeeded in convincing the jury with her profound and extremely informative thesis, which is important to the Tyrolean tourism!”

The Science Award of the Tyrolean Chamber of Commerce honors outstanding master's theses and dissertations that show a high degree of innovation and are important for the Tyrolean economy.