From Passive Voice to Tropical Vistas: A Linguistic Study of Tourism Writing in Bali

Abstract

Bali, a premier global tourist destination, has undergone a significant linguistic evolution in its tourism writing, shifting from indirect passive voice to more dynamic, tropical-evocative narratives. This study examines this transformation using a mixed-methods approach, analyzing a corpus of tourism texts from various platforms to discern grammatical and stylistic patterns. Findings reveal a pronounced move towards active voice, with contemporary texts using it in approximately 65% of cases from active sentences 78 sentences and passive sentences 42 sentences. It collected data from tourism website published in 2026, contrasting sharply with the earlier dominance of passive constructions. This shift is accompanied by an increased use of vivid sensory language and persuasive techniques, such as modal verbs and direct address ("you"), to create immersive "tropical vistas" and foster reader engagement. Furthermore, thematic analyses highlight an increasing emphasis on sustainability, ethical tourism, and cultural authenticity, reflecting evolving traveler values. The integration of local terminology, or "linguistic flavoring," further enhances destination identity. This research underscores the critical role of language in shaping destination image and influencing visitor perception, offering actionable insights for tourism professionals seeking to connect with contemporary global audiences. The study contributes to applied linguistics and tourism studies by detailing strategic linguistic adaptations in Bali's promotional discourse, primarily driven by digital marketing demands and the imperative for emotional connection. While acknowledging limitations such as a text-centric focus, this work demonstrates the power of linguistic choices in portraying Bali as a desirable and evolving destination, underscoring language as a vital tool for building place–people relationships Despite its contributions, the study is limited by its focus on English-language website texts within a single year and its exclusion of multimodal content. Future research should expand to multilingual, multimodal, and longitudinal analyses, as well as audience-response studies, to better understand how linguistic strategies influence traveler perception and behavior. This research highlights language as a strategic tool for shaping destination image and strengthening place–people connections in contemporary tourism marketing.