An Exploration Of Tourism Translation From The Perspective Of The Skopos Theory

As the economy develops and leisure time increases, more and more people tend to choose traveling as a way of re creation and entertainment. Meanwhile, tourism industry is of great significance to cultural transmission. However, how to transfer relevant information contained in tourism materials to attract more tourists is a painstaking job for the vast number of tourism translators. Rizhao is a newly developed tourist city in Shandong Province. The rapidly growing number of foreign tourists brings new commercial opportunities, and at the same time even more challenges. High-quality tourism translation plays an important role in the booming tourist market and attracting more foreign tourists to Rizhao. However, currently there are no excellent English translations of tourism materials in Rizhao, which hinders its tourism development. Taking the local culture of “Happ y Fishermen” in Rizhao as an example,this thesis explores tourism translation from the perspective of the Skopos Theory. If the translation of “Happy Fishermen” could be officially adopted by Rizhao Tourist Bureau, it could bring benefits to the tourism industry in Rizhao.The purpose of tourism translation is to introduce foreign tourists to the tourism resources and to attract them for a visit. Translators should firstly take account of the translation purpose and its expected functions while translating tourism materials.Coincidentally, the Skopos Theory argues that translation is a purposeful and conscious activity and the target receiver is the decisive factor in translation activities. The Skopos rule,which concerns the purpose of translation is decisive to translation. In a word, the Skopos Theory attaches great importance to translation purpose rather than translation equivalence.Therefore, the Skopos Theory is applicable and feasible in tourism translation. On the basis of a review of an array of studies on tourism translation, the author combines the Skopos Theory with tourism translation and puts forward a tentative English version of the “Happy Fishermen”, hoping to contribute to tourism translation and the development of the tourism industry in Rizhao.This thesis is divided into five chapters: introduction, literature review, theoretical framework, translation strategies and conclusion. The introductory chapter consists of the research background, purpose of the present study and thesis structure. The chapter presentingthe literature review synthesizes tourism translation research at home and abroad and then expounds the current situation of “Happy Fishermen” translation. The chapter about the theoretical framework of this thesis elaborates on three rules and the development of the Skopos Theory. Meanwhile, the author points out the rationale of applying the Skopos Theory to tourism translation. In the chapter about translation strategies, using some examples from the “Happy Fishermen”, the author applies the Skopos Theory to analyze translation strategies from three levels: vocabulary, syntax and discourse. In the concluding chapter, the author sums up strategies of tourism translation, limitations of the research and suggestions for further research.