Space-making is a popular and crucial issue in city planning and tourism development, and scholars have approached the topic from distinctive perspectives; this paper contributes to the discussion by examining a travel spot’s space from the perspective of linguistic landscapes in West Lake, Hangzhou, China. The research found that the Chinese language has played a dominant role in the scenic area, reflecting its practical value and cultural status. Interestingly, the linguistic landscapes have integrated traditional elements and modern features, presenting West Lake as a classical/traditional yet modern space. The bilingual/multilingual signs have produced a modern/globalized space, wherein the digital signs create a dialogical and fluid space, with traditional legend signs suggesting a cultural and romantic space for tourists to enjoy. Linguistic landscapes with rich information about plants and environmental protection construct an ecological space of harmony between people and nature. Thus, classical, modern, cultural, dialogical, and ecological elements of the linguistic landscape combine to create immersive and inclusive tourist spaces. The researchers call for local tourism authorities to pay more attention to language commodification and raise their language service competence to provide more comfortable spaces and positive atmospheres for tourists. This paper contributes to the current literature of linguistic landscapes and tourism space-(re)making, and it will advance understanding of language service in business fields.
