Ethnic representations. Destination Imagery

While existing research on ethnic/racial minority pictorial representations in destination promotion primarily focuses on Southern countries, this inquiry adopts a sociological media approach within the context of a Northern nation, Canada. Through a content analysis of Canadian brochures, ethnic/racial representations are explored. Among the results is the finding that the these minorities are more likely to be portrayed as locals enacting physically active entertainment roles, while the ethnic/racial majority is mostly depicted as tourists enacting physically passive roles. The sociocultural significance and implications of the results are discussed by highlighting representations as processes that serve to reveal the ideological nature of tourism marketing.