Representation and representativeness of Black people in a luxury tourism magazine in Brazil

Abstract

The objective of the article is to analyze the social representation and the representativeness of black people in a tourism magazine focused on luxury consumption. The theoretical framework is centered on discussions about social representations and racism, showing how tourism reinforces stereotypes and links the activity to whiteness. The research corpus includes the last ten editions (n. 17 to 26) of Viaje Mais Luxo magazine, published from 2017 to 2020. The method used was content analysis. The images conveyed in the magazine's cover, advertising, and the articles were analyzed. As a result, the research shows that black people appear in three ways: as tourism servers, as attractions and, to a lesser extent, as tourists. In several sections, as well as on the cover, there are no images of black people, revealing how they are invisible in the activity. The magazine's advertising makes use of the image of black people to give an idea of diversity, and stereotypes are used to portray them, linking them to the African continent or to a certain musical style, in a reductionist form. About representation, black people appear in 11.23% of the advertisements and in 6.31% of the content produced by the magazine itself. The paper reveals the association between whiteness and wealth in luxury tourism.

Keywords
Tourism; Elite; Magazine; Black People; Racism