The theme of this essay arises from problematic pictures which travel journalism can bring about foreign countries, and in this specific case Mexico. These pictures can be problematic in the way that they can carry colonial elements and form colonial discourses. The main purpose of this study is therefore to investigate the Swedish travel magazines, Vagabond, RES and Allt om resor, and how they portray places and people in the written texts and photographs. This was done with a postcolonial and discourse theoretical framework, whereas empowerment of certain pictures can lead to formation of discourses, myths and stereotypes about places and people in Mexico. The method used to reveal different aspects of the travel reports was semiotic analysis, Norman Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis and critical linguistics.

This is a study about how Swedish travel magazines write about tropical islands with a history of colonization. The study investigates how the islands of Mauritius, the Seychelles, Haiti, the Maldives, the Dominican Republic, Aruba, Zanzibar and Guadeloupe are being portrayed in four Swedish travel magazines.Travel articles published in the travel magazines Vagabond, Allt om Resor, Res and Escape 360° during the period January 2004 to December 2009 have been analyzed through critical discourse analysis.The study concludes that the travel magazines tend to idealize and aestheticize the tropical islands. The islands are being presented as paradises on earth. They are described as fairy tales, magical, dreams and as playgrounds for Westerners. The inhabitants of the tropical islands are being judged by how well they attend to the tourists? needs and wishes.

The purpose of this study has been to examine online travel magazines as an information source and as a virtual service scape. The traditional travel magazines are facing a change due to the technological development and the web has become an important platform for both customers and companies. The virtual service scape opens new opportunities for interaction and we found a great interest in examining which possibilities and limitations travel magazines are facing. This study is based on a qualitative approach because we wanted to gain a deeper understanding and a complete picture of our chosen subject. We have completed six interviews; three of them were consultants, one publishing director, one editor and a research student.

Resegenren utsätts inte ofta för kritisk granskning vilket troligtvis bidrar till att tonen i resereportagen sällan förändras. Ofta sprider resereportagen ut stereotypa bilder rörande främmande kulturer som bygger på tidigare texter och publikens förväntningar. I uppsatsen undersöktes resejournalistiken och den världsbild den förmedlar.Genom en semiotisk text- och bildanalys undersöktes hur SVT: s Resemagasin Packat & Klart framställt Bangkok i sina resereportage från perioden 1987?2006. Med utgångspunkt i ett postkolonialt perspektiv har jag letat efter spår av postkoloniala diskurser i reportagen.

Hållbart semesterresande är en utmaning med flera dimensioner. På systemnivå finns det tekniska och organisatoriska utmaningar, och på individnivå handlar det ofta om psykologiska hinder för beteendeförändring. Men ytterligare en utmaning kan sägas finnas, och det på samhällsnivå. Det handlar då om hur olika sociokulturella strukturer och aktörer i samhället formar individers identitet, livsstil och normer. I denna uppsats har tonvikten lagts på den sistnämnda utmaningen, med media i fokus.Media i form av texter och bilder om resande kan vara till inspiration för många turister, och bidra till skapande av mer eller mindre miljövänliga livsstilar och konsumentbeteenden.