Gender, framing and travelogues

Abstract

This article analyzes gender differences in visiting media reporting of a tourism destination. Based on the concept of frame analysis, a method commonly used in media studies, it combines the analysis of texts and pictures from print media travel reports and assigned rankings to different frames (themes) identified for further statistical analysis. Using an independent-samples t-test and multidimensional scaling, it was found that female journalists pick up subtler and less salient frames more frequently than their male counterparts. However, significant differences were only found in three themes: "cuisine," "adventure activities," and "urban vibrancy." On the other hand, reports by male journalists were more congruent with ranking of themes promoted by national tourism organizations than was the case among their female counterparts. In general, for soft news such as travelogues, gender differences were found in the less salient themes. Managerial implications, suggestions for future research, and limitations are provided and discussed.