Oh No You Didn't, Budget Travel

My family has gotten Budget Travel magazine for a few years, and I've always looked forward to reading it while being home on vacations from school. This semester, however, my mom included an old issue in a box of brownies she sent me (I know, I know, you're jealous, but there are leftovers, so come over!) and I just got finished reading it cover to cover (something which I obviously don't have time to be doing). I noticed something interesting: apart from a worker at La Super-Rica Taqueria (a recommended stop on driving the Pacific Coast Highway, in case you were wondering), there were absolutely no people of color featured in the editorial content of the magazine. None.

Really, I think the pattern of exclusion witnessed in Budget Travel is indicative of the atmosphere found within many avenues of print media. What surprises me about Budget Travel's exclusion, though, is the fact that the magazine specifically targets the budget-minded; since a large part of the reason for the exclusion of people of color from other print media outlets is based on assumptions about socioeconomic status, Budget Travel is in a unique position to be inclusive in its visual features.

Still, I think the entire magazine and print media industry is just beginning to recognize the lucrative “niche” markets that people of color represent, and many smaller-scale publications have yet to incorporate this realization into their media for a number of reasons. In travel media specifically, though, my guess is not that western people of color and affluence are not traveling, but that it is instead hard for the media to get a grasp on this development and figure out how to market it correctly. How do people of color’s travel habits and desires differ from those of European descendent? Do they share the same neo-colonial desires for authenticity and discovery? These are important questions that the travel industry will be forced to answer within the coming years if it hopes to continue reaching and influencing the leisure activities of the most people possible.