ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the alignments and disconnects that exist in the space between the production of promotional images and their reading by local residents. Through this consideration we fill a gap: relatively few studies of island settings examine the way permanent residents regard promotional material. It also examines the case of Great Barrier Island, New Zealand's fourth largest island which lies approximately 90 km to the northeast of Auckland, the country's largest city. The chapter considers the perspectives of an under-examined readership the locals' whose lives may benefit or be disrupted by tourism activity. Then the chapter investigates the ways in which Great Barrier Island is represented within brochures aimed at tourists, and whether or not residents of the island feel that the text and images within that literature reflect lived experience on the island. Generally island residents were sympathetic to the way Great Barrier Island was portrayed to visitors.
