Tourists Co-producing Guided Tours

Abstract

The guided tour is a stigmatized tourist practice. In contrast to studies portraying sightseeing tours as an over-determined stage where tourists passively follow prescripted routes and scripts, this article also uncovers creativity, detours and productive practices. We examine how tourists can be said to perform both in and out of tune with guide's script and the interaction order of guiding more broadly. What is distinctive and innovative about the perspective is that we regard guides and tourists as mutual depending co-producers of the guided tour. First, the article begins with a short discussion of some of Goffman's central concepts. Second, we move on to a more general discussion of how front-stage tourism services are performances where both tourist staff and guests play their part. Third, we examine ethnographically how participants on guided tours in Copenhagen co-produce this particular service by employing various tactics that we label and discuss. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.