Touristifying Tanzania: Local Guides, Global Discourse
Annals of Tourism Research 33(3): 833-852
20 Pages Posted: 13 Jul 2012 Last revised: 26 Nov 2012
Date Written: July 1, 2006
Abstract
Applying a combination of ethnographic and discourse-centered approaches to an exploratory case study in Arusha, Tanzania, this paper examines how global discourses are locally (re)produced. By acquiring specialized knowledge that is circulating through handbooks, magazines, websites, and videos, Tanzanian students learn how to become professional “local” guides. During their training they are instructed, both implicitly and explicitly, how to use global discourses to represent and sell their natural and cultural heritage as authentically local. However, in the personal interaction with tourists, guides do not merely reproduce the narratives and practices they were taught at school but become themselves creative storytellers, often subtly questioning or contesting the normative templates.
Keywords: globalization, discourse, tour guides, ethnography, Tanzania
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