Author:

Keywords:

globalization, discourse, tour guides, ethnography, Tanzania, Social Sciences, Hospitality, Leisure, Sport & Tourism, Sociology, Social Sciences - Other Topics, EAST-AFRICA, TOURISM, LANGUAGE, TRAVEL, INDONESIA, POLITICS, TORAJA, MAASAI, 1504 Commercial Services, 1505 Marketing, 1506 Tourism, Sport, Leisure & Tourism, 3506 Marketing, 3508 Tourism, 4406 Human geography

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; instead they themselves become creative storytellers, often subtly questioning or contesting the normative templates.