Performing Sites: Illusion and Authenticity in the Spatial Stories of the Guided Tour

Overend, David

doi:10.1080/15022250.2012.678070

Cited by 39 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…Guided tours can remove rigidity by allowing for co‐existing stories to be told and bringing seemly mundane settings or objects to life. According to Overend (, p. 53), the guide ‘is at once a performer and an interpreter, at the centre of the experience’. To make sense of this complex work, Williams () claims the performative practices of guided tours can be separated into four categories: scenography (staged spaces), characterization (acted character roles), narrative (storytelling styles) and collective experiences (techniques of liminality and ritual).…”

Section: Tour Guides and Dark/penal Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tour Guide Styles and Penal History Museums in Canada

Ferguson

Walby

Piché

2015

Int. J. Tourism Res.

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Although the existing penal tourism literature examines displays at penal heritage sites, little research has explored the work of tour guides within them. Drawing from interviews and observations, this article assesses the styles of tour guides working at penal history museums in Canada. We situate carceral guides' styles along a continuum encompassing those who claim to convey historical facts as well as ones who explicitly engage in staging and performance, which are primarily responsive to penal tourists' expectations for fun and entertainment. In the discussion and conclusion, we address the practical implications of this assessment of guide styles. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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Section: Tour Guides and Dark/penal Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tour Guide Styles and Penal History Museums in Canada

Ferguson

Walby

Piché

2015

Int. J. Tourism Res.

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“…There is a knowledge gap of how the interactions between the guide and tourists with disabilities participating in the guided tours influence the tour guides experience (Holloway, 1981;Overend, 2012). However little research has been done on the experiences of tour guides with tourists with disabilities which therefore has an effect on service delivery.…”

Section: Tour Guiding and Tourists With Disabilitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the centre of experience, the guide is required to be at once a performer, entertainer and an interpreter (Overend, 2012). The Professional Tour Guide Association of San Antonio believes that the secret for a tour guide to deliver a successful tour is if the tour guide loves and enjoys the subject that they will be presenting to the tourists (Professional Tour Guide Association of San Antonio, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tour guides experiences with tourists with disabilities

Chikuta

Kabote

Chikanya

2017

European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation

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Abstract:The market of tourists with disabilities consists of a sizeable percentage of total tourism and is rapidly growing globally but little is known about tour guides experiences with them. These tourists with disabilities seem to have less holiday offers thereby reducing the frequency of tour guide encounters with them. While most tourism literature supports tour guides and their contribution to tourist experience, very little research is done in developing countries to show experiences of tour guides with tourists with disabilities. There is a knowledge gap of how the interactions between the guide and tourists with disabilities participating in the guided tours influence the tour guides' experience. Using face to face interviews and focus group discussions with tour guides the study sought to establish people with disabilities types of holidays, concerns they raise during tours and challenges encountered by tour guides when touring with PwD. Non-probability, namely convenience and judgemental sampling methods were followed to pick tour guides from museums and national parks. Study results revealed the activities that tour guides are offering people with disabilities, guides' own choice of activities for tourists with disabilities and the challenges faced by tour guides in the provision of those activities. The study concludes that the guiding industry has inadequate information about tourists with disabilities and thus is failing to fully serve the market. Lastly the study provides a set of recommendations that can be used by the tour guiding industry in order to effectively serve the market of tourists with disabilities.

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“…In contrast, the tourist is understood to play something of a passive role, reliant on the Tour Guide for knowledge and guidance, unquestioningly believing the information (or story) that is imparted (Overend, 2012) and developing understandings heavily shaped by 'the subjective and replicated interpretations of their Tour Guides' (McIntosh & Prentice, 1999, p…”

Section: Tour Guides As Mediatorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tour Guides and the mediation of difficult memories: the case of Dublin Castle, Ireland

Quinn

Ryan

2015

Current Issues in Tourism

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This research seeks to furthering understandings of how Tour Guides interpret memories at heritage sites when the memories at issue are difficult yet subtle and not always apparent to tourists. Specifically, it explores how Dublin Castle, formerly the seat of British rule in Ireland, is captured in narratives presented to tourists that often include Britons. Representing the site is made challenging because some visitors have little knowledge of the site's history, while others are well informed and hold strong political views. The findings show that Guides select largely depoliticized narratives, strongly influenced by their personal interests and experiences. Some hint at underlying tensions that only tourists alert to the complexities of the site might capture. Dominant narratives can be challenged by tourists with an interest in, or allegiance to, particular historical or political beliefs, leading to emotional engagements. Some tourists, unaware of the complexities of the site, can encounter a more multi-layered and complex experience than perhaps envisaged. The study affirms the co-production evident in Tour Guiding narratives and points to the need for further research into how the variously empowered agencies of both the Guide and the tourist produce a constant shifting and re-working of memory.

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Performing Sites: Illusion and Authenticity in the Spatial Stories of the Guided Tour

Cited by 39 publications

References 8 publications

Tour Guide Styles and Penal History Museums in Canada

Tour Guide Styles and Penal History Museums in Canada

Tour guides experiences with tourists with disabilities

Tour Guides and the mediation of difficult memories: the case of Dublin Castle, Ireland

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