That was a joke, you should laugh! – Tour Guides and the Performance of History in Budapest, Hungary

Travel back to school: use of humour in intertwining of objective authenticity and staged experiences

“…Humour itself is a rather new topic of research in the field of tourism, since it was mostly discussed by philosophers, psychologists and linguists (Slivar, Periša & Horvat 2018). Only recently Frew (2006a;2006b) and to a greater extent spurred by Pearce and Pabel's work, we see humour empirically entering the field of experience design in tourism studies (Pearce 2009;Uzelac, Nasar & Lacbawan Jr. 2015;2016;Francesconi 2017;Slivar, Periša & Horvat 2018). The definition of humour applied in tourism studies is humour as a form of an enjoyable, non-serious communication in which the stimulus may produce amusement, diversion and laughter, maintaining a good cheerful mood (Frew 2006b;Pabel & Pearce 2018;Slivar, Periša & Horvat 2018).…”

“…Other studies focused on the usage of informal humour in guided tours. Uzelac, Nasar & Lacbawan Jr. (2015) write that when tour guides crack jokes, not only do they break the one-way flow of narration, but they also creatively expand their presence and constantly draw the tourists' attention into the performance. The humorous instances can for example be observed in the guides' choice of words, their facial expressions, nonverbal communication, funny acts, jokes, friendliness toward the customers, their welcoming attitude, professionalism and skill, an ease of approachability and not making fun of tourists in a negative way (Lehtovuori 2016).…”

“…Therefore, the usage of humour in guided tours should be presented very carefully. Even though tour guides mostly follow a written script and perform learned jokes, they try to deliver them in a spontaneous way, thus demonstrating their sincerity and authenticity of communication (Uzelac, Nasar & Lacbawan Jr. 2015;.…”