Hidden powers : a foucauldian analysis of power relations between tour guides and tourists.

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to investigate the omnipresence of power in the seemingly nonpolitical setting namely on the HiPPO bus of Singapore DuckTours, and to account for the power that tourists and tour guides hold. The power relationships between tourists and tour guides through the construction of the Tourist gaze. The semi-guidedness of this particular type of touring has its unique position in the tourism –it lies in between independent travelling, and fully-packaged tours. Using this unique placement as a background to the study, the power relations are being unraveled through the examination of the issues of language and tipping. By employing the Foucauldian power to the analysis, it illuminates the multiplicity of power relationships in this social setting and also to recognize the dynamism of power shifts between the Foucauldian targets and agents. This is to increase knowledge on the power tourists have over the guides, and vice versa.