Examining Tourism as Power & Performance

Abstract

The concept of power, or more accurately power differential, brings about many diverse and complex issues in tourism. This thesis utilizes the two concepts of tourism as power and tourism as performance to examine the power, inherently found in the tourism context and its effects on how tourists perform amongst themselves, as well as when they interact with locals, thereby locating these various interactions within different contexts. Bintan Island, Indonesia provides an interesting study as the island is unique in that it has a resort, Bintan Beach International Resort, created and maintained exclusively for tourists and a main town of Tanjung Pinang where locals live and where tourists can also visit. These two sites differ greatly from each other and provide interesting stages on which varied touristic performances take place.