| Abstract | The past 15 years have seen a rise in initiatives set up to enablemarginalised groups to create walking tours of their own commu-nities, thus also creating alternative destination experiences. Thisresearch investigates the level of control marginalised communitieshave on the content and narratives of walking tours they deliver,the extent to which tour guides include or exclude aspects of theirmarginalisation, and how these factors affect their agency andself-empowerment. The qualitative analysis draws on semi-structuredinterviews with senior leadership and tour guides from 11 tourorganisations who engage marginalised people in walking tours.The analysis reveals that by amplifying peoples’ voices and givingthem a platform, tour guiding increases the guides’ sense ofagency and belonging, can transform public opinion and increasethe visibility of marginalised individuals – particularly when guidesare able to shape the narrative and content of the tours.Consequently, tours delivered and designed by marginalised indi-viduals contribute to making urban destinations more sociallyinclusive, thus forming an essential part of the justice tourism andsustainability agenda. |
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