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Tour guides as tourist products in D alat, V ietnam: Exploring market freedoms in a communist state
Author(s) -
Gillen Jamie,
Kirby Rusty,
Riemsdijk Micheline
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
asia pacific viewpoint
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.571
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1467-8373
pISSN - 1360-7456
DOI - 10.1111/apv.12067
Subject(s) - tourism , communism , politics , position (finance) , transition (genetics) , state (computer science) , narrative , socialism , political science , key (lock) , political economy , economy , sociology , economic system , economics , law , ecology , biochemistry , chemistry , linguistics , philosophy , finance , algorithm , biology , computer science , gene
This paper investigates how tour guides position themselves in V ietnam's transition from a command economy to market socialism. The case study of the D alat E asy R iders motorcycle guides demonstrates that tour guides take advantage of, personify and contribute to the economic, political and social transitions in the country. Relatedly, we argue that V ietnam's transition (known as đổi mới ) is a key component of the E asy R iders' promotional narratives. In sum, we analyse how tour guides become tourist products in a transitional society.