Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to invoke a Foucauldian frameworkin order to re-thinkthe
development of community-based tourism by focusing on the relationship between
intermediaries and rural and isolated area communities in Papua New Guinea.
Foucault’s concepts of power/knowledge andgovernmentalityprovide a ‘way of thinking’
about this relationship that challenges the dominant discourse of the tourism
industry. To further elaborate these alternative concepts, the researchers lead a discussion
through a number of areas that impact on the development of community-based
tourism. These include the introduction of western models of management and their
ability to undermine traditional forms of knowledge, the conceptualisation of the
tourist destination as interactive space, and a critique of the tourism industry through
poststructuralist feminist theory. From these perspectives community-based tourism
or ecotourism suggests a symbolic or mutual relationship where the tourist is not given
central priority but becomes an equal part of the system.
