Abstract
This article examines one of the key occupations in nature tourism: wilderness guiding. It investigates what it means for the work of guides when nature is simultaneously a product to be sold, an operational environment and a partaker in the tour. The concept of ‘collective’ by Bruno Latour is used as a methodological guideline in investigating guiding as work. By examining a guide’s work as a collective, we can see what kinds of demands this kind of ‘hybrid-work’ requires, how nature is intertwined with customer service practices, and how technology becomes a part of guiding. It is demonstrated that nature and technology play a greater role in shaping tourism practices and performances of employees than previously thought. Nature is an essential part of a guide’s performance; it is an ‘actor’ which participates in constructing the service event of nature tourism.
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