Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Since 2020, the government of Buenos Aires has promoted training programs for residents in two 'workingclass neighborhoods,' certifying them as 'site guides' as part of a series of measures aimed at regulating tourism in these territories. This initiative sparked diverse reactions among professional guides, government agencies, and the trainees themselves, creating tensions around the use of the term 'guide.' This paper examines how the legitimacy of those authorized to guide a territory is constructed, alongside the legal frameworks that endorse it. By analyzing the local tourism board’s role in professionalizing and regulating community guides—through volatile, ever-shifting designations—we argue that such initiatives simultaneously create opportunities for endogenous narratives through local guides and expose underlying uncertainties about how tourism is practiced.
Source: Punto sur
Author: Triana Sánchez Attanasio
Institution: National University of General San Martín
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7166547839