Interactive service work and performative metaphors

This article analyses the use of performative metaphors in studies that examine interactive service work in the tourism industry. That these metaphors provide a valuable means to conceptualize this type of work is not disputed. Performative metaphors aptly capture the nature of service work, with its unpredictability and audience scrutiny. However, performative metaphors can be extended so that they address not only the embodied actions of service employees but also the social relations that shape ‘theatrical’ production. Tourism researchers could deploy these metaphors in ways that exhibit the broader power structures that affect the enactment of interactive service work. In this article, it is demonstrated that performative metaphors can be used to articulate the often difficult conditions and circumstances under which cruise-ship service employees work.