Marginalisation revisited: bottom-up perspectives on co-creating socially just walking tours

The past 15 years have seen a rise in initiatives set up to enable marginalised groups to create walking tours of their own communities, thus also creating alternative destination experiences. This research investigates the level of control marginalised communities have on the content and narratives of walking tours they deliver, the extent to which tour guides include or exclude aspects of their marginalisation, and how these factors affect their agency and self-empowerment. The qualitative analysis draws on semi-structured interviews with senior leadership and tour guides from 11 tour organisations who engage marginalised people in walking tours. The analysis reveals that by amplifying peoples’ voices and giving them a platform, tour guiding increases the guides’ sense of agency and belonging, can transform public opinion and increase the visibility of marginalised individuals – particularly when guides are able to shape the narrative and content of the tours. Consequently, tours delivered and designed by marginalised individuals contribute to making urban destinations more socially inclusive, thus forming an essential part of the justice tourism and sustainability agenda.