Abstract
This paper is a study of the tourism‐identity nexus in the representation of Māori culture in Aotearoa New Zealand. It draws on postcolonial theory to critically examine national and regional promotion of Māori culture in a tourism context. It aims to identify points of difference that might assist development of Māori tourism while highlighting how such differences challenge the pervasiveness of the legacies of colonialism in tourism. The study, based on qualitative interviews with Māori tourism operators, identifies that tribal identity as attached to storytelling provides a means to diversify the Māori tourism product, but also acts as a counter‐narrative to the homogenous identity of Māori culture as promoted by the national tourism body. Results reveal that Māori tourism operators are increasingly engaging with a third space — a hybridity — which re‐inscribes the dualisms of colonised and coloniser.
Published Version
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