ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of Bryman’s construction of ‘performative labour’. It demonstrates that while pioneered within Disney theme parks, an element of performance is now a common requirement of many roles within the service industry. The chapter shows how the line between work and pleasure is quickly eroded as seasonal workers come to enact and embody the hedonistic tourist arena. Workers’ appearance must fit the consumer context, as a component of themed space they need to merge with the branding and project the image of the company or product. Tourist workers’ front stage performance therefore requires them to act out the values of the arena they operate within, dropping “their actor’s mask only when they reach the domestic safety of backstage regions”. Competition for jobs in Ibiza is intense. Hundreds of young people fly in every week looking for work, and there are not enough jobs. Staff working in such settings often drew little distinction between work and leisure.
