Performing: Hotel room attendants' employment experiences

Performing is a socio-psychological process of defining self as a room attendant and finding dignity in the course of completing daily tasks while interacting with other social actors-guests and hotel employees-on hotel stages. The grounded theory of performing emerged from qualitative research, informed by socialist-feminist critical theory and qualitative social constructivist grounded theory. Forty-six room attendants working in one of five participating 5-star hotels located in South East Queensland, Australia, were interviewed. Performing has ramifications for tourism service provision, specifically, hotel praxis and the need for greater acknowledgement of room attendants as a community of value, possessing practical knowledge that could be used to improve daily operations, enhancing guest interactions and tourism service experiences.