Tourists’ power perception at an ethnic festival: A qualitative approach

The aim of this article is to explore tourists’ power perception and its influence on tourists’ feedback at an ethnic festival. Based on a combination of sociology’s mutual gaze theory and psychology’s power theory, a case study and a qualitative research method are employed to conduct the study. Results indicate that the hosts dominate relations with tourists during the process of mutual gaze; additionally, the powerlessness felt by tourists and the unsatisfactory feedback obtained from them are partly attributed to the hosts’ arrangements and control. In management inspiration, hosts should place more emphasis on improving tourists’ sense of power to develop event tourism sustainably.