Authenticity in tourism theory and experience. Practically indispensable and theoretically mischievous?

Kevin Moore, Annæ Buchmann, Maria Månsson and David Fisher

Annals of Tourism Research, 2021, vol. 89, issue C

Abstract: The notion of authenticity arises in tourism research in two ways: In theory, as a contentious, complicated and disputed construct; empirically, as a recurrent theme in accounts of tourist experiences of place and culture and as a quality of tourists' experiences. This duality creates tension over the utility of authenticity in research and theory. We review recent literature on authenticity within tourism scholarship –and more generally– and propose a partial resolution of this tension through demystifying the concept. We do this by highlighting its embeddedness in the activity of both research and tourism. That is, we conclude that authenticity can shed its problematic dualism by understanding how it is used in theorising and the activities of tourism.

Keywords: Authenticity; Existential authenticity; Sincerity; Embodiment; Theory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:anture:v:89:y:2021:i:c:s0160738321000803

DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2021.103208

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