Tourism geographies and the place of authenticity

Along with the earliest theories of tourism arose an interest in understanding the role of authenticity. These burgeoning efforts were based in history, anthropology, and sociology (see Boorstin, 1961; MacCannell, 1973, 1976; Cohen, 1979); yet, the subsequent infusion of geographical perspectives that spatialize authenticity have greatly enriched our conceptualizations. Indeed, these scholars were invaluable in laying the foundations of key aspects of authenticity – Boorstin (1961) in asserting tourism is comprised of pseudo-events drew attention to staged aspects of tourism encounters, MacCannell (1973; 1976) explicated the mechanisms through which staging occurs and initiated a discussion of the socio-cultural significance of authenticity, which Cohen (1979) then refined by elaborating on the various ways authenticity comes into play in tourists’ motivation for recreational, diversionary, experiential, experimental, and existential experiences. However, what these contributions were lacking was attention to the geographical, that tourism is simultaneously a mobilities and a placed-based phenomenon, and as such the roles of scale, mobilities, space, place, and landscape are crucial to experiences of authenticity

“I’m a Red River local”: rock climbing mobilities and community hospitalities

With individuals continually on the move, mobility fosters constellations of places at which individuals collectively moor and perform community. By focusing on one climbing destination – the Red River Gorge – this paper works across scales to highlight the spatial politics of mobilizing hospitality. In so doing, it summarizes the ways hosting/guesting thresholds dissolve with the growth of particular rock climbing associated infrastructures and moves to examine the ways climbers performances of community result in the (semi-)privatization of public space and attempts at localization. Further, the paper highlights the ways mobility is employed to maintain a political voice from afar, as well as to forge “local” identities with The Red as place with distinct subcultural (in)hospitality practices. Hospitality practices affirm power relations, they communicate who is at “home” and who has the power in a particular space to extend hospitality. The decision to extend hospitality is not simply the difference between an ethical encounter and a conditional one; it takes place in the very performance of identity. Thus, integrating a mobilities perspective into hospitality studies further illuminates the spatial politics that are at play in an ethics of hospitality

Revisiting Authenticity in the Age of the Digital Transformation of Cultural Tourism

The recent years have seen a digital transformation of the cultural tourism sector and the interpretation of cultural heritage, through the use of emerging and immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR). Although this transformation has brought important advantages, it may also challenge the authenticity of the offered experience. This paper aims to explore the different and conflicting scholarly debates on authenticity and technology, which lie at the intersection of three fields, namely tourism studies, heritage studies and ICT and which may also have consequences on the actual applicability of such technologies in cultural tourism. An examination of the concept of authenticity in the aforementioned disciplines is provided, through an analysis of how the concept has evolved in each of the three disciplines. The paper also highlights their differences and points of convergence and discusses the challenges and implications created by the identified discrepancies between the different stakeholders involved in cultural tourism. Finally, suggestions will be offered on how the discussed challenges and implications can be addressed in light of the new needs of cultural tourism in the digital era