Does authenticity exist in cultural theme parks? A case study of Millennium City Park in Henan, China (original) (raw)
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Visitors' perceptions of authenticity at cultural attractions in Hainan, China
International Journal of Tourism Research, 2002
The island of Hainan is a peripheral province of China with a rapidly expanding tourism industry. In addition to its tropical climate and sea±sun±sand±sex attractions, Hainan possesses substantial ethnic minorities who have become involved in the tourism industry, particularly through the development of folk villages. These folk villages are purpose-built tourism attractions, akin to small theme parks, in which the theme is ethnicity and in which aspects of local culture are shared with visitors for a price. This paper examines and compares the characteristics and experiences of visitors, mainly of Chinese mainland origin, to three such villages. Emphasis is placed upon the extent to which they are satis®ed with their experiences and believe them to be authentic.
This research investigates how the Chinese natives perceive authenticity in Chinese ethnic tourism attractions. The focus of the study is on the Lijiang World Heritage site in Yunnan province. The research first takes an insight into authenticity by referring to the key authors including; Boorstin (1962), MacCannell (1973), Cohen (1972) and Urry (1990:2002). By critically referring to existing literature related to authenticity an argument has been raised as to whether authenticity has a negative or positive impact on the indigenous culture. Therefore, primary research is taken in order to obtain the views and opinions of Chinese native’s. A constructionism approach is taken alongside the phenomenological approach in order to question, analyse and interpret other perspectives on authenticity. The methodological approach that was used were semi-structured interviews which best suited the research question. The semi-structured interviews were designed to obtain Chinese natives perspectives on authenticity in Chinese ethnic tourism sites as the Lijiang World Heritage site as the case study. The findings from the interviews have allowed an adequate thematic analysis to be done. The thematic analysis has found themes in the findings which have been linked to relevant literature which has answered the research question. It is found in this study that the Chinese natives perceive authenticity different to the key theorists. It is emphasized throughout this research that the Chinese natives do not consider authenticity to be a problem but, rather a positive contribution to the progression of China.
Sustainability, 2021
Many historic and cultural heritage destinations have faced queries about authentic travel experiences and crises of commoditization related to tourism products. This study is based on the dyadic function of heritage destinations for both locals and domestic tourists: heritage as a spatial-temporal object for tourists, using authenticity as a theoretical framework. It examined the (1) effects of cultural motivations and prior knowledge on both object-based and existential authenticities, (2) effects of authenticity on destination experiences, and (3) moderating role of residential status on the relationship between authenticity and destination experience. The data were collected from 173 locals and 159 domestic tourists on site in the Sanfang Qixiang tourist district and analyzed using the SEM technique. The results indicated that cultural motivation and prior knowledge had significant effects on authenticity; however, only existential authenticity enhanced the destination experienc...
The role of authenticity, involvement and experience quality in heritage destinations
Tourism & Management Studies, 2024
This research explores the impact of authenticity and involvement on destination image, aiming to comprehend visitor satisfaction, experience quality, re-patronage intentions, willingness to pay more, and word-of-mouth. Structural equation modelling was employed for analysis using data from 394 visitors to Side, Turkey. According to research findings, authenticity and involvement positively influence destination image. The findings demonstrate that developing re-patronage intentions, word-of-mouth recommendations, and willingness to pay more can be facilitated through experience quality and satisfaction. Also, it is proved that satisfaction is positively influenced by destination image. Moreover, authenticity and involvement positively influence destination image. According to research results, to increase willingness to pay, it is imperative to offer a high-quality cultural tourism experience, wherein tourists gain knowledge about the heritage destination and enjoy the experience while deeply engaging with the surroundings. Furthermore, public and private organisations should design visitor experiences that consider authenticity and involvement to enhance destination image and increase customer satisfaction.
AUTHENTICITY IN A VISITOR ATTRACTION: REFLECTIONS FROM IRELANd
The aim of this research was to investigate authenticity in a visitor attraction, namely Bunratty Castle and Folk Park (BCFP) County Clare, Ireland. It is one of Ireland's premier visitor attractions and is divided into three elements; a 15th century Bunratty Castle, a 19th century Bunratty Folk Park and a Village Street. BCFP is located in County Clare (Ireland) which is in the province of Munster and from a tourism perspective is situated in the Shannon Region (Limerick, Clare, North Tipperary, South Offaly, and North Kerry). The main objectives of this research are to discuss authenticity and cultural tourism, investigate the relationship of authenticity within tourism, understand the importance of authenticity in cultural tourism and finally to determine using BCFP as the case study, if authenticity plays a pivotal role when choosing an attraction to visit. The literature review discussed the following elements; cultural tourism, authenticity within tourism, the meaning, and the importance of authenticity. To answer the research objectives, qualitative techniques were used in the form of interviews. Interviews were conducted to answer the research objectives, concerning the key stakeholder's perspectives about authenticity. The results of this study illustrated that authenticity is an important component within the tourism industry, as tourists are capable of identifying real 'authenticity'. The findings concluded that authenticity is considered an important attribute of BCFP.
Authenticity: From heritage to tourism
Authenticity as a concept has been studied a long time (Erickson, 1995). Despite this, and the historic preservation movement that arose in Europe in the early nineteenth century, authenticity was not a keyword and its study only began to be systematically used in social sciences, from the second half of the XX century (Starn, 2002). After that, the concept has raised and continues to raise many questions about its interpretation. Authenticity continues to justify reflection not only with regard to the preservation of heritage (Barthel, 1996; Lowenthal, 1996; Moe & Wilkie, 1997), but also in the tourism context (Cohen, 1988; MacCannell, 1973; Moscardo & Pearce, 1986). Authenticity is a matter of choice, a motivation that takes tourists to leave their familiar surroundings and look for unique spaces. Some tourists seek for authentic experiences, while others gravitate in artificial experiences (Cohen, 1988). In fact, the pursuit for authenticity has become a central theme in the tourism literature (Belhassen, 2008). The authenticity is a central motivation in tourism experience. The attraction of tourists to places of social, historical or cultural significance is comparable to the desire of pilgrims to visit holy places (MacCannell, 1973). The authenticity as dynamic and multifaceted concept has sparked many debates about its meaning and utility, so it occupies a central position in tourism studies (Rickly-Boyd, 2012). Many researchers have deconstructed theoretically and empirically the notion of authenticity in heritage environments (Andriotis, 2013) due to its crucial importance, namely for heritage tourism (Tourism Trends for Europe, 2006; Yeoman et al, 2007). Over the years the concept has been studied from different perspectives such as object, place, experience - these thoughts are translated into several theories sometimes conflicting. Indeed, research in this area gives us a perspective of the present discussion and development discourse about the authenticity concept (Chhabra, 2005; Olsen, 2002; Pearce & Moscardo, 1986; Reisinger & Steiner, 2006; Wang, 1999). In this context, this paper main goal is to make a literature review on the concept of authenticity and its relationship with tourism. Specifically, we intend to present the historical evolution of the term linked to the Heritage classification, namely the contributions of ICOMOS, secondly we present the concept of authenticity in tourism studies, more specifically its impact on tourist behavior and tourist experience, then the various types of authenticity and operationalization in Tourism research are addressed. Discussion centers on this review literature implications to theory and managerial development of tourism strategies. Recommendations for destinations managers and promoters and tourist organizations administrators are addressed.
2018
Cultural heritage tourism is essentially comprised of cultural tourism and heritage tourism. Authenticity of the attractions is unquestionably the most critical success factor for this niche tourism. While authenticity of the “built heritage” has been extensively studied, the authenticity of the presentation of the “local culture” seems to be ignored by past researchers. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of heritage authenticity, and cultural authenticity on behavioural intention in the context of cultural heritage tourism destination. This study also anticipates that the above relationships are mediated by the quality of experiences. This study involving 500 foreign tourists visiting the Malaysia’s first World Heritage City, Malacca City used questionnaire survey as the data collection method. The results show that only heritage authenticity is positively related to behavioural intention while cultural authenticity affects behavioural intention via expe...
Authenticity and place attachment of major visitor attractions
This paper aims to explore the relationships between place attachment and perceived authenticity of major visitor attractions. The empirical study was conducted with a sample of international tourists to major visitor attractions in two capital cities, Helsinki, Finland and Jerusalem, Israel. The results indicate a positive correlation between place attachment and authenticity. Major visitor attractions located in places with considerable heritage experience value are considered more authentic, and that authenticity of visitor attractions is influenced by place attachment moderated by iconicity and heritage value of the destination region. These findings provide insight to the ways tourists perceive authenticity of visitor attractions and highlight the importance of the heritage value of tourism destinations for strategic planning and marketing purposes.
Cultural tourists: Authenticity perception in World Heritage Historic Centres
2016
There is a clear ‘cult of authenticity’, at least in modern Western society. So, there is a need to analyze the tourist perception of authenticity, bearing in mind the destination, its attractions, motivations, cultural distance, and contact with other tourists (Kohler, 2009). Our study seeks to investigate the relationship among cultural values, image, sense of place, perception of authenticity and behavior intentions at World Heritage Historic Centers. From a theoretical perspective, to our knowledge, no study exists with a focus on the impact of cultural values, image and sense of place on authenticity and intentions behavior in tourists. The intention of this study is to help close this gap. A survey was applied to collect data from tourists visiting two World Heritage Historic Centers – Guimarães in Portugal and Cordoba in Spain. Data was analyzed in order to establish a structural equation model (SEM). Discussion centers on the implications of model to theory and managerial de...