The pursuit of authentic experience

The pursuit of authentic experiences is considered as one of the key trends in
tourism. Authenticity is therefore crucially important for tourism, from all the sectors,
especially in heritage tourism (Yeoman et al., 2007; Tourism Trends for Europe,
2006). Consequently, authenticity is considered as a basic and a particular interest
for cultural heritage marketing. It is important to understand tourist motivation
and behaviour as well as strategic and marketing implications concerning tourist
destination management and the quest for authentic tourism experiences.
Drawing on this approach, authors such as MacCannell (1973) and Cohen (1972)
showed the importance of authenticity in tourism experiences and defined tourism
activities as the modern quest for authenticity.