Toward a framework integrating authenticity and integrity in heritage tourism

Abstract

While authenticity as a research concept has been widely studied in the tourism field, integrity remains a concept only prominent in heritage conservation. Through a critical review of the concepts of authenticity and integrity in tourism and heritage preservation areas, this study aims to propose a framework in which authenticity and integrity are seen as a dialectic and integrated unity. In the framework, the interactive mechanism between authenticity and integrity is elaborated. The framework highlights the value of both authenticity and integrity; it comprises all tangible and intangible elements that are interconnected to culture continuity, which connects the past to the present, and links the individual parts to the whole of a cultural heritage site.

遗产旅游业的可靠性和整合性结构框架

当可靠性作为一种调查研究的概念时，它已经在旅游界被广泛地研究。而整体性只显著地存在于遗产保护。通过对旅游业中可靠性和整合性概念，以及遗产保护领域的重温，这次研究目的在于建立一个框架，将可靠性和整合性视作一种辩证和整体的单元。在框架中，可靠性与整合性之间的互交机制是很详尽的。此框架强调了这两个性质并且包含了所有有形和无形的元素，用以连接文化延续。这种文化延续联通了过去与现在，而且将个人与整个文化遗产地相连接。

Keywords:

• authenticity
• integrity
• cultural heritage tourism
• culture continuity
• framework

关键字:

• 可靠性
• 整合性
• 文化遗产旅游业
• 文化延续和框架

Acknowledgements

The first author would like to thank the Centre for Tourism and Leisure Management (CTLM) at the University of South Australia for providing research training and facilities during her research visit to CTLM, which is fundamental to the publication of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yifei Wang

Yifei Wang is a lecturer in tourism management in the School of Economics & Management at the Xi'an Fanyi University, Xi'an, China. During her postgraduate study in Zhejiang University, China, she participated in the research program sponsored by the China National Fund of Social Science (no.05BJY085), and completed her study in 2007 and honored as the author of “Excellent Post-graduate Degree Thesis”. Her research interests include culture tourism, heritage tourism, destination planning and tourist experience. She was selected as the state-funded visiting researcher sponsored by the China Scholarship Council, representing Chinese outstanding young scholars to conduct joint research works in the School of Management, University of South Australia from May 2012 to May 2013.

Songshan (Sam) Huang

Dr Songshan (Sam) Huang is an Associate Professor in tourism management in the School of Management, University of South Australia. He received the PhD degree in tourism management in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. His research interests include tourist behaviour, destination marketing, tour guiding and various Chinese tourism and hospitality issues. He has published articles in leading tourism and hospitality journals including Annals of Tourism Research, Journal of Travel Research, Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Research, and Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.

Aise KyoungJin Kim

Aise KyoungJin Kim, PhD, is a senior lecturer of tourism management in the School of Management at the University of South Australia. She completed her PhD research in The School of Management, University of Surrey. UK. Her research interests include tourism impacts, sustainable tourism, tourist behaviour, interpretation and tourism marketing. More recently, her work has focused on ethical behaviour in both nature-based tourism and management contexts.