Authenticating Ethnic Tourism: Li Dancers' Perspectives

Abstract

Authenticity is a negotiated rather than an absolute attribute of tourism phenomena. A large number of stakeholders is involved in the negotiation of authenticity, including the state, the business community, tourists and, in the case of ethnicity, representatives of minority groups. Each of these is likely to hold its own perspectives on authenticity. This presentation focuses upon the latter group and examines the perceptions of tourism and culture of Li dancers who perform for tourists in purpose-built folk villages in the island of Hainan, China. In order to structure perspectives on authenticity, survey responses of Li dancers are arrayed upon five constructs that can be viewed as representing different dimensions of the authentic. These constructs are: commodification versus spontaneity (non-commercialization), cultural evolution versus museumification, economic development versus cultural preservation, ethnic autonomy versus state regulation, and mass tourism development versus sustainable cultural tourism. It is demonstrated that there is tension both within and between each of these constructs. Furthermore, the perspectives of Li dancers on tourism and culture are formulated and reformulated within the context of the perspectives of other stakeholders who may hold different positions related to authenticity.

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