Contents

• Introduction
• Description of Boorstin’s notion of pseudo-events and authenticity
• Conclusion
• References

Description

MacCannell (1973, 1976) was the first person who developed the concept of authenticity to sociological studies of tourist motivations and experience. Ever since the introduction of this concept, it has become an important part of tourism studies. However there exist two different views on the concept of authenticity in tourism. One school of thought has emphasized on the authenticity of tourism whereas the other have completely disregarded it. Boorstin belonged to the group which doubts on the existence of authenticity where seeking for authentic experiences for tourist was completely ignored. Boorstin (1964) studied mass tourism and regarded it as pseudo-events as tourists generally seeks for attractions that can be staged and are often satisfied with commoditized products, cultures as well as images. As a result he stated that tourists cannot have any authentic experiences (Shen, 2011). This essay will highlight the Boorstin’s notion of pseudo-events and authenticity.