Title: Commoditisation effects on cultural identity: a process model

Authors: Bonnie Farber Canziani

Addresses: Department of Recreation, Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of North Carolina Greensboro, 420 HHP Building, P.O. Box 26170, Greensboro, NC, 27412, USA

Abstract: This paper offers a process model of cultural commoditisation in tourist destinations. The concept of a manufactured cultural profile for tourism is distinguished from the organically developed cultural identity of a host community; the former term refers to a set of cultural markers selected for tourism development which may overlap partially [or completely as a subset of] with the cultural markers acknowledged by host community members as their cultural identity. The commoditisation process is depicted as a model where inputs of cultural markers progress through various transformations into an output product: a marketable cultural profile of the destination that can be promoted and that will have significant appeal to tourists. The paper offers nine theoretical propositions for how the commoditisation process impacts cultural identity within a tourist setting.

Keywords: authenticity; cognitive bias; cultural commoditisation; tourist destinations; cultural identity; cultural representation; destination planning; heritage tourism; tourism development; cultural tourism.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTA.2011.040429

International Journal of Tourism Anthropology, 2011 Vol.1 No.2, pp.108 - 124

Published online: 31 Jan 2015 *

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