TY - JOUR
T1 - ‘Authentic but not too much’
T2 - exploring perceptions of authenticity of virtual tourism
AU - Mura, Paolo
AU - Tavakoli, Rokhshad
AU - Pahlevan Sharif, Saeed
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.
PY - 2017/6/1
Y1 - 2017/6/1
N2 - Virtual tourism and authenticity are concepts amply discussed by tourism scholars. Yet, limited empirical studies have explored perceptions of authenticity of virtual tourism. This paper attempts to fill this gap existing in the body of knowledge as it provides an insight into perceptions of virtual tourism and authenticity. Driven by an interpretivist paradigm, twenty in-depth, online interviews were conducted with a group of tourism students studying in a Malaysian private university. The findings show that while virtual tourism was not perceived as totally inauthentic, the participants conceived corporeal and sensorial involvements as crucial components to experience authenticity in tourism settings.
AB - Virtual tourism and authenticity are concepts amply discussed by tourism scholars. Yet, limited empirical studies have explored perceptions of authenticity of virtual tourism. This paper attempts to fill this gap existing in the body of knowledge as it provides an insight into perceptions of virtual tourism and authenticity. Driven by an interpretivist paradigm, twenty in-depth, online interviews were conducted with a group of tourism students studying in a Malaysian private university. The findings show that while virtual tourism was not perceived as totally inauthentic, the participants conceived corporeal and sensorial involvements as crucial components to experience authenticity in tourism settings.
KW - Authenticity
KW - Qualitative research
KW - Tourist behavior
KW - Virtual tourism
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85021263605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85021263605&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s40558-016-0059-y
DO - 10.1007/s40558-016-0059-y
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85021263605
SN - 1098-3058
VL - 17
SP - 145
EP - 159
JO - Information Technology and Tourism
JF - Information Technology and Tourism
IS - 2
ER -