engleski

Enhancing Rural Tourism Product Using Authenticity Models: Case Study of Istria, Croatia

The paper questions the possibility of enhancing rural tourist product by using the authenticity models. For decades, the concept of authenticity has been recognized as an important tourist phenomenon and therefore valuable research objective. Today, authenticity reflects many different theoretical approaches and concepts, which attempt to explain tourist milieu and tourist’s experiences. Although critiques certainly exists, the authenticity model has proven useful in researching selective tourism. The researched area is Croatian part of Istria, the most visited tourist region in the country. Although mass tourism along the coasts still dominates, Istria is at the forefront of rural tourism development in Croatia. Recently, the dominant agritourism product has been enriched with the Istra Inspirit project based on the heritage tourism. The concept of the project Istra Inspirit is analyzed according to different models of authenticity: object, constructivist, postmodernist, existentialist and models of hidden and shown theatricality. Methodological framework consists of quantitative (analysis of questionnaire) and qualitative research (in- depth interviews and author’s observation). The research results confirmed the importance of authenticity in tourism. However, we propose to replace the model of objective authenticity, which currently dominates Istra Inspirit events with the model of existential authenticity. This is of great importance since the main aim of the organizers is to create emotional experience. The proposal is based on the concept of the shown theatricality, as an approach towards authenticity that accentuates greater level of artistic freedom, which enables broader and richer varieties of experiences and understandings, depending on individual inner needs

Authenticity ; tourism ; Istria ; Istra Inspirit

nije evidentirano