ABSTRACT
An important issue within the field of cultural tourism research is the question of how the quality of the supply can be kept in line with visitors’ expectations and how it can be improved and even be renewed. Whoever wants to know more about this issue may turn to the writings of Pine and Gilmore (1999; Gilmore and Pine 2007) as these are by many considered as important sources for tourism and heritage studies. However, cultural tourism involves more than just the (visitor’s) experience and it is perfectly possible to speak of the material objects themselves in terms of value and authenticity (Melkert and Munsters 2010). For those who specialise in the study of aspects of the material world such as excavations, historic buildings and museums, or whole places and landscapes, this observation is not new. To these researchers the question of what is authentic and why it is labelled as such has always been a subject matter of their investigations. An application of their ideas, methodologies and ethics to the field of cultural tourism research opens new possibilities for the development of the cultural tourism supply while starting from the material world. It puts tools in the hands of those who want to improve the quality of the cultural offer composed by objects and ensembles. The focus of this article is on how this approach works out for the largest possible ensemble: the cultural-historic landscape.
