Staging “Authenticity” in Cultural Tourism of the Maasai

Abstract

The notion of authenticity plays a role in cultural tourism of the Maasai, an African indigenous group. The ambiguous concept of authenticity is constructed based on ethnic boundaries that are negotiated between the Maasai people and the expectations of the tourists. It will be analyzed how aspects of the Maasai culture are commoditized by the tourism industry. Furthermore, how do ethnic ascriptions construct and reconstruct a homogenous image of the Maasai ethnic identity. The image of the authentic Maasai experience that is marketed in tourism disregards the plurality to the collective identities of the indigenous group. Although the gaze of the tourists may exoticize the Maasai, they are able to assert agency in tourism by staging the tourist’s expectations of authenticity to gain economic profit.