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Notes were taken during the interviews and subsequent analysis of the
interviews was employed to identify themes of interest including identify-
ing ecological and cultural aspects of the
Kazakhstani culture that can be
incorporated into an authentic ecocultural tourism experience for local and
international visitors. The interviewees were probed with additional ques-
tions such as how the perception of authenticity could be incorporated into
the branding of ecocultural tours developed in the country. As culture is
produced by individual residents, especially small-scale artisans and art-
ists who offer heir crafts for sale for tourists, the researchers decided to
interview in particular the 'insiders' who jointly represent the destination
culture (Anholt 2002; Konecnik 2002).
The “Kyzylarai” ecocultural tour in Central Kazakhstan has been cho-
sen as a case study for the chapter. “Because authenticity is a socially, indi-
vidually constructed and evaluated perception or experience and because
managers can influence authenticity” (Kolar and Zabkar, 2010, p. 654),
the researchers have adopted a constructivist paradigm as a managerially
more adequate position. As the researchers had limited available infor-
mation about the population from which the sample will be taken, non-
probability sampling was used for the research, in particular purposive or
judgmental sampling method that is used in situations in which an expert
uses judgment in selecting cases with a specific purpose in mind (Neuman,
2009). This method has been chosen to select unique cases that are espe-
cially informative about the development of ecocultural tourism projects
in Kazakhstan. A multiple stakeholders approach (experts in nomadic cul-
ture, home stay providers and tourism developers) allowed the researcher
to interview all the different groups of population involved in the develop-
ment of the Kyzylarai ecocultural tour detailed further in the paper.
RESEARCH FINDINGS
According to the main stakeholders interviewed, the notion of authentic-
ity is linked with the ecocultural tourism practices and tours offered in
the country. As former nomads used to live in harmony with the nature in
a sustainable way, their nomadic lifestyles are deeply engrained with the
steppe landscapes and this combination creates a unique tourism experi-
ence for international visitors who often had no previous knowledge about
the traditional nomadic culture before arriving in the country. In particular,
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