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to be found in the tourism business structures and the purpose of building
the ecocultural sites themselves. For the home stay providers' interviewed,
sustainability and profit are two notions that do not contradict each other
whereas the main stakeholders involved in the development of the ecosites
advocate primarily the preservation of the local traditions and environ-
mental biodiversity.
CONCLUSION
This chapter presented the contributions of the perception of authenticity
to the development of ecocultural tourism practices undertaken in Central
Kazakhstan through the lenses of different stakeholders involved in eco-
cultural tourism projects in the country.
According to Reisinger and Steiner (2006) and Wang (1999), objectiv-
ist and modernist authors argue that there is an evident, objective basis
for judging authenticity. Conversely, constructivists suggest that tourists'
experiences or perceptions can be authentic even when they are perfect-
ly aware that the setting has been contrived (Cohen, 1988). This debate
around authenticity revolves around the question of what can be authentic.
Kolar and Zabkar (2010, p. 653) suggest that from a managerial point
of view, “tourism managers should devote more attention to subtle and
deeply ingrained societal changes that exist outside the tourism market yet
which essentially shape tourist behavior and experiences.”
Jamal and Hill (2004, p. 369) assert that “by understanding the philo-
sophical and methodological assumptions being made about authenticity,
researchers and practitioners may be able to develop effective frameworks
for the study of authenticity, and for the management of heritage tourism.”
The three dimensions of authenticity (objective, constructive and existen-
tial) explored in this chapter are important for local tourism providers as
the country keeps defining the dynamic nature of its cultural heritage and
the potentialities for ecocultural tourism practices. The 'Kyzylarai' ecocul-
tural tour in Central Kazakhstan can inspire ecocultural tourism practices
in other Kazakstani landscapes where local populations are aiming for
sustainable tourism practices involving different stakeholders (Tiberghien
& Garkavenko, 2012). The potential of ecocultural tourism as a tool for
empowerment and development of a tourism region is dependent on many
different stakeholders' points of views. Similarly to Wallace and Russell
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