The intercultural invention of authenticity in a tourist destination, Cuetzalan, Mexico

The concepts of authenticity and host community used in the tourism literature carry ideological implications, which affect the understanding of the complexity of social interethnic interactions in indigenous tourist destinations. This paper focuses on the tourist event The Fair of Huipil (indigenous women's dress contest) in the town of Cuetzalan, Mexico, and invented by Mestizos (non-indigenous Mexicans). A detailed analysis of some aspects of this event shows the paradoxes emerging from the politics of cultural negotiation inside the 'host' community, which is affected by the presence of the tourist and the relevance of the non 'authentic' for a successful tourist attraction.