Authenticity in cultural heritage management and tourism

Heritage conservation and heritage tourism are frequently characterised as oppositional practices. This polarisation not only suggests that tourism practices run counter to conservation aspirations, but it allows heritage professionals to imagine tourism as morally separate and even inferior to conservation. However, tourism is increasingly regarded as an important source of financial revenue to achieve the aims of heritage conservation. Thus tourism is regarded as something of a 'necessary evil' - necessary because it can provide resources for cultural heritage management and conservation, but 'evil' because it simultaneously undermines conservation efforts.