What is authentic?

In the autumn of 2001 I studied film. Documentary film.

The very first film we watched was Nanook of the North by Robert Flaherty. People call it the first documentary ever made. 1922. A hundred years ago. A film where the camera was supposed to observe. The director was not meant to interfere. Reality was meant to unfold on its own.

In the university we used the film to start a debate about authenticity. What is real? What is observed? What is staged?

Because even though the film has been celebrated around the world, it later became clear that Nanook was not as passive or neutral as people believed. Flaherty staged scenes. He rebuilt igloos so the light would be better. He asked people to repeat actions for the camera. He shaped the story so it would feel more dramatic and more sellable.

My point is, something like: It still is called a documentary. Today. A film that document reality.

That film and that discussion stayed with me. Authenticity is not about what something is. It is about what we choose to show. The moment we frame it. The moment we cut, package or adjust it. The moment we tell the story instead of letting the story tell itself. Every choice bends reality.

Stories sell. The massive BBC productions Planet Earth and Blue Planet do the same. They use selective editing to create continuity and emotional impact. A dramatic chase in the desert might be stitched together from ten snakes and ten lizards filmed over three years. Some scenes are filmed in controlled environments. Some are built in studios.

Is it a lie? Maybe. But it helps us care.

Tourism works the same way. We talk about pure nature, untouched culture and real local life. But the truth is simple. The moment we make a brochure we have edited reality. The moment we choose one photo instead of another we have shaped the truth. The moment we create an itinerary we remove the parts that are messy and highlight the parts that are easy to consume.

There is nothing wrong with this. It is human. It is storytelling. But shouldn't we at least be honest about it?

Authenticity in tourism is not the absence of staging. It is the absence of pretending. It is saying: here is what this place feels like, and here is how we try to show it. It is admitting that we select. We filter. We compose.

And at the same time doing our best to keep the core intact.

People do not travel for the unedited truth. They travel for meaning. For connection. For something that feels real enough to matter.

The job is not to deliver a perfect mirror of reality.

The job is to avoid lying about what the mirror leaves out.

Authenticity is not an object. It is a practice. A promise to stay close to the real story while creating something people can understand, feel and carry with them.

In tourism, as in documentary film, the question is never “is this authentic”.

A better question is “is this honest”. Honest enough?