Constructing authenticity in the geotourism experience in Indonesian UNESCO Global Geopark (study on Batur UGGp and Rinjani-Lombok UGGp)

Fauziah, Amanda (2026) Constructing authenticity in the geotourism experience in Indonesian UNESCO Global Geopark (study on Batur UGGp and Rinjani-Lombok UGGp). PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

The dissertation examines how authenticity is constructed, negotiated, and strategically mobilised within geotourism experiences in two Indonesian UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGp): Batur and Rinjani-Lombok UGGps. While authenticity remains central to tourism discourse, it is often treated either as a heritage attribute defined by experts or as an experiential quality perceived by tourists. Challenging this binary, the study interrogates authenticity as a relational and multi-scalar process shaped by tourism governance structures, stakeholder negotiations, and place-based cultural meanings, alongside touristic expectations in a competitive international market place. In doing so, it challenges persistent imbalances within geotourism scholarship, which remains dominated by Eurocentric frameworks and limited engagement with Global South contexts.

The aim of this research is to critically examine the authentication process in Indonesian UGGps to understand how multi-scalar governance is structured in ways that privilege particular interpretations of authenticity over others. This aim is guided by three objectives. First, to explore tourism suppliers’ and key governance actors’ authentication positions of geotourism practices and how they contribute to informing geotourism experiences. Second, to identify tourists’ perceptions of authentic geotourism experiences. Third, to explore how competing stakeholder construction of authenticity in geotourism experiences are negotiated and strategically mobilised in attempts to shape destination distinctiveness.

Adopting a qualitative multi-case and multi-source design, the research integrates supplyand demand-side perspectives through semi-structured interviews with tourism stakeholders across governance scales (international to local) and analysis of tourist experiences (international and domestic). The findings show that authenticity functions not only as experiential construct but also as a strategic resource in destination development. Within geopark contexts, authenticity is frequently mobilised to construct destination distinctiveness in an increasingly competitive geotourism landscape. However, this instrumentalisation generates tensions: efforts to standardise interpretation under global geopark frameworks can, ironically, dilute local specificity, while market-driven authenticity risks commodifying cultural practices and contrasts with visitor expectations. The study therefore positions authenticity as a paradoxical force that both enables differentiation (albeit with questionable effectiveness) and constrains it through institutional homogenisation.

This dissertation makes theoretical, empirical, and practical contributions to tourism and geotourism scholarship. Empirically, it offers global south insights into how authenticity is co-produced through the interaction of global heritage frameworks and local socio-cultural realities, crucial given the Eurocentrism of geotourism scholarship, alongside the growth in geotourism across the global south. Theoretically, it advances a relational understanding of authenticity that highlights the central role of governance and institutional power in geotourism authentication processes—bringing to question authenticity as necessarily either an objective institutionally defined attribute or experiential quality experienced by visitors.

Practically, the study provides implications for geopark governance and tourism planning, suggesting that geopark branding should be grounded in context-specific interpretation. Such an approach reflects local epistemologies and reconfigures knowledge hierarchies within geopark interpretation by placing geological science in dialogue with local ways of knowing.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: This study is funded by The Indonesian Education Scholarship (LPDP) – Ministry of Finance Republic of Indonesia for the purpose of a doctoral thesis.
• Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General); H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Funder's Name: Indonesian Education Scholarship (LPDP)
• Supervisor's Name: de Jong, Professor Anna and Humbracht, Dr. Michael
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-86222
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 10 Sep 2026 08:23
• Last Modified: 10 Sep 2026 08:25
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.86222
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/86222