Tourism and Cultural Displays: Inventing Traditions for Whom?

Discussions of tourism andfolklore usually stress the economic motivations that lead to the creation offolkloristic displays and until recently decried the impact of tourism on authenticfolklore. Using the case ofInterlaken, a Swiss resort, this article postulates that natives may not necessarily gear theirfolkloric inventions toward theforeign guests, but thatfolkloric spectacles can be a means of creating and asserting local identity in theface ofseasonal massforeign invasion.