How can a cultural item remain authentic when its form, users, and meanings change? This paper contributes to debates on authenticity in tourism by conceptualizing authenticity co-creation as an outcome of host–tourist interaction. Drawing on ethnographic research and two phases of semi-structured interviews on Qeshm Island, Iran, the study examines how the burqa, a local women’s face covering, has gradually changed in design, meaning and function, while its new forms continue to be embraced as authentic by both tourists and locals. The findings show how tourists’ interest in exotic, portable, visually legible, and aesthetically appealing cultural elements intersected with local women’s economic motivations and their efforts to adapt cultural items to contemporary needs. Through these interactions, the burqa shifted from a declining cultural garment into a redesigned craft object that many locals and visitors now recognize as authentic.
Adel Nikjoo (Fri,) studied this question.