The Continuity of Custom? Tourist Perceptions of Authenticity in Yakel Village, Tanna, Vanuatu

Tourism on Tanna island, Vanuatu is strongly identified with visits to ‘custom villages’ where performances centred on visual tradition, primarily dances, are given. Yakel is the most renowned ‘custom village’ in Tanna for its perceived continuity of ‘old custom’. Tourists expect to witness some version of authenticity though they have no real knowledge of Vanuatu culture, and different images of what authenticity might be. Despite this, many tourists visiting Yakel perceived such performances of custom as inauthentic, through their seeing hints of a ‘back stage’ of ‘real’ village life. Moreover some actively sought out such ‘inauthenticity’. The inability to perform a form of custom that meets visitor expectations, through a fixation on a synthetic version of the past, threatens the viability of custom tourism and emphasises the varied meanings of ‘authenticity’.