What meaning does tourism have for society today? Departing from the thesis of »staged authenticity« (MacCannell), and by way of touristic case studies, Robert Schäfer sounds out the role that tourism plays in contemporary society, and the meaning of authenticity in this context. Through the entanglement of empirical research and theoretical construction of concepts, the study is of interest for anybody who is interested in a cultural-sociological explanation of tourism and an empirically satisfying theory of the authentic.