Lonely planet: affect and authenticity in guidebooks of Cuba

Record numbers of international visitors to Cuba in recent years amidst dramatic political and economic shifts have reinforced the island's reputation as a destination to visit urgently, 'before it changes'. In foregrounding a normalised framework of affect and authenticity and directing tourists towards intimate experiences and encounters, bestselling English-language guidebooks contribute towards a selective interpretation of Cuba and of Cubans. However, their recommendations obscure the work, stresses, inequalities and political implications on which touristic encounters rest. This study emphasises the influence of texts in the mediation and management of affect in tourism, challenging the dominance of ethnographic methods in this field.