TWO AND A HALF FOUNDING MYTHS IN TOURISM RESEARCH

In this paper three mainstream currents in the qualitative sociology of tourism are discussed. First of them is MacCannell's authenticity, the second one is Turner's personal liberation and the third one is Boorstin's commodification. This paper criticizes MacCannell's notion of authenticity and the promises of personal liberation proffered by Turner's disciples. They represent the two main myths in the sociology of tourism by idealizing tourist behavior and, in this way, blur our views of reality. The third strand - the critique of commodification - adapts itself to both and therefore it is just a half of myth.