Introduction

Tourism is about selling dreams. The core of the tourism industry is the commodification of escapism, the commercial answer to the longing of mankind for another reality beyond the dull and grey of the everyday life. Tourism is about experiencing beyond the ordinary, to step out of the daily treadmill into a more wonderful, exciting and challenging world. In this respect Mason rightly states that the core of the tourism product is to 'mystify the mundane, to amplify the exotic, minimize the misery, rationalize the disquietude and romanticize the strange' (Mason, 1994). We are really making quite an effort in improving reality. In his book The Language of Tourism, a Sociolinguistic Perspective (1996), Graham Dann explores the ways in which images of destinations are created and communicated and how language is used as a means of social control in sustaining the prototypical images of destinations. Ian Littlewood provides us, in Sultry Climates, Travel and Sex since the Grand Tour (2001), with a fascinating overview of how in the history of travel such prototypical images of other cultures have evolved, and how deep they are imbedded in the conceptions we have of destinations. These tourism dreams have to be sustained by both the consumer and the producer of the product and the perception of authenticity through souvenirs plays an important role in achieving this objective. Souvenirs as well as experiences are conceived as being authentic when they reflect the perceived core values of the visited destination. These core values are basically prototypical, but not always identical, they differ based on motivation for travel, previous experiences and expectations. Mary Littrell distinguishes tourists looking for souvenirs into Ethnic, Arts and People, History and Parks, the Urban Entertainment and the Active Outdoor (Littrell, 1994).