What is Authenticities

Within the framework of the “Tourfly” project, in which cultural and creative industries are central research areas, the authors investigated the relationship of artists with the city of Lisbon by analyzing six emblematic cases where artists are core in the emergence of creative tourism in the city, in terms of both domestic and international tourism. Between the gentrification problem and the social recovery of human communities, the presence of simulacra in tourist offer as opposing to authenticity experiences, the data from six focus group is presented, discussed, and theorized along this current chapter bringing a contribution for the understanding of artists' role in the design of both innovative and social sustainable tourist practices.