Tourism Ethics and Cultural Appropriation in Emerging Destinations

This research analyzes ethical challenges in contemporary tourism development, focusing on cultural appropriation, invented traditions, and symbolic competition in emerging destinations across Latin America. Through a comparative and analytical framework, the study examines how authorial cultural proposals can be replicated, decontextualized, and revalidated as commercial traditions through market forces and institutional endorsement. Drawing on concepts such as fakelore, themed tourism, and symbolic legitimacy, the article identifies recurrent patterns in which creative cultural expressions are transformed into mass-oriented attractions, often erasing authorship, historical context, and ethical boundaries. The research contributes to broader debates on tourism ethics, cultural sustainability, and public policy, offering a conceptual toolset applicable to multiple territorial contexts beyond any single case study.