Heritage and tourism have become inextricably linked. This link can be seen as producing

inauthentic and falsified tradition, and it can therefore be seen as a threat to

cultural heritage. On the other hand the link can be seen as a positive thing, as something

which helps to preserve heritage, culture and folklore in a changing and globalising

world. This dissertation investigates heritage in the context of Dracula Tourism

in Romania. Dracula tourism is tourism where tourists visit places connected with

either the fictional vampire Dracula or the historical Dracula, a Romanian historical

ruler Vlad the Impaler.

The main research question of this study is how can Romanian heritage and culture

be shown and promoted through a seemingly superficial Dracula tourism which

is based on Western popular culture? And is it possible to find Romanian heritage

through popular fiction in Dracula tourism? The main sources for this work are

based on the fieldwork done by the author in 2010 and 2011 and the web pages of ten

Romanian travel agencies that offer Dracula tourism. The stories and images found

on the web pages and used by the tour guides form the bulk of the research material.

The emphasis and perspective of this research is folkloristic. Critical discourse analysis

and multimodal discourse analysis form the main theoretical approach of this

dissertation. In addition the research material is approached through intertextuality,

folklore process, hybridisation, authenticity and social constructionism.

This dissertation aims to offer new perspectives on the research literature concerning

tourism and heritage and to offer a folkloristic view of tourism research. It also aims

to offer new perspectives to folkloristics in terms of the research on the use of folklore

and tradition and offer new perspectives on the use and definition of the concept of

authenticity. Although the research subject of this thesis is Dracula tourism in Romania,

the findings can be utilised and applied in a larger context and field of research.

The key research findings show that heritage can be found within Dracula Tourism

in three forms: as defined from above (UNESCO World Heritage Sites), as local

heritage and as a form of opposition. The Romanian travel agencies researched in

this dissertation use Dracula tourism as a gateway into Romanian history, culture,

tradition and heritage.