In this paper, two World Heritage island destinations are compared, Gotland in the Baltic and Rapa Nui in the Pacific. Both islands deal with a growing number of tourists, which asks for rethinking of tourism development. As cultural heritage plays a major role in tourism for both destinations, it is especially important to look into sustainable cultural tourism development from the perspective of authenticity. The paper is based on a variety of materials and takes an innovative approach to methods through a student–staff collaboration. The data show that social acceptance of tourism by local communities on both islands could be achieved through the creation of authentic experiences. Furthermore, data show that it is rather potent to engage both locals and tourists in modernized authentic experiences. However, this can only be done if locals are empowered and are genuinely allowed to steer the development of tourism.

This article is based on a qualitative study regarding two World Heritage Island destinations, Gotland in the Baltic Sea and Rapa Nui in the Pacific Ocean. The two islands are used as cases illustrating different views on the development of cruise tourism. By applying conjunctural analysis the authors are able to account for the broader context of cruise tourism. Different perspectives on cruise tourism are found to be embedded in both local and global contexts, which are associated with three kinds of challenges: cruise tourism is developing without the local community’s involvement in decision making, it is not aligned with the aims of local tourism and ignores local products and services. We therefore call for more involvement of the local community in the development of cruise tourism.