While defining "heritage" is difficult enough, what exactly makes a site worthy of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) World Heritage status? What constitutes "Outstanding Universal Value" (unesco.org)? According to UNESCO: “Outstanding Universal Value means cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity. As such, the permanent protection of this heritage is of the highest importance to the international community as a whole”(unesco.org 2014). Essentially, this means that the “heritage” of a particular locale chosen as a World Heritage site needs to be translated into a global language. More specifically, I maintain that “heritage” needs to be translated into the language of tourism, while simultaneously being preserved. Global heritage tourism, a force that can “transcend national boundaries”, becomes the mechanism by which many World Heritage sites are “understood” and “appreciated”. This paper seeks to explore the tensions between the heritage preservation and heritage commercialization prompted by global heritage tourism within the World Heritage site of Hoi An, Vietnam. Acting as a sort of global brand, I argue that UNESCO’s delegation of Hoi An as a World Heritage site perpetuates its commercialization by constructing a romanticized notion of “authenticity” that turns its heritage into a marketable product. To do so, I incorporate both anthropological theory and my own experiences in Hoi An to look at its mechanisms of heritage preservation, the complexities of this preservation in a global context, and the subjectivity and construction of its “authentic” heritage within a tourist driven economy. Background While Hoi An is a town rich with history dating back to the second century BC, it experienced its first wave of mass tourism after the 1991 publication of the Lonely Planet guidebook. Daniel Robinson, a writer affiliated with Lonely Planet guidebooks, was “astonished by its lack of modernity and its state of preservation” (Di Giovine 2009:263).The resulting influx of tourists and backpackers into Hoi An prompted the Ministry of Culture and Information to establish tourist services that would soon turn “Hoi An from a sleepy Vietnamese town into the country’s most popular destination” (Di Giovine 2010:208). Given that most of Hoi An’s inhabitants are involved in the tourist industry, its environment is conducive to preservation efforts aimed at both accommodating the influx of tourists and maintaining “Hoi An’s old world charm”(Di Giovine 2009:265). Given the growing success of tourism in this region, the implementation of preservation efforts by the local government, and the persistence of Hoi An’s mayor, talks about Hoi An’s potential inscription on the World Heritage List began in 1996. After various management alterations (Di Giovine 2009:268), this “exceptionally well-preserved example of a traditional Asian trading port" was designated as a World Heritage site in 1999(unesco.org 2014). UNESCO as a global brand In a world “populated by global signifiers,” Hoi An’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage site is paramount to its economic survival (Askew 2010:19). While Hoi An’s inscription on the World Heritage List brings wealth and prestige, it also raises concerns about management and conservation. Upon closer examination, a series of contradictions develop when comparing UNESCO’s preservation mission to its actual effects on Hoi An. While UNESCO claims to protect World Heritage sites such as Hoi An from the erosion of globalization, the organization itself perpetuates the globalization of heritage. The very notion of a “World Heritage site” is a product of globalization. In effect, UNESCO’s functions as an international mediator of heritage and as an influential commercializing force are bound to generate standardizations in Hoi An. Branded by UNESCO, Hoi An takes on many of the characteristics of any commercialized product. As an economy in which the majority of locals are involved in the tourist industry, Hoi An’s presentation, “authenticity” and global status exist to serve economic ends. Therefore, they are fl