Abstract: Red memory serves as the driving force to sustain the vitality of the Party and to unite and lead the people of all ethnic groups in realizing the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. Existing studies mainly focused on the effects of red memory, while the antecedent variables influencing the construction of red memory remain to be further explored. Grounded in the Extended Mind Theory, this study categorized three distinct external environments based on tourists’ perceptual differences in the objective and constructive dimensions of object-related authenticity. Through one-way ANOVA and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM), the study explored the complex mechanisms between tourists’ perception of authenticity and the construction of red memory. The findings are as follows: (1) Internally, there exists a construction pathway of “existential authenticity→sense of travel ritual→construction of red memory”; (2) the levels of variables such as construction of red memory significantly differ across different external environments of authenticity; (3) under different levels of the “environment-tourist” interaction framework, the construction process of red memory exhibits variations in mechanisms. The study provides a valuable theoretical supplement to the relationship between authenticity and the construction of red memory, while also offering practical insights for guiding managers to shift their perspectives and fully leverage tourism’s role in transmitting red memory.

Key words: construction of red memory, perception of authenticity, sense of travel ritual, extended mind theory