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Heritage tourism

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This article is about tourism based on cultural heritage sites. For tourism in the country of one's own heritage, see genealogy tourism.

Heritage tourism is a branch of tourism centered around the exploration and appreciation of a region's cultural, historical and environmental heritage.[1] This form of tourism includes both tangible elements, such as historically significant sites, monuments, and artifacts, as well as intangible aspects, such as traditions, customs, and practices.[2]

A specific subset of heritage tourism, cultural heritage tourism, emphasises on the human dimension of these sites, focusing on the traditions, practices, and values that are deeply connected to them.[3] Likewise, heritage tourism focuses specifically on the history of a region, as well as its natural heritage.

Heritage tourism can look like visiting historically significant locations, engaging with local traditions(Folklore), and gaining insights into the historical and contemporary aspects of a community, culture or religion.[4]

Consequently, heritage tourism also underscores the importance of preserving cultural and historical resources. This can be extremely beneficial for a region, not only by helping in the preservation of vital customs and culture, but also by contributing to the economic development and sustainability of the area.[5]

History

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In some Christian and Islamic traditions, the purpose of a pilgrimage was often to honor the shrine of a prophet or saint, such as that of Muhammad in Mecca during the Islamic pilgrimages of the Hajj and Umrah. Other popular pilgrimage sites in Europe included Lourdes in France and Canterbury in England.[6] In some cases pilgrims contribute significantly to the economies of certain regions.[7][8]

For example, the rediscovery of ancient Roman ruins at Pompeii and Herculaneum stimulated an interest in the civilizations of the ancient world and travel.[9] Additionally, in the 19th century, there was an increase in tourism and in grand tours of Europe to historical sites.[10] The concept of a historical monument emerged in the Western world, accompanied by tourism.[11]

UNESCO World Heritage Convention

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Heritage tourism is promoted by the World Heritage Convention, which is a part of UNESCO. This stemmed from various safeguarding campaigns. The decision to build the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, including a plan to flood the valley containing the Abu Simbel temples, caused several conflicts.[12][13]

In 1959, after an appeal from the governments of Egypt and Sudan, UNESCO launched an international safeguarding campaign. Archaeological research in the areas to be flooded was accelerated. And the Abu Simbel and Philae temples were dismantled, moved to dry ground, and reassembled.[14] The campaign cost about 80 million US dollars, half of which was donated by some 50 countries.

Other safeguarding campaigns, such as saving Venetian Lagoon (Italy), the archaeological ruins at Mohenjo-daro (Pakistan), and restoring the Borobudur Temple Compounds (Indonesia), had been performed as well. Consequently, UNESCO initiated, with the help of the French cultural heritage organization, ICOMOS, the preparation of a draft convention on the protection of cultural heritage.

Culture tourism

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Community tourism in Sierra Leone[15]

Culture, heritage and the arts have contributed to the appeal of tourist destinations.[16] Cultural heritage tourists might travel to see performances and productions of intangible heritage associated with the history of certain regions. Revenue from this form of tourism can be transferred to local economies, it can also appropriate cultural heritage for entertainment.[17][18] Heritage tourism can sometimes be supported by municipalities through promotion and tourist information in their administrative units, e.g., cities such as Poland's Warsaw.[19]

Forms

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Cultural heritage[20] tourism involves visits to immovable historic sites which might include industrial sites such as fortifications, transportation facilities, and other sites that might show the technologies of the past.[21] The purchase of cultural goods, including numismatic coins, antiquarian books, and antiques, can also be associated with heritage tourism when collectors travel to those locations.

Tourism organizations in these regions can offer specialized visits that allow tourists to experience the gastronomic heritage associated with multiple brands.[22][23] For example, Brittany (France), is associated with Galette, while Normandy is associated with Calvados.[24] In the United States, the region known as the Old Bourbon is associated with Bourbon whiskey production.[25]

An archaeologist from the UHI Archaeology Institute with heritage tourists at the Ness of Brodgar

Natural heritage tourism involves visits to natural features consisting of physical and biological formations or groups of such formations, geological and physiographical formations and precisely delineated areas which constitute the habitat of threatened species of animals and plants, natural sites, or precisely delineated natural areas.[26][27]

Consequences

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Benjamin W. Porter and Noel B. Salazar have ethnographically documented that cultural heritage tourism can create tensions and even conflict among the different stakeholders involved.[28]

The effect on indigenous peoples whose land and culture are being visited by tourists has been considered a problem. In Mexico, tourism increased because of the predicted end of the Maya calendar. Some activists[who?] claim the indigenous Maya are not benefiting from the traffic.[29] However, heritage tourism has sometimes contributed to the economies of certain regions, for example, heritage tourism contributed 50 million pounds to Orkney's economy in 2017.[30]

Colonial officials employed fieldworkers' notes, books and fieldwork to understand aboriginal people.[31][32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Jin, Yang; Hou, Bing; Kong, Xiang (June 2024). "The Practice Characteristics of Authorized Heritage Discourse in Tourism: Thematic and Spatial". Land. 13 (6): 816. doi:10.3390/land13060816. ISSN 2073-445X.
  2. ^ "Cultural Heritage | Kentucky Tourism – State of Kentucky – Visit Kentucky, Official Site". Kentucky Tourism. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  3. ^ Rosenfeld, Raymond (2008). "Cultural and Heritage Tourism". Eastern Michigan University.
  4. ^ Zhang, Juan; Xiong, Kangning; Liu, Zhaojun; He, Lixiang (March 23, 2022). "Research progress and knowledge system of world heritage tourism: a bibliometric analysis". Heritage Science. 10 (1): 42. doi:10.1186/s40494-022-00654-0. ISSN 2050-7445.
  5. ^ Timothy, Dallen J. (January 1, 2018). "Making sense of heritage tourism: Research trends in a maturing field of study". Tourism Management Perspectives. 25: 177–180. doi:10.1016/j.tmp.2017.11.018. hdl:11059/14282. ISSN 2211-9736.
  6. ^ Collins-Kreiner, Noga (May 4, 2018). "Pilgrimage-Tourism: Common Themes in Different Religions". International Journal of Religious Tourism and Pilgrimage. 6 (1). doi:10.21427/D73428. ISSN 2009-7379. S2CID 150040112.
  7. ^ Collins-Kreiner, N. (January 1, 2010). "The geography of pilgrimage and tourism: Transformations and implications for applied geography". Applied Geography. 30 (1): 153–164. Bibcode:2010AppGe..30..153C. doi:10.1016/j.apgeog.2009.02.001. ISSN 0143-6228.
  8. ^ Wu, Hung-Che; Chang, Ya-Yuan; Wu, Tsung-Pao (March 1, 2019). "Pilgrimage: What drives pilgrim experiential supportive intentions?". Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management. 38: 66–81. doi:10.1016/j.jhtm.2018.11.001. ISSN 1447-6770. S2CID 261175823.
  9. ^ Bowersock, G. W. (1978). "The Rediscovery of Herculaneum and Pompeii". The American Scholar. 47 (4): 461–470. ISSN 0003-0937. JSTOR 41210458.
  10. ^ "What was the Grand Tour? | Royal Museums Greenwich". www.rmg.co.uk. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  11. ^ Maria Gravari-Barbas, ed. (2020). A Research Agenda for Heritage Tourism. Edward Elgar Publishing. p. 1. ISBN 9781789903522.
  12. ^ "Construction Of The Aswan High Dam In Egypt That Triggered The Suez Canal Conflict". VOI. July 21, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  13. ^ Muller, Mike (July 30, 2020). "Plans for a dam across the Nile triggered a war in 1956: will it happen again?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on July 31, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  14. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "The World Heritage Convention". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  15. ^ "Community Tourism – Number2 River Association, Sierra Leone". The Vrinda Project. YouTube. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  16. ^ Richards, Greg (1996). Production and consumption of European Cultural Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research. Tillburg University Press.
  17. ^ Burr, Steven W.; Zeitlin, Jascha M. (May 2011). "A Heritage Tourism Overview". Utah State University Cooperative Extension.
  18. ^ "World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  19. ^ "WarsawTour". Warsaw Tourist Office. Retrieved December 5, 2017.
  20. ^ "Meaning of heritage in English".
  21. ^ Falser, Michael (2001). "Industrial Heritage Analysis" UNESCO World Heritage Center.
  22. ^ Aras, Sercan et al. (2015). "Gastronomy in Tourism". 3rd Global Conference on Business, Economics, Management, and Tourism. 26–28 November 2015, Rome, Italy.
  23. ^ "Gastronomy | UNWTO". www.unwto.org. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  24. ^ "Are you a crêpe expert?". Brittany tourism. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  25. ^ "Bourbon – Kentucky Tourism – State of Kentucky – Visit Kentucky". Kentucky Tourism. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
  26. ^ Centre, UNESCO World Heritage. "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  27. ^ de la Calle Vaquero, Manuel; García-Hernandez, Maria (January 1, 2024), "Heritage Tourism and Visitor Management", in Nikita, Efthymia; Rehren, Thilo (eds.), Encyclopedia of Archaeology (Second Edition) (Second Edition), Oxford: Academic Press, pp. 597–605, ISBN 978-0-323-91856-5, retrieved August 11, 2024
  28. ^ Porter, Benjamin W. and Noel B. Salazar (2005). "Heritage tourism, conflict, and the public interest". International Journal of Heritage Studies. 11 (5): 361–370. doi:10.1080/13527250500337397. S2CID 145581442.
  29. ^ "Mayans Demand Inclusion in 'Doomsday Tourism'". Indian Country Today Media Network. January 21, 2012. Retrieved April 4, 2014.
  30. ^ "Neolithic archaeology". University of the Highlands and Islands. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  31. ^ Restrepo, E., & Escobar, A. (2005). ‘Other Anthropologies and Anthropology Otherwise ’ Steps to a World Anthropologies Framework. Critique of Anthropology, 25(2), 99–129.
  32. ^ Clifford, J., Dombrowski, K., Graburn, N., LeiteGoldberg, N., Phillips, R., Watkins, J., & Clifford, J. (2004). Looking several ways: Anthropology and native heritage in Alaska. Current Anthropology, 45(1), 5–30.
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