Tourist narratives about the dissonant heritage of the Borderlands: the case of South-eastern Poland

ABSTRACT

One of the important effects of the political transformation after 1989 in Eastern Europe is the development of tourism and increasing mobility of citizens from many countries, previously separated by the ‘Iron Curtain’. The process of economic and socio-cultural change justifies the debate regarding the future, but also on the legacy of the past. As for South-eastern Poland, tourism has been used as an important narrative tool for spreading, strengthening or weakening ethnic and national stereotypes by promoting cultural resources and performances that enable cooperation and mutual understanding. However, it can also be a source of potential fears or conflicts, for instance by creating controversial tourist attractions and stories about certain historical events. This paper discusses strategies of ‘past presencing’ of the heritage of South-eastern Poland border regions in public life, culture and tourism, drawing on a few examples which show different ways of restoring the memory of the former Eastern Borderlands. The theme village called ‘The Borderland Settlement’ and the historical reconstruction ‘Volyn 1943–2013’ relate to the main myths and the active memory concept that frame tourist narratives and contribute to the reinvention and reinterpretation of dissonant heritage.     

Urban heritage and cultural tourism development: a case study of Valletta’s role in Malta’s tourism

ABSTRACT

Despite significant potential for cultural tourism, the predominant form of tourism in Malta is sun and sea. This paper evaluates Malta’s potential for cultural tourism with a focus on Valletta, a fortified historic city that overlooks the Grand Harbour. Valletta’s rich urban heritage and historic narrative makes it ideal for the development of a more culture-oriented tourism. The paper explores how, over more than half a century of tourism activity in Malta, culture and heritage retained a secondary role. Since the mid-nineties, Malta’s tourism policy shifted with culture and heritage being given greater importance, even if the sun and sea tourism remained a priority. Public and private investment brought about changes in Valletta that made it more amenable to cultural activity and tourism. Although European Capital of Culture Valletta 2018 provides new opportunities for cultural tourism to Malta, it is unclear whether this will bring a lasting legacy for Malta’s tourism. This Valletta case study shows that, for destinations with an established form of tourism, the development of cultural tourism meets with difficulties, in spite the presence of a rich urban heritage.     

Red tourism: sustaining communist identity in a rapidly changing China

‘Red tourism’ is to exploit the historical heritage of the Chinese Communist Party for tourism development. Such tourism practice has been used by the nation state of China both to drive the country's economic growth and develop new patronage of the communist ideology among the young generation. From the broader context of China's economic and social changes since 1978 when the country started its open-door policy and economic reform, our paper attempts to examine ‘red tourism’ by analyzing how the nation state of China promotes the communist heritage through ‘red tourism’ in order to sustain the communist identity in a rapidly changing China. Research questions are raised to address the economic and social factors for the nation state involvement in ‘red tourism’: the specific roles of such involvement and the outcomes. Based on a case study, this paper presents how heritage is interpreted at a specific ‘red tourism’ site in order to portray a selective part of the communist heritage as a symbol of the Chinese nation. In so doing, ‘red tourism’ aims to serve the purpose of the nation state to sustain the communist identity in the continuing effort of developing a ‘socialist country of Chinese characteristics’.     

Imagining the Scottish nation: tourism and homeland nationalism in Scotland

Genealogical tourism is one of the fastest growing sub-segments of heritage tourism. The travel motivation for genealogical visit stems from the search for familiarisation and identification with ‘the native other’ through which tourists seek to reaffirm their cultural affinity and commonness. The purpose of this article is to see how renewed cultural affinity with the homeland constructs a form of nationalism. Qualitative data collected through field surveys, interviews and questionnaires with genealogical tourists showed that such travel bestows a renewed sense of self-identity, enhances cultural affinity to their ‘homeland’ nation and plays a role in articulating ‘homeland’ nationalism. The article contributes in understanding the articulation of root, identity and ancestral belonging in the context of genealogical tourism and the way it can be linked with the ‘Nationalist’ sentiment in Scotland.     

Location Shooting and the Filmic Destination: Transylvanian Myths and the Post-Colonial Tourism Enterprise

In this study, we examine a contested tourism proposal in Romania, Dracula Park, and its attempts to balance the indigenously produced history of the region with the powerful myths imposed by European and American filmic and literary influences: Bram Stoker's Dracula and the ‘heritage films’ it spawned. While the project was recently announced to be abandoned, the Romanian discourse on Dracula Park offers an avenue for a post-colonial critique which we explore in the context of globalisation, place, identity and various texts of the culture industry. A film-location-tourism spectrum helps illustrate some of the issues raised in this paper. Dracula films and Dracula Park (DP) occupy a problematic spot on this continuum, as myth and history are mediated around a real Transylvania by local-global cultural intermediaries. This helps us situate the political economy of tourism in settings like post-socialist Romania. We argue that the literary-film-DP example shows tourism as a postcolonial enterprise of a globalised culture industry. This industry, of which tourism is a part, not only shapes touristic spaces in ex-colonies within the developing (lesser developed) world, but also constructs identities and heritage in peripheral spaces within the cultural coloniser's Europe.     

Regenerating urban traditions in Bahrain. Learning from Bab-Al-Bahrain: the authentic fake

Gulf cities are determined to diversify their economies in an attempt to face the new realities resulting from the post-oil paradigm. Knowing the fact that its oil resources are about to dry up, Bahrain is forced to bank on alternative activities in order to sustain its development. For Bahrain, the diversification into the financial and tourism sectors is more urgent than for its neighbours. As a major development strategy, a tangible tendency towards using the visual scenery of their culture and history can be observed in new projects intended to achieve economic diversification. The aim is to create dreams, fantasies and models to attract tourists, travellers and visitors who are ready and prepared to ‘consume’ the ‘authentic’ heritage of such traditional cities. This construction of an image of the past – a persona – is part of what Baudrillard call ‘reality by proxy’, a stimulated environment. This paper uses Bab-Al-Bahrain as a case to investigate notions of ‘hyper-reality’ and ‘hyper-traditions’ emerging from, and imported by, globalisation. This hyper-tradition emerges from the ‘birthplace’ of the tradition it is stimulating. This might also provide a case study of what Eco refers to as ‘authentic fake’. The inevitable necessity of diversifying Bahrain's economy allowed the island to see itself as the financial, commercial and recreational hub for the gulf region. Historically, the old port that was once the main gate to Manama city, the Bahraini capital, actually called Bab-Al-Bahrain (Bahrain Gate), was a commercial pole that extended to the main market (souq). This paper focuses on the area of Bab-Al-Bahrain and its urban and architectural adjacencies to illustrate Bahrain's efforts in promoting its historical and cultural heritage and using it as a vehicle for touristic development. An emphasis on the relation between event, place and the community in the selected context will provide a different vantage point from where to explore the importance of religious festivity and ethnic diversity in tourism development. The paper will also investigate the legitimacy and the complex dynamism of transforming historical heritage into a ‘hyper-tradition’ or a sort of ‘authentic fake’ in order to facilitate the tourists' consumption process of Bahraini culture. It would also argue that tourism changes the host community and influences its ‘authenticity faking’ process.     

Literature,tourism and the city: writing and cultural change

Today national and regional tourism organizations look to sophisticated cultural tourism programmes to enhance the visitor experience for tourists of their particular city. Yet research indicates that a challenge exists in designing and implementing programmes that take full advantage of a city’s historical and emergent literary cultures. In this paper, we offer critical insights into how literary cultural heritage can foster the development of an integrated and dynamic approach and provide the experience sought by local and global tourists. International exemplars are cited together with an analysis of the Australian city of Brisbane that describes itself as a ‘new world city’. The findings of our research show that programmes that harness diverse literary cultures, rather than adhering to a single literary representation, are better equipped to build identity and thus extend cultural tourism potential.     

Identifying Croatian museums’ indigenous visitors in a post-war era: perceptual examinations of one's own heritage

The paper focuses on the consumption of the past by indigenous people through the museum or heritage site within post-war Croatia. Through the application of an inductive, qualitative methodology, ‘Critical Ethnography’, an integrated theory of individual identity formation, which is both social and psychological in nature, is presented. The paper, which is the culmination of theory building, has been guided by in-depth interviews, observation of behaviour and the incorporation of theoretically sensitising literature. As a result of reflexive integration of both the data and the literature, three categories, which constitute the developed theory are derived and analysed in relation to the different ways of constructing meaning and experiences within the museum/heritage context. The labels assigned to each of the developed categories, the ‘Fragmented self’, the ‘Paraphrenic self’ and the ‘Enlightened self’ are a reflection of a part of the self, which identifies to varying extents with the ascribed post-war identity of ‘Croat’. Furthermore, the three explanatory categories of behaviour look into the various ways with which the individual subject reflects upon and interprets his/her own past in relation to the formation of an acceptable post-war conception of his/her individual identity. The paper concludes that in order for a nation to project its cultural heritage worldwide through its museums and cultural sites, it needs first to understand and incorporate the indigenous’ views of their own heritage and then to develop and communicate cultural heritage products through other industries, such as tourism.     

Communicating ‘normalcy’ in Israel: intra/intercultural paradox and interceptions in tourism discourse

This case study of Israeli tourism discourse during a time of heightened violent conflict compares official state discourse, which situates tourism in Israel as safe and the country's status as ‘normal’, with material–symbolic interceptions of individuals and occurrences. I locate an intra/intercultural dialectic of ‘normalcy’ used to signify several paradoxical meanings, to achieve and preserve security of being, and to strategically situate an ‘interpretive mismatch’ for ideological and economic intercultural consumption. I also reflexively examine the complicit and resistant roles of foreign media press trips in co-constructing state tourism promotion strategies, in part looking at my own role as a journalist as echoer of strategic intercultural regimes of truth and filterer of interceptions.     

Collaborative Management and Planning of Urban Heritage Tourism: Public Sector Perspective

‘This paper investigates collaborative management and planning among public organisations involved in urban heritage tourism. An exploratory case study has been applied, capturing urban heritage tourism development in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The findings demonstrate a shared desire for further collaboration between the key public bodies involved, with limited existing and previous collaboration, beyond work that is the result of existing hierarchies. Collaboration is at an early stage, and many looked to the Local Authority to provide leadership in driving new initiatives. The private sector has a limited but increasing role in this. There are differing views on the focus of heritage tourism development – some suggesting a regional, others a city focus.’ Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reinventing Macau tourism: gambling on creativity?

The paper identifies some major economic, social and environmental effects of gaming-related tourism in Macau, the world’s largest gaming location in respect of casino turnover. The main types of effects of casino development are typically those associated with growth machine theory. The paper also identifies major threats to the sustainable development of Macau as a gaming/tourism destination, arising from a narrow industrial base, competing destinations, community alienation, and what is referred to as the ‘China factor’. The paper discusses the types of strategies that are required if Macau tourism is to counter these threats and develop successfully as a ‘World Centre of Tourism and Leisure’. It is argued that Macau can most effectively achieve this goal if it develops its tourism and gaming industries to be consistent with the key attributes of a creative city.     

‘Personal memory tourism’ and a wider exploration of the tourism−memory nexus

This paper investigates the varied intersections between tourism and memory. It begins with a brief consideration of the parallel developments between the emergence of the ‘memory boom’ and that of the ‘tourism boom’, as well as the academic fields of memory studies and tourism studies, respectively. Memory is a crucial factor in choosing a destination; it impacts on the tourist experience at the destination and on the sharing of the experience with others after the trip, notably through narration, photography, and memory objects, such as souvenirs. Both memory and tourism rely on media and representation and on audience and consumption; both are allied with processes of identity formation. It is argued that tourism drives the memory boom as much as memory drives tourism. Bartoletti's [(2010). “Memory tourism” and the commodification of Nostalgia. In P. Burns, C. Palmer, & J.-A. Lester (Eds.), Tourism and visual culture (pp. 23–42), Vol. 1. Wallingford: CABI] conceptualization of ‘memory tourism’ as overlapping but distinct from ‘heritage tourism’ and Timothy's [(1997). Tourism and the personal heritage experience. Annals of Tourism Research, 24(3), 751–754] concept of ‘personal heritage tourism’ are discussed as foundations for what is then defined as ‘personal memory tourism’. The latter revolves around travel associated with personal memories – not only the revisiting of places associated with happy memories, but also the return to sites of personal trauma and suffering in a quest for healing.     

Geographic Information Systems in the Service of Alternative Tourism – Methods with Landscape Evaluation and Target Group Preference Weighting

There is a large variety of types of rural areas and many of them are rich in landscape beauty. However, their preserved culture and traditions are revalued in today's rapid transformation of lifestyles. Alternative tourism is thus an emerging potential to economically support these areas, at the same time helps to preserve natural and cultural heritage. The methods provide sophisticated means to analyse the characteristics and the potential attractiveness of landscape and cultural attractions from the viewpoint of alternative tourism development. Homogenous tourism sub‐regions can be defined, and the most suitable development scenarios can be found to the certain areas. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The life cycle of authenticity: neo-nomadic tourism culture in Kazakhstan

The paper presents the findings related to the stages of life cycle of authenticity where Kazakhstani nomadic culture in a post-Soviet heritage evolves towards tourist consumption. Using a qualitative case-study research approach, the analysis of data traces stakeholders’ perception of authenticity of various elements of Kazakhstani cultural tourism. The study intertwines inextricably with the processes of authenticity, commodification and cultural change as Kazakhstani traditions have evolved to a neo-nomadic tourism culture where authenticity becomes a currency at play and a point of differentiation from other tourism destinations. The findings offer an original approach to understand the transformation of authenticity at various stages of Kazakhstani tourism development and explore how authenticity is positioned in the influx of tourists and supporting roles from local governments and organisations.     

Music,markets and consumption

ABSTRACT

Recognised as intangible cultural heritage, the tradition of the Viennese coffeehouse culture attracts tourists. This study examines how the intangible heritage tourism of the Viennese coffeehouse culture has been developed and mutually constructed through the relational network of social practice and how it has functioned as a significant legacy for the development of Viennese cultural tourism. The results reveal that five groups of significant actors/actants have impacted the development of the intangible heritage tourism of Viennese coffeehouses: celebrities, pastries, indoor settings, recommendations, and servicescapes. These actors/actants have become collectively embedded into the relational network of Viennese coffeehouse culture.     

The Visual Representation of Border Tourism: Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Dokdo in South Korea

The demilitarized zone (DMZ) and Dokdo mark South Korea borders with North Korea and Japan respectively. Each borderland is a socially constructed symbolic cultural landscape shaped in part by tourism. In this study, a sample of 2202 online images was inspected using content‐semiotic analysis to understand how visual representation of border tourism works. It was found that visitors via social media and government censorship play major roles in constructing representations of (i) alienated borders with iconic war heritage attractions at the DMZ and (ii) an alienated and isolated Dokdo. Both borders highlight patriotic/nationalistic ‘flagging’ and the gaze across. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Re-visiting Luang Prabang: transformations under the influence of world heritage designation

This article examines the influence of a growing global tourism industry on the World Heritage City of Luang Prabang, Laos and more specifically the role played by the built environment in the transformations that have followed in the wake of its designation as a World Heritage City in 1995. Paradoxically, as increasing numbers of tourists seek to experience the extraordinary milieu of Luang Prabang, the physical and cultural landscapes that undergird this milieu are increasingly transformed by the pressures of global tourism. Using observations of tourists and residents, photographic documentation and comparison to United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) archival materials, we show that regulations intended to preserve the heritage of Luang Prabang, have valorized a particular aspect of the city's history while effectively erasing others. As a result, the built environment of the city has been transformed into a tourist landscape. Simultaneously, the intangible heritage, the everyday life and experience of local populations are undermined as the built environment is transformed into tourist-focused landscapes. This case study illustrates, and continued UNESCO concerns over development in Luang Prabang indicate, it is not enough to create a policy designed to protect the physical environment without simultaneously working to protect the embedded socio-cultural dimensions of heritage tourism destinations.     

Giving voice to heritage tourists: indicators of quality for a sustainable heritage experience at Petra,Jordan

ABSTRACT

The tourist experience should be placed at the heart of management and planning process to achieve the goal of sustainable heritage tourism. The concept of indicators and standards of quality, which emerged in the field of natural resources and outdoor recreation management as a conceptual framework for understanding visitors’ experiences, has been widely applied in nature-based parks rather than cultural heritage sites. This study applies the concept of indicators to heritage experience at Petra Archaeological Park in Jordan. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 29 tourists to understand the tourist experience at the park, and to formulate indicators of the tourism experience. Results suggest that cultural and natural scenic value, crowding, attractions accessibility, vendor persistence, and odor of animals waste are potential indicators for the tourism experience at the park. Related management implications and recommendations are also discussed.     

Tourism-induced mobilities and transformation of indigenous cultures: where is the Vedda community in Sri Lanka heading to?*

ABSTRACT

Mobilities that encapsulate global- and local-level movement of people, capital, information, material and intangible heritage across boundaries influence distant socio-cultural structures and processes linking them to evolving global networks. Indigenous cultural tourism is a catalyst of mobilities that expose the habitats of distant spaces. This paper examines the Vedda community’s concurrent context and indigenous tourism-informed mobilities’ contributions to transforming their cultural character through anthropological approaches. Data were collected through a series of interviews, overt observation and review of documents. Findings indicate that the Vedda are susceptible to the influence of mobilities within and without the indigenous tourism practices. Enforced restructuring and governance push Vedda towards novel livelihoods, while automobilities, image, communication and geopolitical mobilities challenge Vedda heritage and temporalities. Vedda lead a hybrid life; real one being modern and the other being pseudo attributed for tourist attraction. Indigenous cultural tourism causes losing the inherited meaning of their cultural values. The Vedda, with their anatomically proven Mesolithic inheritance, have drawn world’s attention to preserving and recognizing them before their unique culture is subsumed by the modern world. Findings indicate that tourism planners should realize the significance of distinctive Vedda heritage parallel to commercial gains of tourism.