Re-enactment Events and Tourism: Meaning,Authenticity and Identity

Re-enactment events have began to play a significant role in the calendars of individual attractions, regions or even nations to generate media exposure, develop inbound tourism activity and raise the cultural heritage profile of a locality for community development and/or regeneration purposes. The (re-)presentation of cultural heritage in these forms creates a unique set of interactions between landscapes, local communities, tourists and heritage organisations. In the recent past however, re-enactment events have been subjected to increased debate and criticism as to their educational value and meaning and for their contribution to understandings of cultural heritage in post-modern consumer societies. This paper presents an interdisciplinary review of these debates and draws on small scale research findings to reassess the value of re-enactment events as a means of presenting heritage to audiences. The paper argues that re-enacted historical events achieve a range of purposes and provides examples of evidence from a range of differing perspectives including: public policy and event organisers; re-enactors and academics in the field. It argues that the professional heritage industry, tourists, and re-enactors all contribute to making such events meaningful and as such they represent unique frames through which to understand issues of authenticity and identity in the production and consumption of post-modern cultural heritage attractions.     

Tourism and Afro-Antillean Identity in Panama

Throughout its history as a nation, Panama has emphasised its Spanish roots. Having become a postcolonial state, Panama now exploits its multiculturalism for the purpose of attracting tourists. In this context, Afro-Antilleans in the Archipelago of Bocas del Toro – historically marginalised and considered temporary migrants – are developing gendered and racialised identities for tourist consumption, in response to the state's tourism promotion and in pursuit of a complex cultural politics. Tourism provides an occasion for Afro-Antilleans to reposition themselves within the Panamanian nation, vis-à-vis the state and other ethnic groups. ‘Panamanian’ Afro-Antillean identities are also transnational, African and Caribbean; these constructions of difference in the touristic context are inevitably contradictory, at once national and diasporic. This paper explores these complexities and their complex origins: nationalism, regional and trans-Atlantic migration, and tourism. It concludes that so-called globalisation, in this setting, results in a proliferation of conflicting differences rather than in homogenisation.     

Nostalgia,Identity and Tourism: Bollywood in the Indian Diaspora

In today's global world of movement our personal identities are changing. So, ‘where is my “home”?’ and ‘what is my “identity”?’ have become essential questions in one's life. In recent times, more and more diasporic communities visit their homelands, perhaps to reroot their identities. This study explored the influence of Bollywood movies in the Indian diaspora's identity construction and notions of home and tourism behaviour to India. Findings revealed that the Indian diaspora's imagination of India is strongly informed by Bollywood movies. Yet, different generations of the Indian diaspora have different reasons for travelling to India. The first generation's nostalgia arises from watching Bollywood movies, and as a result, creates a motivation to travel to India. The second generation's main to travel behaviour to India is to experience the new ‘modern’ country, portrayed in the affluent surroundings of contemporary Bollywood movies. And, for those first generations, who have never seen India before, Bollywood movies enable them to romanticise their homeland and create an urge to visit India. Thus, Bollywood movies have immense importance in the Indian diaspora's identity construction, promote diaspora tourism and constitute a huge opportunity for economic development.     

Assessing visitor preferences in the management of archaeological and heritage attractions: a case study of Hadrian's Roman Wall

Managing archaeological and heritage sites requires information on visitor preferences to guide displays of cultural exhibits. A choice experiment is used to investigate visitor preferences in the management of Vondolanda Roman fort, within Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site. It assesses visitor preferences, utility and value of attributes of the site: excavation and research, interpretation information, museum displays, reconstructions, visitor amenities and admission price. Interaction effects between attributes are analysed. The analysis reveals a preference for the status quo and greater choice uncertainty associated with alternative hypothetical attribute bundles. Neighbouring substitute Roman forts affect the price that visitors are willing to pay for entry. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi-agency management of a World Heritage Site: Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area,China

Involving a variety of stakeholders, heritage tourism management requires a collaborative multi-actor approach. Due to the current grid management system, shared management among multiple agencies is not rare in heritage sites in China; however limited research has addressed this situation. A multi-agency management model is thus proposed to highlight the roles of a coordination agency and a collaboration mechanism. Taking Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area as an example, this paper compares the management status and assesses management collaboration between its two main management bodies. Semi-structured interviews with management staff are used as the primary research method. It is revealed that shared management has resulted in the inefficient use of human and financial resources, and inconsistency in the application of management measures and standards due to the lack of an efficient coordination agency and collaboration mechanism. Suggestions are made to facilitate collaboration and enhance management efficiency in this multi-agency management context.     

Exploring the Shared Use of World Heritage Sites: Residents and Domestic Tourists' Use and Perceptions of the Summer Palace in Beijing

Many heritage sites are shared by tourists and local residents, who may have different motivations, preferences and experiences. These common areas offer a setting for understanding how the host and guest populations utilize, interact and perceive a heritage site. Results show that residents and domestic tourists differ in their use patterns but generally share motivations, perceptions and experiences at the Summer Palace. Use conflicts and interplay are examined in relation to their behaviours, perceptions and experiences. Practical implications are generated to inform management and planning decisions for the study site and other heritage sites shared by local users and tourists. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Landscape,Fairies and Identity: Experience on the Backstage of the Fairy Tale Route

Although rarely considered a touristic phenomenon, themed touristic routes are a growing. Since 1975, numerous cities and villages between Hanau and Bremen have joined the working group ‘Deutsche Märchenstrasse.’ Unlike other themed auto routes in Germany, the Fairy Tale Route focuses not on architectural or agricultural aspects of the cultural landscape, but rather invites travellers to ‘the homeland of fairies and princes’ and to a romantic landscape experience on the traces of the Brothers Grimm. Based on a summary of the extant literature on the history of touristic longings for landscapes, this study explores the practices and experiences of individuals engaged in creating the ‘aura’ of the Fairy Tale Route. By analysing the landscape performance and biographical background of ‘Dietrich the Knight’, this article characterises the conditions for a successful, socio-culturally sustainable form of the cultural marketing of regions. The article concludes with one of the current conflicts played out between the extant fairy tale tourism imaginary and a new touristic foil that is being promoted by a new, supraregional tourism director in order to point to the frailness of the Fairy Tale Route's potential sustainability model.     

Tourism,climate change and the mass media: the representation of the issue in Spain

This paper sets out to analyse the information dedicated to climate change and tourism in the Spanish press in the Mediterranean region of the peninsula during the period 1990–2010. Specifically, it seeks to determine the quantitative evolution of media coverage of climate change and tourism and the importance given to this subject. Adequate media attention in both quantitative and qualitative terms could greatly influence public concern and contribute to the social mobilization that will be needed to negotiate/resist the phenomenon in a geographical area in which tourism is a major economic and territorial driver and which is particularly vulnerable to climate change. To construct the corpus, we undertook a systematic analysis of newspaper coverage of tourism and climate change in the media selected; and we carried out content analysis of the 1014 units identified. The results indicate that the coverage is outstanding in quantitative terms. However, the importance given to the subject is quite marginal.     

Nature-Based Tourism and Poverty Alleviation: Impacts of Private Sector and Parastatal Enterprises In and Around Kruger National Park,South Africa

International programmes and national policies around the world have identified tourism as an appropriate mechanism for sustainable development, poverty alleviation and biodiversity conservation. To evaluate the impact of nature-based tourism on the poor, socio-economic assessments were undertaken at enterprises based within South African protected areas. Comparisons were made between local economic interventions reported by enterprises and neighbouring community member's perceptions of their initiatives. Socioeconomic impacts evaluated included employment, gender equality, procurement, corporate social responsibility, dependency on tourism and access to markets. The studies demonstrate that isolated efforts from individual tourism companies have little tangible impact on the majority of people living in highly populated rural communities but impacts are substantial for the few people who directly benefit. Implications of these findings for future socio-economic initiatives through tourism, and options to increase net benefits to the poor are explored.     

Religious Perceptions and Hegemony on Tourism Development: the Case of the Islamic Republic of Iran

This paper highlights tourism development constraints with regard to religious perceptions in a religion‐dominated country, Iran. The ruling class does not want to discount any of the fundamental social and cultural values in the process of preparing strategies for national tourism development plans. Countries such as Iran, concerned about potential negative influences of tourism development, de‐emphasize potential positive economic impacts. In post‐revolutionary Iran, tourism development and promotion follow unique, religiously‐based strategies. The current five‐year development plan is a first step towards a transition to the recognition of the importance of tourism for economic development and improved international relations. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Voices from Costa Rica: exploring youth perceptions of tourism and the influence of tourism on identity formation and cultural change

Tourism has become a rapidly growing phenomenon in Costa Rica over the past two decades, with a rate of foreign tourists per capita of 0.46 (one of the highest rates in the Caribbean basin). As tourism increases, it is clear that the impacts will continue to be a major change-agent, especially for small communities in Costa Rica. To explore youth perceptions of the impacts of tourism on their culture and community and to better understand the ways in which tourism influences the formation of cultural identity, this qualitative Photovoice study focuses on youth ages 10–16 living in a Costa Rican community. Through the participants’ photographs and discussion, four themes emerged, including economic impacts resulting from tourism, the preservation and loss of culture and history, the importance of respecting the land, and injustice resulting from tourism development. The youth demonstrated the ways in which their experiences and personal histories related to tourism are intertwined with their sense of identity and pride for their community and culture. The results emphasize the relevance of exploring cultural identity within youth populations and support the assertion that tourism generates significant cultural change, which in turn influences youths' past, present, and future perceptions of their community and culture.     

Visitor and non‐visitor images of Central and Eastern Europe: a qualitative analysis

This study examines the image of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) as a holiday destination. The countries are linked by having had communist governments and being inaccessible to tourists from outside the communist bloc. Currently, they seek new tourist markets and this study examines the views of a number of UK residents about destination image of CEE. The study examines, through semi‐structured interviews, images held by people who have and who have not visited CEE. The data is analysed qualitatively. Few significant differences were found between views of visitors and non‐visitors; most views were positive and associated favourably with ‘culture’. Negative images were usually associated with the eastern part of the area especially ex‐Yugoslavia. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Festival tourism and production of locality in a small Slovenian town

The article investigates the conditions which contributed to the Slovenian town of Tolmin becoming a ‘festival town’. On the basis of a study of a palette of festivals, the distinction is made between festivals which originate outside the area, are designed to make a profit and therefore involve large numbers, and festivals with a background in locality (in reference to Arjun Appadurai, ‘locality’ is here primarily understood in connection to identification). The article argues that the two festival concepts both contribute to the production of locality, but in different ways.     

Impact of Long‐Term Weather on Domestic and Foreign Winter Tourism Demand

This study estimates the determinants of domestic and foreign tourism demand using data on 28 Austrian ski resorts for the winter seasons 1986–1987 to 2007–1908. Using the dynamic panel data analysis, we find that the effect of the weather variables (e.g. snow depth, cloudiness or sunshine) is quite small, with a change in one standard deviation of the variation over time in each weather variable, leading to a 2–3 % change in overnight stays. Furthermore, domestic tourists are more sensitive to changes in weather conditions than foreign tourists. By contrast, overnight stays of foreign visitors are much more responsive to changes in income than it is the case for domestic overnight stays. The occurrence of extreme snow‐deficient winters, such as the winter of 2006–2007, in the future period will reduce overnight stays of foreign and domestic visitors by 2 and 5 %, respectively. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Beyond mistrust and competition—the role of social and personal bonding processes in sustaining livelihoods of rural tourism businesses: a case of the Peak District National Park

This paper theorises the significance of social and personal bonding processes in promoting sustainable resource‐use and equitable tourism development using research on personal and social bonding process and relationship marketing. By looking at small, rural tourism businesses in the Peak District National Park (PDNP) it discusses how in intricate ways, individual business owners/managers are utilising social and kinship ties to increase their visual presence and competitive position in contemporary markets. The paper describes the significance of social and personal bonds as the respondents discuss how their informal affiliations have enabled them to tap into additional resources and develop products embedded in locally specific conventions that are more attractive to visitors, and are also assisting them to monitor each others' progress through informal forms of regulation. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.