Assessing the sustainability of tourism-related livelihoods in an urban World Heritage Site

The relationship between UNESCO World Heritage Sites and tourism has been described as a double-edged sword, with the benefits of tourism countered by its adverse impacts. To the extent that tourism-related livelihoods are dependent on World Heritage status, the loss of that status may have significant adverse effects, especially for poor people. The Sustainable Livelihood Framework has been used to analyse the development, or otherwise, of rural communities in poor regions of the world. This paper uses this approach to examine the urban poor of a World Heritage Site in Thailand, The Historic City of Ayutthaya. As a consequence of tourism and urban industrial development, not only has there been conflict between the urban poor and the Thai government within the designated heritage area, there is also conflict with the neighbouring industrial zones. This has resulted in fears that World Heritage status may be lost. Viewed within DFID’s Sustainable Livelihood Framework, lack of capital and little community participation are factors which contribute significantly to an unsustainable livelihood. However, this research concludes that using self-reliance as a measurement of people’s livelihood to determine ‘sustainability’ is inappropriate in an urban-tourism context because people living in urban areas rely heavily on external sources.     

A Comparison of Tourists' and Residents' Uses of the Temple of Heaven World Heritage Site,China

World Heritage Sites are designated following evaluations of their universal values. However, their use is often shared by different user groups who may attach different meanings to the same heritage, leading to different interpretations and uses. This situation raises important questions for visitor management at World Heritage Sites, where a variety of users must be accommodated. Using Temple of Heaven as an example, the motivations, preferences and experiences are explored for three major user groups: residents, domestic and international tourists. Results show that residents and tourists exhibit different spatial and temporal patterns of use. Most local users are elderly and use the place regularly for exercise and social purposes. The historical and cultural values are widely recognized but tourists are motivated more strongly than local users to experience heritage values. Practical implications are generated to inform managers of the study site and other heritage sites shared by locals and tourists.     

Promoting Gondwana: presentation of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area in tourist brochures

An 800 km stretch of the Eastern coast of Australia contains some of the last remnant fragments of the sub-tropical rainforests that once covered much of the region. This natural resource – declared as World Heritage in 1986 as the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves of Australia, but now known as the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia – serves as an important drawcard for tourist visitation to the region. Using a content analysis of 343 tourism brochures collected across one section of the Gondwana Rainforests area, this study examined the extent to which ‘rainforest’, ‘World Heritage’ and the ‘Gondwana Rainforests’ are present within text and imagery. Findings reveal a low prevalence of this ‘branding’; indeed only 3% of brochures mention ‘Gondwana’ or ‘Gondwana Rainforests’. As presentation is a key component of World Heritage-listed forests like Gondwana, the study's results reveal the importance of building awareness of the brand in the minds of users and the community.