Interrogating the equity principle: the rhetoric and reality of management planning for sustainable archaeological heritage tourism

International archaeological heritage management in developing countries frequently entails planning for the development of sustainable tourism. A central tenet of sustainable tourism development is the equitable distribution of tourism benefits, a goal reflected in stakeholder consultations and management plan provisions for capacity-building among community members. The lack of longitudinal data demonstrating the meaningful participation of target populations in tourism development dividends, however, calls into question the efficacy of such measures. A review of tourism development outcomes at Machu Picchu, Angkor, Lijiang, Copan, Borobudur and Cape Coast Castle supports the contention that sustainable management planning has not produced equity. The problem lies not in specific planning provisions but in the lack of correspondence between developed country assumptions and developing country reality, which is characterized by structural and systemic power imbalances. The cases inform the creation of a generalizable model of tourism development inequality, the implications of which present philosophical, professional, methodological and conceptual challenges that must be overcome if the heritage management discipline is to deliver on the promise of sustainability.     

The theory of planned behaviour in the context of cultural heritage tourism

An emerging body of literature addresses multiple aspects of cultural heritage tourism in multiple environments worldwide. This study seeks to contribute to current knowledge, studying visitors to a heritage building in the UK through the lens of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). A questionnaire based on the various predictors associated with the TPB was designed to gather participants' motivations to visit the heritage building, including visitation to sightsee, attend events, and experience gastronomy at the building's restaurant. The findings confirm the validity and impact of attitude towards the behaviour, subjective norms, and perceived behavioural control on behavioural intention, in this case, to become involved in heritage building visitation. In addition, it was noticed that respondents' level of agreement suggests their preparedness to invest in terms of travel, time, and financially spending when visiting heritage buildings. Implications of the findings will be discussed and future research avenues suggested.     

Enhancing sustainable heritage tourism in Egypt: challenges and framework of action

Prior research on heritage tourism has suggested a set of general guidelines to develop sustainability in heritage sites, but these lack details on implementation and prospective challenges, especially in developing countries. This research studies the practical application of sustainable heritage tourism (SHT) in Egypt. In particular, it investigates the challenges facing the tourism development of the Esna heritage site, and proposes a framework of action. The emergent challenges are related to two main aspects: community (e.g. close urbanization and theft of antiquities) and management (e.g. lack of top management support and commitment, conflict of authorities, lack of awareness and appropriate skills and lack of adequate funding). The study found that the central and most influential factors are those related to management. The suggested framework of actions outlines objectives, related actions and implementation responsibilities. The implementation of the entire suite of actions would enhance the ability of Esna to conserve heritage, develop local community and assist in facing the challenges to SHT development. Generally, this study is a step toward a better understanding of how SHT could be achieved in developing countries. It also gives relevant insights to both researchers and practitioners.     

Identifying cultural tourism: a theoretical methodological proposal

This article explores the effectiveness of tourism as a means to heritage conservation in urban areas, focusing on the case study of Woolloomooloo Finger Wharf, an inner-city industrial heritage site in Sydney, Australia. The Finger Wharf redevelopment represents a familiar scenario whereby an old industrial site located at a sought after inner-city location has been redeveloped and transformed from a derelict structure into a popular leisure and recreation precinct. The findings of a study of local stakeholder perceptions of the redevelopment are presented and then evaluated according to the goals of sustainable tourism development. The findings highlight the importance of planners and managers of heritage tourism sites thinking beyond the cosmetic conservation of the tangible asset to also consider how best to preserve the non-material value of the site. Through the provision of more effective interpretation heritage, managers can create a visitor experience which is authentic and meaningful to visitors and local stakeholders.     

Protecting cultural heritage tourism sites with the ubiquitous sensor network

Cultural heritage tourism resources are vulnerable to natural and human disasters: once damaged or destroyed, it is hard to restore them to their original condition. This study examines an online and real-time early fire detection system, using advanced information technology and a ubiquitous sensor network to protect cultural heritage tourism resources. It notes the danger of accidental and deliberate fires being started by cultural site visitors, as well as natural fires from lightning strike or nearby forest fires. The system architecture, sensor and network design, and software design of the fire detection system are presented, based on experimental work at the Bulguksa temple in South Korea, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Lessons learned from building and operating the Ubiquitous(U)-Bulguksa system are presented to provide guidelines for applying ubiquitous sensor networks to protect other cultural heritage tourism resources.     

Conceptualising a contemporary marketing mix for sustainable tourism

This paper outlines how marketing, though traditionally considered an enemy of sustainability, can play a role in implementing sustainable tourism. It notes the redefinition in 2007 by the American Marketing Association of marketing's aims to consider wider societal issues beyond those of clients and customers. It illustrates how the recognition of the importance of sustainable tourism at all scales of tourism activity provides marketing with an opportunity to pursue sustainability outcomes. We review the strategic tourism marketing planning process and conceptually develop a sustainability tourism marketing model that embeds sustainability considerations at each stage of the planning process. Our proposed model contributes to sustainable tourism theory development and offers a conceptual tool for managing a tourism organisation's ecological and societal footprint on the supply side and a critical opportunity for transforming consumer decision-making on the demand side, irrespective of tourism scale. A 30-cell matrix is proposed that cross-references a strong set of 10 marketing elements (product, price, promotion, place, participants, process, physical evidence, partnership, packaging and programming) against the questions posed by the triple bottom line of economic factors, the environmental and sociocultural concern, creating a check list of indicators for management purposes.     

Possible marketing tools for heritage tourism: the potential of implementing information and communication technology

The prevalence of information and communication technologies (ICTs) has major marketing impacts on both the demand and the supply side in cultural and heritage tourism. However, while there is quite substantial research on how ICTs affect visitors and their experiences, little can be found in the literature on the supply side. The purpose of our study is to fill this gap. To do so, we executed in-depth interviews with 20 experts from cultural and heritage tourism in Germany. Through the interviews we gained evidence from the supply side on five discourses, which evolve around the issues of the shift in visitor typologies and demand, marketing benefits of digital technologies, preconditions and barriers of implementation and currently relevant technologies. All in all, the results clearly increase our understanding on what experts think on the implementation and use of ICTs in cultural and heritage tourism. Recommendations for practice regarding, for example, cooperation and professionalization and for further research conclude our analysis.     

The network of Spanish Jewries: in praise of connecting and sharing heritage

This article presents the case study of the Network of Spanish Jewries (‘Red de Juderías de España’ – Caminos de Sefarad) and discusses the implications of networking between heritage sites linked through thematic routes. Although the impact on the performances of the different sites can hardly be measured, the value of the Spanish Jewries is attributed especially to its potential to redress regional imbalances in tourism activity (one of the main concerns for Spanish tourism) and to be packaged as a more integral, economically viable, and enticing experience than stand-alone heritage-based products. Evidence from the case study gives rise to more general considerations on the value of heritage networks for a more sustainable tourist activity, knowledge-sharing, and coordination in management. The article also looks beyond tourism impacts to regional cohesion and economic development opportunities that could be reaped from the extension of the network across national borders.     

Sustainable Mi'kmaw cultural tourism development in Nova Scotia,Canada: examining cultural tourist and Mi'kmaw perspectives

This study assessed tourists' motivations and satisfaction in participating in authentic Mi'kmaw tourism activities in Nova Scotia, Canada, as well as the ideas, perceptions and components of sustainable cultural tourism development from the Mi'kmaw perspective. To solicit the tourists' perspective, surveys were administered to tourists visiting the existing Mi'kmaw cultural tourism sites in Nova Scotia, while the Mi'kmaw perspective was obtained through key informant interviews. The results of the survey suggest that tourists visiting the Mi'kmaw cultural tourism sites were highly educated and deeply interested in learning about culture and participating in authentic cultural experiences. Tourists were also highly satisfied with their experience and were interested in participating in aboriginal tourism again. Findings regarding the Mi'kmaw perspective indicate a focus on cultural tourism's ability to educate both tourists and the Mi'kmaw people on the Mi'kmaw culture as well as provide economic opportunities for Mi'kmaw communities. Of greater importance to the Mi'kmaw people is the preservation and protection of the Mi'kmaw culture. Conclusions drawn from the research include recommendations for the future success and sustainability of the Mi'kmaw cultural tourism sector. This study's findings may also inform other Canadian aboriginal communities seeking to develop robust and sustainable cultural tourism in their own settings.     

Consulting communities: using audience response system (ARS) technology to assess community preferences for sustainable recreation and tourism development

Audience response system (ARS) technology (also known as “clickers”) has emerged as an educational tool that promotes active learning. This paper describes how ARS works and how it can also be used in research to assess community preferences for tourism development. A case study that used ARS technology shows how stakeholder preferences for extraction, heritage tourism and recreation within two rural mountain economies in the US west were effectively assessed. The use of ARS was backed by situation assessment procedures to determine appropriate stimulus questions probing trade-offs, perceived costs/benefits and cultural fit. A detailed series of key results measured community preferences and were made available to guide policymaking and future empirical survey work. Public meeting arrangements, publicity, structure and moderation for the ARS work is described and discussed. Evaluation of the use of ARS technology showed high levels of participant satisfaction with both the technology and the situation assessment procedures, and the emergence of potential tourism development actions.     

Forests and trees as charismatic mega-flora: implications for heritage tourism and conservation

The role of charismatic mega-fauna in conservation has been well recognised. However, far less recognition has been given to the significance of charismatic mega-flora (trees and forests). This note examines the properties of charismatic and flagship species and identifies several categories of the physical properties and cultural attributes of trees and forests that contribute to their recognition as being extraordinary and therefore not only becoming markers for tourists, but also potential flagships for conservation.     

Developing sustainable tourism through adaptive resource management: a case study of Machu Picchu,Peru

Machu Picchu, Peru, is recognized as a top international travel destination. Pressure from the approximately 900,000 tourists who annually visit the ancient Inca city threatens the ecological integrity, physical substance and cultural authenticity of the World Heritage Site and surrounding area, including the Inca Trail. Multiple organizations and agencies currently involved in the management of Machu Picchu have distinct agendas for the conservation and development of the city, and conflicts regarding public access, economic growth and cultural preservation are rampant. Attempts to establish carrying capacities have failed, with proposed daily visitor levels ranging from 800 to 4000. This paper explores the complex issues surrounding tourism at Machu Picchu and presents a potential solution: an adaptive management approach based on the UN World Tourism Organization's (UNWTO) sustainable tourism framework. This integrative strategy accounts for multiple perspectives and synthesizes disparate goals embraced by diverse stakeholders, including the Peruvian government, international conservation organizations, foreign tourists, private tour operators, regional authorities and indigenous communities. The focus on Machu Picchu as an adaptive management case study site outlines key steps leading to implementation, offering planning and policy implications for sustainability initiatives at numerous developing-world tourism destinations facing similar political and socio-economic challenges.     

Complexity science: an alternative world view for understanding sustainable tourism development

Tourism research has generally taken a reductionist approach and has not effectively understood tourism as a stakeholder within a complex system (CS) of stakeholders. As a result, interpretations of sustainable tourism development (STD) are highly focused and sector-specific, thereby limiting understanding of the complex inter-relationships between tourism components and other components within a system. This paper explores complexity science as an alternative paradigm to understand why STD is problematic. It is argued that a new world view is required to understand the unpredictable world in which tourism operates. Complexity science and the associated chaos theory offer an alternative paradigm for viewing and understanding tourism phenomena. Viewing underlying influences on a CS in terms of the characteristics of complexity science, including the edge of chaos, strange attractors and conflict provides greater understanding of the system in which tourism operates. The second part of the paper discusses a framework, adapted from complexity science characteristics, to identify the complex inter-relationships between stakeholders with political, environmental, economic, social and cultural interests in an urban river context, the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.     

中国自然文化遗产管理模式的改革

本文从中国自然文化遗产保护、利用和管理的现状出发,比较分析了自然文化遗产管理的国际模式,指出旅游服务是为游客提供某种经历、感受与体验,而并非购买风景资源本身,从而提出自然文化遗产的所有权归国家所有,管理权由各级、各行政主管部门行使,旅游经营权可进入市场运行,同时建立完整而有效的监督保护体系,实行“四权分离”的管理模式。     

Wilderness and cultural tour guides,place identity and sustainable tourism in remote areas

This paper is concerned with understanding the relationship between place identity and sustainable tourism in remote areas. It examines wilderness and cultural tourism guides’ place identity and how those identities are deployed in designing and delivering their activities, then evaluates how these activities engage with the goals of sustainable tourism. A mixed-method approach collected data from textual documents, participant observation and semi-structured interviews. A literature review and early document analysis identified three exemplary Yukon place identity narrative themes: (1) Masculinist Narratives, (2) Narratives of the New Sublime and (3) Narratives of Loss. A narrative framework emerged from initial findings and was refined on an on-going basis throughout the research process, and used iteratively as an analytical tool. Sustainable tourism is understood in relation to geotourism and place-based approaches. Instrumentally, the study provides insight into strategies used by guides to engage with, enhance and broaden goals for and understandings of sustainable tourism. It considers the role of infrastructure and the significance of lifestyle entrepreneurs. Authenticity is engaged to examine how it is operationalized as a crucial dimension of sustainable tourism in remote areas and is used to examine instrumental considerations, as well as a potential tool to “liberate place”.     

Social learning and sustainable tourism development; local quality conventions in tourism: a Greek case study

This paper presents the trajectory of an innovative organisational scheme, the Local Quality Convention (LQC), concerning sustainable tourism development in the Lake Plastiras area, a less favoured area in Central Greece. It outlines the development issues of the area, the main actors, their views and practices and describes the creation, progress and emerging problems of the LQC scheme. Research reveals contradicting approaches to sustainable tourism development which, in turn, influenced the LQC's evolution. The findings are critically discussed in the light of the Social Learning (SL) approach to social change and sustainable development. According to SL it is only through interactive (participative), concerted action that stakeholders are able to co-construct an issue and its solutions. Given the dominance of “conventional” tourism in Greece as well as the top-down formation and implementation of policies, the importance of the long term facilitation of local stakeholders to achieve sustainable tourism development is demonstrated, along with other related lessons for planners and managers.     

The resource-based and the market-based approaches to cultural tourism in alpine destinations

This study focuses on the relevance of cultural resources in tourism, including cultural heritage sites, cultural landscapes, events or festivals. It seeks to reveal the differences between two management strategy perspectives, the market-based view or approach (MBV) and the resource-based view or approach (RBV), of involved destination stakeholders and the impacts of those differing approaches on their perception of cultural tourism development. The literature on the strategy orientation of organizations/destinations is reviewed and serves as the theoretical background. Data were gathered from 38 semi-structured interviews with experts and key stakeholders in alpine destinations of cultural tourism in Northern Italy, using GABEK, a tool for analyzing complex qualitative data. The results indicate differences between destinations with diverse strategy-perspectives in terms of authenticity perception, standardization, leadership and sustainability orientation. The MBV requires larger financial resources to create an effective brand image. Authenticity was found to be very important and the VRIO framework (valuable, rare, inimitable and organized) a valuable tool. The RBV is best related to niche market products. The RBV also leads to more sustainable strategies for resource use but requires strong vision and network management skills.     

The impact of tourism on cultural patrimony a Costa Rican example

Development of tourism in tropical areas is having a distinct impact on the preservation of cultural resources, particularly when developments are on the coasts, and where lack of monumental architecture does not make it visually obvious that cultural heritage is present. The impact is primary, in that sites are levelled, covered over, or otherwise destroyed; and secondary in that roads to new areas encourage auxiliary population concentrations or open new areas to exploitation by professional pot-hunters. Cooperation between museums and universities who seek to preserve and study these cultural remains, and those who are stimulating the development is often poorly established because of lack of precedence for cultural resource management programs in developing countries. Discussed are the problems of primary and secondary impact based on an example from Pacific coastal Costa Rica     

Sustainable tourism and its use as a development strategy in Cambodia: a systematic literature review

Governments in many developing countries endorse sustainable tourism, despite associated practical limitations and challenges as a development strategy. Using the case of Cambodia, this paper illustrates how sustainable tourism issues in a developing country may be better understood through a systematic review of scattered relevant peer-reviewed and grey literature. This can help in identifying emergent themes and challenges, gaps in knowledge, and opportunities for future research. Analysis of 77 documents on Cambodia's sustainable tourism revealed themes and challenges relating to: (1) an emphasis on nature-based tourism (ecotourism); (2) calls for greater community engagement for sustainable outcomes; (3) stakeholder perceptions and values as drivers of tourism success; (4) cultural heritage as a key tourism attraction; and (5) foreign investment shaping Cambodia's tourism future. Unequal emphasis is given to key government policies for tourism development and there is limited practical guidance on how to realise a vision of sustainable tourism. There is a lack of consideration of how the socio-economic and cultural context affects sustainable tourism. The evidence suggests that sustainable tourism in Cambodia is questionable until fundamental economic, social capacity and policy issues are addressed, along with greater emphasis given to the tourism system's demand side.     

The search for World Heritage brand awareness beyond the iconic heritage: a case study of the Historic Centre of Macao

The Historic Centre of Macao was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) in 2005. The question arises regarding the value of the designation ‘WHS’ and what it means to tourists who visit. The researchers used intercept surveys and participant observation to determine brand awareness among visitors. Regardless of how much the tourism industry and UNESCO promote the ‘brand’, if visitors are unaware of it and do not respond, the economic and cultural values may be negatively affected.

The results showed the average visitor had only a vague understanding of WHS and it was not a major motivator for their visit. However, the general theme of culture was of high interest, as was a visit to the must-see icon attraction of St Paul's Ruins (the highlight of the Historic Centre of Macao). That is, there appears to be a good level of cultural and heritage awareness but minimal WHS awareness.