Chinese and international visitor perceptions of interpretation at Beijing built heritage sites

Research exploring visitor perceptions of heritage sites indicates that a site may hold different meanings for visitors depending on their cultural backgrounds. Little research has, however, identified visitor cultural preferences and so informed the development, delivery and management of on-site heritage interpretive experiences. This paper addresses this need by identifying cultural differences and similarities between Chinese and international visitors in relation to their interpretive motives, preferences and perceptions. Questionnaires were completed by 277 domestic Chinese visitors and 94 international visitors at five key Beijing built heritage sites. Differences between Chinese and international visitors’ conceptions of heritage; ratings of importance of facilities, services and interpretive content; and perceptions of the visitor experience are identified. Amongst many findings, Chinese respondents were more likely than international respondents to state that heritage sites should be an important part of the country's national heritage, convey the country's power and be famous. They sought built heritage sites visited by someone famous and that feature in well-known Chinese paintings and poetry. International visitors were more likely than Chinese visitors to state that heritage sites should have authentically old buildings and be relevant to contemporary life. Implications for interpretive and management practice at Chinese heritage sites are discussed.     

Inheriting slavery: making sense of a difficult heritage

In 1807, the British parliament decreed the abolition of the slave trade; since then, the places connected with the slave trade have physically ‘inherited’ its material traces and have become emotionally charged with historical memory. This article looks at the material inheritance of slavery and the challenges of its interpretation in historical sites, through the use of sound. Specifically, the article focuses on the Clifton National Heritage Park, an old slave plantation in Nassau (New Providence Island, Bahamas), and its interpretation via soundscapes. We will argue that the inheritance of slavery, as cultural trauma and collective memory, is ‘a form of remembrance’ that impact on identity formation: this can be interpreted, re-appropriated and attributed new meanings, for the benefits of both local and non-local communities.     

The interpreter as researcher: ethical heritage interpretation in Indigenous contexts

ABSTRACT

This paper integrates Indigenous research and heritage interpretation scholarship by addressing how interpretation should be underpinned by research congruent with Indigenous expectations for research ethics and methods. Program research and delivery is a profound exercise of power, for interpreters mold public opinion. In a settler-colonial or Indigenous context, critically analyzing sources for one’s interpretative programs and media is particularly imperative, as Western researchers have historically been on colonialism’s front lines. The interpretation of Indigenous themes is fraught with difficulties, but existing interpretation literature myopically focuses on program delivery and evaluation methods. More attention must be paid by interpreters to the problems of relying on Western, positivist research in Indigenous contexts. This paper considers Indigenous research methods and ethics, provides an overview of the connection between Western knowledge and colonialism, and demonstrates the problems this poses for interpreters working with Indigenous content. I offer concrete suggestions for staff to improve their engagement with Indigenous peoples. Ultimately, I argue, interpreters must become more critical of themselves and their sources to successfully address Indigeneity.     

Museums as narrators: heritage trails in a digital era

ABSTRACT

In today’s tourism industry, merely offering tourists a variety of cultural events is not enough. Fully understanding their desire for an experience is the key. The attraction value increases if tourists can become personally involved and be affected by the narratives involved in place-making. This article examines the connections and cooperation among museums in a region where an important heritage trail is operating. When the old Telemark Canal was active (1892–1990), this enabled important products to be shipped from the upper mountainous areas to the coastal urban region in Telemark County, Norway. Shortly after being closed, the canal was transformed into a heritage trail and tourist attraction through renovation initiatives. Based on a closer examination of two of the attraction clusters along the heritage trail of the canal, we ask whether there is a key narrative that can link the local museums and cultural centres in the canal region. The discussion will consider how the widespread use of the internet has created new options for museums and cultural centres to benefit from neighbouring tourist attractions such as heritage trails.     

A typology of memorable experience at Nelson Mandela heritage sites

This study examines cultural heritage tourism by identifying and segmenting heritage site visitors according to the aspects they define as necessary for a memorable heritage site experience. The research focusses on visitors to Nelson Mandela Heritage Sites and emphasises that the links between the attributes of a site and the visitors themselves are essential to understanding tourists’ willingness to pay to visit the mentioned sites. A typology of visitors that the authors labelled ‘auxiliary experience seekers, convenience experience seekers and comprehensive experience seekers’ (ACC) was used. The results revealed comprehensive experience seekers as the most critical market segment regarding the much significantly higher amount they are willing to pay when visiting Nelson Mandela Heritage Sites. This leads to a better understanding of aspects contributing towards a memorable heritage site experience as well as to visitors’ willingness to pay for such experiences. This study also provides further insight into cultural heritage tourism in general. Moreover, such segmentation was found as a useful research tool for producing a distinct visitor profile as well as how a memorable experiencing can be generated by suggesting diversified pricing at such sites.     

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.     

Community engagement and heritage tourism at Geneva Estate,Dominica

Community and heritage tourism can be developed alongside the promotion of Dominica as the ‘Nature Island of the Caribbean’, in which the island's natural resources are commodified as an ecotourism destination. The development of Dominica's tourism product to include heritage tourism through the presentation of plantation sites allows tourists to experience the island's culture and history. A direction for the advance of community and heritage tourism is demonstrated with a case study of the Geneva Heritage Project, begun in 2011 at Geneva Estate near the village of Grand Bay. Through a partnership between professional researchers and a community group, the Grand Bay Tourism and Environmental Committee (GTEC), the Geneva Heritage Project demonstrates an avenue for community groups to define and to interpret the community's history. Members of GTEC collaborated with professional archaeologists and students to conduct archaeological and historical research, which included the collection of data used to create interpretive signs and to compile documentary sources to be made available to community members and tourists. Such collaborative efforts promote the value of resource preservation in a nation lacking legislation to protect its cultural and archaeological resources.     

Linking heritage interpretation with rail and bus line marketing

Examples from south-west Germany show that the customised interpretation of heritage along the way can help the promotion of public railway and bus lines. Both strategies and success factors for linking heritage interpretation with line marketing, considering the interpretation framework, specifics of transportation media and the regional context, are identified and challenges to evaluation on a project level are examined.     

Efficacy of public awareness strategies for promoting existing cultural heritage tourism assets in Dar es Salaam

Although Dar es Salaam City is endowed with numerous cultural heritage resources, it fails to exploit such potentials. While there were some initiatives to boost cultural heritage tourism in the city, their efficacy was unknown and they remain undocumented. This study was designed to assess public awareness means and their effectiveness in promoting cultural heritage tourism in Dar es Salaam City. Data collection was through questionnaires, focus group discussions, observations, and key informant interviews. Findings indicated that most of the existing potential sites were not known as cultural heritage tourism sites such that they were regarded like any other normal places in the city. Available public awareness strategies (except a few) were ineffective and inaccessible. One could then wonder how available cultural heritage assets may be made known and attract others to take part. The study calls for public awareness strategies to improve knowledge on available cultural heritage assets to the general public, a measure, which will positively enhance accessibility to cultural heritage assets, improve goodwill as well as cooperation to tourists and improve ethics of their care. Such undertakings eventually will lead to sustainable cultural heritage tourism growth.     

Industrial railway heritage trains: the evolution of a heritage tourism genre and its attributes

Heritage tourism forms a specific genre within the wider field of tourism; however, this genre itself encompasses a wide range of different types of heritage attractions, of which industrial attractions, military attractions, stately homes and attractions associated with historic people are all examples. This paper discusses the evolution of industrial railway heritage attractions from their original railway operations to visitor attractions; second, it examines the key attributes defining successful industrial railway heritage attractions; and third, it compares and contrasts these attributes for three industrial railway heritage attractions, spanning three separate locations and two countries (Australia and Malaysia). The findings from the study identify and support ranges of success factors and suggest a framework for examining the genre of industrial railway heritage attractions and their attributes. This framework can direct future studies that investigate the nature of industrial railway heritage trains, and contribute to enriching understanding and knowledge of this genre of attractions.     

Interpretation of contested heritage at an attraction in St. Lucia

The tangible sugar heritage in the Anglophone Caribbean is important to its tourism product. This heritage, like the plantations which play a central role in regional preservation efforts, was created as a result of the enslavement of Africans to provide a large, cheap labour force. Sugar heritage is thus a contested heritage and there is disagreement about how this heritage should be interpreted. In fact, the silence of slaves resounds in the interpretation evident at many former sugar plantations in the Americas. The question, however, is if consumers of this heritage notice the absence of slave voices at this sites that are now primarily used as places of leisure and pleasure in the tourism industry. This study confirms that the silence is perceived by tourists visiting Morne Coubaril Estate, a popular attraction in St. Lucia. Though their satisfaction and overall quality of experience are not related to their disappointment with this component of interpretation, they nonetheless overwhelmingly support the need for more details about slavery and greater emphasis on slavery in the interpretation on site. These findings are important at both the site and destination level, given the current inclination to exploit cultural heritage resources to diversify the region's tourism offerings.     

Cultural heritage and Indigenous tourism

ABSTRACT

Tourism is acknowledged as a vehicle that can help sustain both tangible and intangible elements of Indigenous cultural heritage, including languages, stories, song, art, dance, hunting methods, rituals and customs. Often, cultural heritage products developed for tourism promise to provide many socio-economic opportunities for the communities involved, however, tourism can also present a challenge as the self-management of Indigenous cultural product and cultural identity can be problematic. Given the pivotal role culture plays in the sustainability of Indigenous tourism products, it is time for a twenty-first century examination of the nexus between cultural heritage and Indigenous tourism. This paper reflects upon tourism and contemporary Indigenous cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible. Through a review of the current literature on Indigenous tourism and cultural heritage, the authors identify key areas for future research and aim to stimulate further discussion around the ways Indigenous tourism may be developed to sustain Indigenous cultural heritage.     

Understanding children's engagement with interpretation at a cultural heritage museum

This study aims to investigate how, and the extent to which, different interpretation techniques (e.g. visual, verbal and interactive) at a cultural heritage museum affect children's behaviour, associated with their engagement with interpretive materials and their understanding of the content and its key ideas and messages presented as cultural lessons. An exploratory study with classes of primary-school-aged children, adopting a qualitative method including observation and post-visit in-depth interviews, was carried out. The results did not indicate any discernible difference between the types of interpretation technique used, with regard to their interaction with the site, or their understanding of the museum's content. Rather, it is the circumstances under which the interpretation techniques were used by the children. Two main variations in the way that the children interacted with their peers and the interpretation were found to affect the level of understanding of different stories, and female and male children showed generalised preferences for different forms of behaviour. How these behavioural patterns impacted on their understanding of the interpretation and meanings of the displayed objects at the museum is discussed.     

Adapting Rubbish Theory for heritage tourism

Michael Thompson's Rubbish Theory explains how the values of objects change and that to understand how we value objects we need to understand ‘rubbish’, that is, objects which hold no value. He explained that most objects lose value after they are created and eventually become rubbish. However, there are some objects that maintain their value, which he calls ‘durables’. His theory explains how some objects move from rubbish to having durable value. When this theory is adapted to illustrate the multiple values attributed to objects at heritage sites, it is possible to explain how heritage tourism can result in conflict at a destination and how durable objects can lose their value, which is not possible according to Thompson.     

A Railway ‘Route’ as a Linear Heritage Attraction: The Hijaz Railway in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The Hijaz Railway was constructed in the early part of the 20th century to link the Levant with Islam's Holy cities of Madinah and Makkah. The railway was never completed beyond Madinah and its operational life was cut short by World War I, never to be revived again. The significance of the railway lies not only in the technical, military and religious importance of the track, but also in the ‘route’ which is closely linked to a number of historic pilgrim and trade routes, including that used by the Frankincense traders. Although a few sections of the railway have survived in Syria and Jordan, in Saudi Arabia the track bed today remains only a palimpsest in the desert landscape. Most of the railway buildings lie abandoned, with the exception of several centres where the buildings have been restored. This paper considers the potential role of the Hijaz Railway as a ‘cultural route’ in stimulating heritage tourism in Saudi Arabia. In doing so the paper considers how the physical remains of the railway can be used as an anchor for the preservation and interpretation of the Islamic and pre-Islamic cultural heritage of the route. Considerations include focusing on clusters as primary and secondary nodes for tourism activity that will support an incremental development approach while preserving the integrity of the railway and its route within a landscape setting.     

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.     

Testing a model of effective interpretation to boost the heritage tourism experience: a case study in Macao

While the impact of tour guides’ interpretation on tourism experience is well acknowledged, little research has been conducted on the production of effective interpretation by tour guides. In this study, effective interpretation is defined as producing a positive outcome on tourists’ knowledge and understanding of the visited heritage site, feelings and emotion, satisfaction and likelihood of visiting other relevant nearby heritage sites. Based on a literature review, a conceptual model of effective interpretation consisting of four propositions was formulated and examined by empirical on-site research in the World Cultural Heritage Site in Macau. The empirical findings support the four propositions and the applicability of the model for effective interpretation in Macao. The research was conducted in two phases: on-site guide evaluation and a linked tourist survey. The target market was mainland Chinese visitors. The results revealed the influence of four factors on effective interpretation, namely, heritage and tourist information knowledge, service attitude, communication competence and emotional intelligence. Special attention is given to the use of humor, provocation and emotional sensitivity. Future research should further investigate tourists’ emotion management and the applicability of this model to other tour guides’ heritage interpretation, at different types of site and in different regions.     

The classification of heritage tourists: a case of Hue City,Vietnam

Heritage, especially with World Heritage status, is increasingly becoming the main attraction of many tourist destinations. Heritage tourism is also the major tourism product in Hue city, Vietnam. Hitherto, there are almost no official statistics and research pertaining to heritage tourism as well as heritage tourists in Hue. This study aims at providing a preliminary profile of heritage tourists to Hue city and identifying different categories of heritage tourists, with a special focus on package tourists. The international heritage tourists' profile seems to be similar to official statistics of international arrivals, indicating almost no difference in socio-demographic profile between heritage tourists and general tourists in the context of Hue. Various significant differences were found between international and domestic tourists in terms of tourist characteristics, trip profile and the perception of Hue. Adopting McKercher's [(2002) Towards a classification of cultural tourists. International Journal of Tourism Research, 4, 29–38] cultural tourist classification, five categories of heritage tourists were identified, including purposeful heritage tourists, sightseeing heritage tourists, casual heritage tourists, incidental heritage tourists and serendipitous heritage tourists. Among these, sightseeing heritage tourists and purposeful heritage tourists were dominant.     

Tourism and nostalgia for the pastoral on the island of Fyn,Denmark

Constructions of home are powerful from both heritage and tourism perspectives, as ‘home’ suggests a certain type of heritage precedence while also providing a competitive tourism advantage over rival locations. Sport tourism sites also disseminate notions of home as part of their narrative, both to create and solidify particular heritage claims as well as to enhance the tourism potential of a location. Home narratives are used, in particular, during stadium tours, where tourists go ‘behind the scenes’ at a famous sports venue. Tour narratives at Twickenham Stadium were examined in this study. At Twickenham, it was found that the stadium was represented as ‘home’ during tours in three different ways: as the literal home of the English National Rugby team; as the spiritual home of the sport of rugby; and as the home of particular notions of English identity. These representations were created as a means of claiming cultural propriety, particularly with regard to the sport and its heritage, as well as in recognition of the venue's role as an international tourism destination. However, the employment of home narratives, which espouse notions of stability and continuity, also mask wider heritage and tourism anxieties, in particular competition from rival sites.