Negotiating identity at religious sites: a management perspective

Travel to religious sites has increased in the past few decades. In the eyes of some scholars, this increased visitation adds to the already prevalent view of religious sites as contested spaces and places. This paper adds to the literature on religious tourism and contested places by looking at the ways in which religious sites act as a nexus for modernist/post-modernist tensions surrounding personal and group identity formation. After briefly discussing travel as an identity-building exercise, the case study of Temple Square in Salt Lake City, UT, is used to examine the ways in which religious site managers at Temple Square negotiate these modernist/post-modernist identity tensions.     

Looking for the Real Me: Locating the Self in Heritage Tourism

This paper considers the relationship between concepts of authenticity and the consumption of heritage attractions. Critiques of the heritage industry have often revolved around the idea that its visitors can only experience a false representation of history. Although valuable in many ways, such an approach does not explore the full complexity of these experiences. This paper seeks to develop an alternative theoretical framework to understand such visits by referring to discussions generated within those fields concerned with touristic experiences, identity and modernity. These argue that the nature of the authenticity at stake in these experiences is not one dimensional but must look to the concept of a subjective authenticity of self, as well as an authenticity that is judged according to objective realities. These concepts are explored in the context of exhibitionary forms and the meanings people invest in collective memories and cultural identities – that is, the strategies of interpretation and mechanisms of display used at heritage attractions.     

Struggles at holy sites and their outcomes: the evolution of the Western Wall Plaza in Jerusalem

The Western Wall in Jerusalem is the holiest of sites to Jews, a historical landmark, an archeological paradise, and a popular tourist attraction. After Israel gained control of the Old City of Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967, it needed to address the question of what would be the layout and character of the Western Wall and the area adjacent to it. Both Israeli Jews and visiting Diaspora Jews wanted to pray next to the wall, though there was no agreement on what type of prayer would be allowed. The strict Orthodox movement demanded separate sections for men and women, while non-Orthodox movements wanted a mixed prayer area. Archaeologists wanted to dig in the area adjacent to the wall. And furthermore, the State wanted to hold military ceremonies there while also encouraging tourism to the area. This study uses a historiosophic approach to analyze these contradictory needs and the resulting decisions about the Western Wall's layout and character. It identifies the struggles between religion and state; the status of religious movements and denominations within the country; the status of women; and other social, cultural, religious, and economic issues.     

Developing Mauritianness: National Identity,Cultural Heritage Values and Tourism

Mauritius is a nation of immigrants who have harmoniously come together, working to make their new homeland an economic success story. To continue this unprecedented economic growth Mauritius is consciously aware of the need for diversification in all its industries, including tourism. Known for being a quintessential beach vacation destination, Mauritius desires to expand the tourism sector to include aspects of cultural heritage tourism. To accomplish this task several questions must be answered about the meaning of Mauritianness and its relationship to tourism. Here it is argued that in order to further develop cultural heritage tourism in Mauritius, the understanding of Mauritian national identity must also be advanced.     

The invention of the Barcelona Gothic Quarter

The Barcelona Gothic Quarter was re-constructed in the twentieth century. Although theoretically historic monuments refer back to past epochs, in many cases they were produced recently. In Barcelona, medieval buildings were restored in a gothic style, while other historic buildings and facades were moved stone-by-stone into the area and ordinary residential houses were removed and replaced by seemingly historic buildings. As a result, the new Gothic Quarter seems to be a space which is completely medieval but was actually re-built between 1927 and 1970. This re-creation was meant both as an example of the invention of tradition in the context of Catalan nationalism and as a way to promote the city through spectacular historic monuments, irrespective of whether they were materially authentic. In this context, this article focuses on the second phase of this process, in the commoditisation of heritage alongside city marketing, stressing the relationship between the touristic promotion and the production of urban space. It also examines the principal reconstructions in the neighbourhood and how this process of changing a residential area into a space for tourist consumption were the first signs of gentrification in Barcelona.     

遗产原真性·旅游者价值观偏好·遗产旅游原真性

本文指出旅游科学的"原真性"概念与遗产科学的渊源;提出应将"authenticity"译为"原真性"的理由;概述了遗产科学对"原真性"概念的认识发展;从旅游价值观偏好层面对当代旅游科学中出现的"客观主义原真性"、"建构主义原真性"、"存在主义原真性"、"后现代主义原真性"诸提法进行了评论;最后,较为概括地辨析了原真性概念在文化和遗产旅游中的具体处置.     

Between Authenticity and Ethnicity: Heritage Tourism and Re-ethnification Among Diaspora Jewish Youth

Heritage tourism takes on a new meaning when conceived and implemented in the framework of a diaspora – homeland context. Trip organisers utilise heritage tourism that identifies the signifiers of national collective identity or Peoplehood and construct an experience of authenticity that supports a newly reconstructed narrative of personal and collective identity that bridges the diaspora and homeland identities. This paper examines into the differential consequences of heritage tourism on the ethnic identity of diaspora travellers from North America and the former Soviet Union to their homeland, specifically contrasting Jewish tourists from different diaspora localities making an otherwise almost identical birthright Israel trip. For both groups, Jewish ethnic identity was strengthened, particularly their emotional attachment to Israel. However, the difference between the two groups was found in the actual factors that explain this post trip attachment to Israel. The experiential component was more prominent among participants from the former Soviet Union, while among North American student participants, Jewish background as well as their higher pre-trip motivations provide an explanation for their high post-trip scores of attachment to Israel. Israel thus serves as the liminal domain of diaspora tourists, where existential authenticity and pre-trip ethnicity as latent as the latter may be, intertwine experientially to generate an expansion of the frame of individual identity of diaspora tourists in their homeland.     

Investigating the Structural Relationships among Authenticity,Loyalty, Involvement,and Attitude toward World Cultural Heritage Sites: An Empirical Study of Nanjing Xiaoling Tomb,China

This study examined the relationships among authenticity, loyalty, involvement, and attitude toward world cultural heritage sites (WCHS), as well as the relevance between two basic authenticity concepts in cultural heritage tourism, that is, constructive authenticity and existential authenticity. A structural model was proposed, in which authenticity is regarded as a key mediating construct between attitude and loyalty. The data were collected by a self-administrated questionnaire survey at one of the WCHS in China – Nanjing Xiaoling Tomb Scenic Area. The structural equation modeling method was employed to test the research model and the hypotheses with the sample data. The results indicate that involvement, attitude, and existential authenticity have significant effects on tourists' loyalty to the world cultural heritage visitation and that constructive authenticity and existential authenticity are significantly related. The theoretical and management implications of authenticity are also discussed in this paper.     

Diaspora tourists and the Scottish Homecoming 2009

Since devolution and the establishment of the Scottish Government, the country has increasingly sought to engage with its diaspora, as part of its tourism strategy. In recent years, many countries have welcomed home their diasporas through organised events and in 2009, the Scottish Government organised a Year of Homecoming. This paper describes the experiences of some of the diaspora Scots who returned ‘home’ that year, and explores how returning ‘home’ had an impact on their knowledge of contemporary Scotland and their continuing sense of a Scottish identity.     

Sights of sites: picturing heritage,power and exclusion

This paper explores the visual representations used to illustrate, promote and communicate a particular idea of heritage in the tourism literature, which provides an instance within which to examine the material consequences of a dominant discourse. This examination takes place within the context of current New Labour policy initiatives, which have put forward a new role for heritage, both in terms of the touristic experiences it can provide and as an instrumental tool for social inclusion and civic engagement. It is argued in this paper that these consciously designed objectives have also opened up a conceptual space within which images of heritage are drawn upon to undertake a course of ideological work that affectively reaffirms and legitimizes the cultural symbols of an elite social group as a consensual representation of national heritage.     

Costs and Benefits: The Impact of Cathedral Tourism in England

England has 42 Anglican cathedrals, many of which are major visitor attractions and which together welcome around 10 million visitors per year. Cathedrals generate substantial local economic benefits of some £150 million per annum within their urban economies and employ 1885 people on a full-time basis. Cathedral visitors spend approximately £30 a day on a visit to a cathedral city, but unfortunately very little of this revenue is received by the cathedral as donations. This short paper, which forms part of a larger research project examining different aspects of religious tourism, looks at the economic significance of English cathedrals within their urban contexts, arguing that the rising cost of conserving and maintaining the fabric of cathedrals is likely to result in increased need to raise revenue from visitors.     

Exploring Critical Factors of Macau's Heritage Tourism: What Heritage Tourists are Looking for when Visiting the City's Iconic Heritage Sites

Although Macau is widely stigmatized as a gambling paradise, its colonial past has left the city with a wealth of heritage and cultural attractions that can be converted into priceless tourism resources. Macau's status as world heritage city further creates opportunities for the city to develop its heritage tourism business. This requires Macau to understand heritage tourists whose needs and wants may vary from ordinary travelers. A review of the literature, however, indicates that most academic discussions of Macau heritage are from a history or conservation perspective rather than from the prism of tourism; because of this, the present study aims to explore, from a tourism perspective, the critical factors that are essential to enhance tourist experience when visiting Macau's major heritage sites.     

迪恩·麦肯奈尔旅游社会学思想解读——兼评《旅游者:休闲阶层新论》

美国著名旅游社会学家迪恩·麦肯奈尔(Dean.MacCannell)的《旅游者:休闲阶层新论》(The Tourist:A New Theory of the Leisure Class)一书是20世纪以来西方旅游社会学研究中最具代表性意义的研究著作。该书以"舞台化真实""景观神圣化""旅游吸引物的符号化"等理论为依据,从旅游者和旅游吸引物的研究着手,将同一时期社会学中盛行的结构功能分析和符号互动的方法引入旅游现象分析,以探讨旅游与现代社会文化结构变迁之间的关系,从理论和研究方法层面为旅游社会学的学科发展奠定了坚实的基础。该书在西方旅游社会学界和人类学界一直享有极高的美誉。近年来,旅游社会学的研究日益得到了国内学者的关注,然而相较于国外,无论是学科体系还是理论基础都显得极为羸弱。在此背景下,通过梳理历史以重拾经典对该书予以系统审视,总结其旅游社会学的学术思想,对于深化国内学者对国外旅游社会学知识体系的认识,构建国内旅游社会学学科发展框架,扩宽其研究路径,进而实现西方旅游社会学研究成果的本土化无疑是大有裨益的。     

In search of authenticity: a case examination of the transformation of Alabama's Langdale Cotton Mill into an industrial heritage tourism attraction

Difficult economic conditions, competition, or the decline of once thriving industries have inflicted serious damage to rural areas in many parts of the world. The USA has not been immune to these events, and the current economic climate has only exacerbated the existing problems. Apart from the industries and businesses that were forced to close their operations, former employees, their families, and even their communities are left behind with little hope of recovery. Some affected communities turn to other means to alleviate economic distress. In fact, while not a panacea to solve existing problems, some communities are considering or have even implemented tourism-related projects in an attempt to revive themselves and their surroundings. The present study explores the current development of one such project, the Langdale Mill in Valley, Alabama. To collect information about this proposed industrial heritage site, face-to-face interviews with the mill's project management were conducted. The interviews identified funding as the most critical challenge. Despite this serious problem, the mill's management is implementing alternative strategies in search for opportunities to revive a former industrial site and create tangible benefits for the local community. These findings may have important implications for other communities that also face decline.     

Heritage Tourism,Heritage Landscapes and Wilderness Preservation: The Case of National Park Thy

Tourism involving national parks manifests itself explicitly or implicitly as heritage tourism because national parks represent important symbols of the national landscape. This paper traces the journey of the proposed National Park Thy in northwestern Denmark from ordinary landscape to symbolic landscape, to candidacy for national park status and focus for heritage tourism. It is argued that the processes at work in Denmark are similar to those underpinning the creation of national parks elsewhere.     

Deconstructing the internal structure of perceived authenticity for heritage tourism

Abstract

Although modern society is more inclined to view authenticity from a postmodernist perspective, few quantitative studies on heritage tourism explored existential authenticity in detail. This study deconstructs authenticity into three components – object-related, intra-personal, and inter-personal – and then constructs a complete model by exploring each component’s internal structures, asking to what extent travel motivation is an antecedent and loyalty, a consequence. Data were obtained from 1,088 valid survey questionnaires distributed in Pingxi, Taiwan. Study findings confirmed the reliability and validity of the items used to measure the construct of authenticity. Regarding the internal structure of authenticity, intra-personal authenticity plays a mediating role between object-related authenticity and inter-personal authenticity, and this inter-personal authenticity may be the final value that tourists perceive. Compared with recent related studies, this model more comprehensively explains the degree of variation in loyalty, reflecting its importance for heritage tourism management and marketing. If a destination remains authentic, tourists are willing make a return visit. Authenticity may enable tourism managers to strike a balance between preservation and development when achieving the long-term goal of sustainable development.     

Heritage complexity and tourism: the case of Lumbini,Nepal

Differences in values, interests, expectations and priorities among stakeholders, a major source of dissonance, may create conflict in heritage and can be a challenge for its preservation and management. This study uses Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of Lord Buddha, to examine heritage complexity and tourism. Lumbini, one of the most important Buddhist sites for the world's 500 million Buddhists, is surrounded by a population of different faiths, mainly Hindus and Muslims. Locals, who are predominantly non-Buddhist, see the local patrimony more as an economic resource than spiritual one, whereas the government uses the site for building national pride, garnering international support and promoting tourism. Furthermore, despite its potential for attracting Western, regional and domestic tourists and a growing trend in arrivals, the community and the region have not benefited well from tourism. Although Lumbini is currently experiencing “latent dissonance,” this can be reduced through communication, cooperation and collaboration among various stakeholders.     

Authenticity and the authentication of heritage: dialogical perceptiveness

ABSTRACT

The dialogue on authenticity continues to evolve across different temporalities and disciplines. This editorial for the special issue summarizes contemporary progress made by scholars of heritage tourism and shares innovative corridors for deep deliberations. A broad spectrum of provocative ideas are touched upon, ranging from host–guest authentication and intangible heritage to knowledge transfer processes, authenticating heritage in fairytale settings, authenticity and anxiety in the smell of death and life, understanding the boundaries of authenticity, nostalgia, sustainability, marketing, destination competitiveness, and examining affective connotations of authenticity. Discursive insights are offered on how different authenticities are legitimized and critically deconstructed and re-constructed again in the authentication process, to underline the existence of power and authority interventions. Inspiring/innovative pathways, for future research, are also recommended.     

对民俗旅游文化本真性的多维度思考

在关于民俗旅游“本真性”的认知中,专家、当地居民和旅游者对本真性的认知并不全是相同的：专家关注的是文化环境的“本体真实”的保存,对本真性的认识经历了一个由静态到动态、由点及面的过程;当地居民更关注本地经济的发展和自己生活的改变;游客关注的是旅游经历的真实感受。从三个不同角度来审视这个问题是民俗旅游开发过程中全面解决文化保护与发展的有效之道。