Tourism development at World Heritage Sites: guest

Step 3: The Advisory Bodies

2.3 Tourism development at World Heritage Sites: guest

side of tourism

As argued in Section 2.1, WH status could have large impacts on tourism development at WHSs in terms of the host side of tourism. This also

applies to the guest side of tourism such as tourists and day trippers. The connection between tourism marketing and WH status is fully explored in Chapter 4; hence, this section presents a few key issues associated with the guest side of tourism in tourism development at WHSs, as follows:

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Site image and recognition as a tourist destination – WH status can work for domestic and international visitors as an established brand they can rely on. Having WH status means that the site obtained endorsement from international authorities such as UNESCO, ICOMOS and IUCN with regard to its OUV. The effectiveness of WH status as a tourism brand would be different depending on personal factors of visitors. As Jimura (2011) demon- strates through his study on Shirakawa-go in Japan, part of the cultural WHS, ‘Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama’, WH status seems to be more influential in the decision-making process of domestic (Japanese) visitors compared with international visitors, although the number of both types of visitors increased for more than ten years after its WHS designation in 1995. WH status also works as a marker for authenticity and integrity of the sites. As discussed in Section 6 in Chapter 1, authenticity is essential for sites to be inscribed as cultural or mixed WHSs, whilst integrity is vital for sites to be designated as cultural, natural or mixed WHSs.

Authenticity can still be seen as one of the main motivations of visitors who travel to a certain destination, although ‘staged authenticity’ (McCannell, 1973) is ubiquitous in tourist destinations all over the world and current (postmodern) tourists are ready to accept such ‘staged authenticity’ at least to some extent (Urry, 2002). Moreover, visitors’

attitudes towards authenticity would be different depending on their cultural back- grounds and/or nationality as implied in Sec- tion 3.5 in Chapter 2, referring to a case of Ise Jingu, Japan.

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The number of visitors before and after WHS inscription – there are many studies that explore the relationship between WH status and number of visitors; however, no consensus seems to have been achieved so far. In a sense, it is natural, as WHSs in the

world are so diverse and each WHS is unique with regard to its nature, characteristics, location and accessibility, history as a tourist destination or visitor attraction, degree of tourism development before WHS listing, and so on. Nevertheless, the point made by Asakura (2008) and Frey and Steiner (2011) would be insightful to inves- tigate this relationship. They explore factors behind the difference in changes in the visitor numbers among WHSs. Frey and Steiner (2011) suggest that no significant increase after WHS listing can be observed at the sites that were established tourist destinations even before WHS inscription, while a noteworthy increase since WHS designation can be confirmed at less-established tourist destinations before WHS listing.

This view matches well the assertion by Asakura (2008) who states that Japanese WHSs that were not famous among visitors before WHS inscription are more likely to see a massive increase in visitor numbers after WHS designation. The views of Asakura (2008) and Frey and Steiner (2011) are also backed up by Bandarin (2006), who was Director of the WHC from 2000 to 2010.

3 Conclusion

The concept of sustainable development became prominent at a global level in the 1980s and its key principle is to realize the TBL of sustainability as objectives of the development process.

Overall, the aforementioned historical trends in the theories of development also apply to those in theories and practices in tourism development. As suggested in Section 1.5, ‘responsibility’ and ‘balancing’ can be regarded as key terms for sustainable tourism development. In relation to ‘responsibility’, all stakeholders involved in tourism, including both hosts and guests, must accept and take responsibility for the impacts they cause and are expected to take action as necessary. To fulfil tourism development in a sustainable manner, a perfect equilibrium needs to be explored, found out and maintained between each of the following themes:

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economic, sociocultural and environmental dimensions of the TBL of sustainability;

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needs of the current generation and possi- ble needs of future generations in order to sustain a certain quality of life for both;

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natural resources required for the life of hu- man beings, flora and fauna;

Case Study: Old Town of Lijiang (WHS Lijiang) – Cultural WHS in China, Listed in 1997

The largest ethnic group of China is the Han people, but China has various ethnic minority groups.

Nakhi people are one of such groups, and the city of Lijiang, including WHS Lijiang, is one of their habitats. Nakhi people’s social and cultural characteristics are represented by, for example, their arts, dress and music. Moreover, the wooden dwellings built by Nakhi people are the main components of WHS Lijiang.

A range of changes, often drastic, have been occurring in the city, with WHS Lijiang and Nakhi people living there since WHS designation in 1997. Most importantly, comparing before (1995) and after (2014) WHS listing, visitor arrivals increased from 540,000 to 17 million and tourism revenue rose from RMB 326,000 to RMB 23.8 billion. These figures imply that both local Nakhi people and outsiders such as Han people have realized the great economic benefits of tourism after WHS inscription, although there have also been negative impacts of tourism development, for instance, an increase in property prices and rents. Some local Nakhi people in the WHS could not cope with such an increase and moved to suburban areas, while others let or sold their properties to outsiders, including Han people. Consequently, outflow of local Nakhi people and inflow of outsiders are confirmed in WHS Lijiang.

Nowadays, moreover, most of local homestay guesthouses are not owned or managed by local Nakhi people. Businesses essential for local people’s lives, such as markets, have been replaced by those chiefly for visitors. The degree of commercialization of tourism products has been advanced, and commodification of local culture has also been observed. Overall, tourism development in WHS Lijiang after WHS inscription appears to be too excessive.

(From: Xu and Ye, 2016; Zhang et al., 2017)

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needs of stakeholders on the host side of tourism such as local communities and needs of stakeholders on the guest side of tourism such as tourists;

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tourism policy directions at international, national, regional and local levels; and

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powers of MNCs and local SMEs in tourism businesses.

Both positive and negative implications of tourism development can be examined by each pillar of the TBL of sustainability. Concerning the economic aspect, for example, local businesses can be diversified and employment opportunities for local people can be increased thanks to tourism development. Due to the relatively fragile and unstable nature of tourism-related jobs, however, over-reliance on tourism can be a danger for the host side of tourism, and local communities, businesses and government need to make efforts to maximize multiplier effects of tourism ex- penditures and realize a fair distribution of economic benefits from tourism within a tourist destination. Regarding the sociocultural aspect, multiple opportunities and threats can occur in a tourist destination largely through interactions among people. Typically, they happen via com- munications between hosts and guests, but can also happen through interactions among hosts.

Tourism development can deteriorate social pa- thology such as vandalism and litter, whilst local culture can be enhanced or degraded by tourism development. Authenticity of local culture can be revalued by local communities through being

‘discovered’ by outsiders such as visitors, whilst tourism development may lead to commoditiza- tion or commercialization of local culture. Social practices and culture unique to each destination must be valued and conserved for the future in terms of the sociocultural dimension of the TBL. Concerning the environmental aspect of the TBL, generally, tourism development can affect our natural environment negatively.

Simultaneously, however, tourism development can evoke hosts’ and guests’ awareness of nature conservation. Moreover, economic benefits obtained through tourism can be reinvested for conservation purposes.

The phenomena caused or advanced by tourism development can be observed at WHSs as well as general tourist destinations. Generally

speaking, these incidents are likely to be more ob- vious at WHSs compared with other tourist destinations. There would also be some issues unique to WHSs due to the nature and characteristics of WHSs. In relation to the host side of tourism, first, all WHSs must have their heritage conservation plan and it is actually an essential component in their nomination file for WHS listing; however, they should also have their own tourism development and/or management plan. These two types of plans are expected to work together for the sustainable development of WHSs using tourism.

Overall, however, a tourism development and/or management plan tends to be overlooked, under- estimated or less developed compared to a conservation plan. Second, WHSs must be aware that WH status does not guarantee any automatic funding for conservation activities. Indeed, the WHF is available but the budget is limited, and WHSs that are located in LDCs and/or face a seri- ous danger would be prioritized. Therefore, WHSs should make the most of tourism development as an opportunity that can bring economic benefits that can be used for WHS conservation. Third, the pace of tourism development can be faster and the scale of tourism development can be more ex- tensive at the sites designated as WHSs after WHS listing than at other tourist destinations. Hence, careful consideration of balancing between heritage conservation and tourism development is crucial for WHSs. Prior to WHS inscription, moreover, nominated sites should carefully exam- ine the type(s) of tourism and visitors they want to develop and attract, respectively, after WHS inscription to maintain their WH status in the future and realize sustainable tourism development at WHSs. Fourth, WH designation may split local communities into (i) the area listed as or having a WHS and (ii) another area. Alternatively, it can widen the gap between these two areas. This is be- cause, a WHS may stand out among local communities and much more attention may be paid to the WHS by businesses and visitors, and much higher priority may be given to the WHS by or- ganizations related to tourism, heritage conservation and local government.

Concerning the guest side of tourism, most researchers agree that WH status is a solid tourism brand that both domestic and overseas visitors can rely on, although the degree of effectiveness of the status would be different

according to the intrinsic factors each visitor has. Second, it should be noted that, generally, tourist destinations tend to receive a larger number of visitors after WHS designation, but this does not apply to all WHSs. The degree of reputation as a tourist destination probably can explain the difference in increases in visitor

numbers after WHS listing among various WHSs. Stated differently, tourist destinations that were not famous among visitors before WHS inscription are more likely to see a large increase in visitor numbers after WHS designation, compared to those that were already well- known before listing.

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4

Tourism Marketing at World Heritage Sites

1 Tourism and Destination Marketing

Dalam dokumen World Heritage sites : tourism, local communities and conservation activities (Halaman 64-70)