Cultural Tourism: Exploring Heritage in Greenwich

This essay explores the importance of cultural tourism in Greenwich, focusing on the heritage sites such as Cutty Sark, Queen's House, National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. The literature review highlights the significance of cultural tourism in preserving cultural heritage and the impact it has on the local economy. The photo-essay showcases the historical importance of the selected area and its sights. The conclusion summarizes the significance of cultural tourism in Greenwich.

Cultural Tourism

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW............................................................................................................3
CASE STUDY.............................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Cultural tourism is the type of tourism activity for which its is essential motivation to
learn and discover new experience that is able to consumer the tangible and intangible cultural
attraction/products for the tourism destination. This tourism is helpful for building the image and
preserving the cultural and historical heritage with the culture of an instrument that facilitates
harmony and understanding amongst the people. Heritage is the selected notion for this essay in
which travelling for experiencing the places, artefacts and activities which are able to
authenticate or represent the stories and people of past and present can help in development of
cultural and natural resources. Photo-essay is an essay that uses images for explaining the story
being the image or making point of the historical importance of the images. For this essay the
selected area of cultural tourism that resembles heritage is the Greenwich Cutty Sark.
Greenwich is the are which is known for the maritime history as its name comes from the
Greenwich meridian the 0° longitude. It is a cultural site with many places of heritage that
includes the Cutty Sark a clipper ship.
LITERATURE REVIEW
As per the view of Richards, (2018) it was explained that the cultural tourism is a type of
tourism activity that is important for the visitors motivation and helps it to learn and discover,
experiences and consume the tangible and intangible cultural attractions at the tourism
destination. In general these attractions are related to a set of distinctive material, intellectual,
spiritual or even emotional feature of the society that encompasses the arts and architecture. The
literature music and the creative industries are living cultures to the lifestyles value systems and
beliefs of the traditions. Vergori and Arima, (2020) added that the cultural tourism is the
inclusion of the architectural and archaeological treasure which resemble history and heritage. It
includes all kinds of festivals, sites, monuments and landmarks, museums and religious venues.
This is the kind of tourism which takes place in the urban areas generally in large cities with
large cultural and facilities.
Cultural tourism by Seyfi, Hall and Rasoolimanesh, (2020) has been said to be very
important as it gives the local population an opportunity for benefiting financially from their
cultural heritage. It is considered to be and appreciated for preserving these factors and are

helpful for appreciating the preservation of the other hand opportunity and visits the opportunity
for broadening the personal horizons. Cultural tourism can help increase the strength identified,
enhance the intercultural understanding and also help in preserving the cultural area. Cuomo and
et.al., (2021) argued that this kind of tourism has issues on the local residents such as making the
local economy unstable, increasing the cost of living for the local residents increasing population
of creating environmental problems, Due to this economy can change for place and impact the
population size.
Heritage in cultural tourism has been explained by Chiao, Chen and Huang, (2018) as
visiting place that have significance to its past or present cultural identity. Cultural heritage has
been known to be encompassing the particular group of people which has something common to
them. Travellers which are interested in the cultural heritage tourism take part in participating in
historical attractions, monuments or landmarks. They are also fond of museums, art galleries and
threaters. In certain areas the festivals concerts and performances are the factors which re
responsible for the culturally significant behaviour of the neighbourhoods or communities.
Ebejer, (2019) explains that during the tough economic times the financial resources which these
cultural tourism get from government, private sector and non-profit resources are affected. This
is the factors which is responsible for creating opportunities that exist in the initial stages that
does not have financial stability. It is very important for the cultural tourism to show particular
urgency after the economic down-set. In order to gain as much activity as possible for their site.
Kennell and Powell, (2021) explains that the history of the culture that is delighted with a
trip to Greenwich that has diverse history of royalty, seafaring, science and engineering with
some truly glorious architecture. In Greenwich Maritime is one of the four UNESCO world
heritage sites in London that has a prestigious royal military and scientific past. The eight royal
parks in London are famous for the home to meridian line in which also consists of the royal
observatory and the Queen's House. This is the neoclassical building in Britain along with the
very beautify national Maritime Museum. Hassan and Ekiz, 2021) adds that the sight of the
classical Christopher Wren domes of the Old Royal Naval college that is able to be towards the
river for wandering the splendid. The naval history of Maritime Greenwich shows its military
legacy at the stunning royal arsenal Woolwich. This is historically home to the barracks and
munition productions over the centuries. The cultural tourism in Greenwich is renowned for

pioneering, scientific and engineering achievements. Greenwich being home to the Prime
Meridian of the world gives it the publicity its requires for attracting tourists to these spots.
CASE STUDY
Greenwich is selected area for this photo essay which is known for its rich and diverse
history of royalty, seafaring, science and engineering along with glorious culture. Cutty Sark is a
British Clipper Ship that is the case study for this essay. The Royal Museums Greenwich is the
where this ship is located and is a part of, along with other places like Royal Observatory,
Queen's house and National Maritime Museum (Duignan and Pappalepore, 2019). This ship and
its historical importance is one of the greatest feature of the cultural tourism in Greenwich. It is
as old as 1869 and is one of the last tea clipper to be built and one of the fasted from that time. In
this case study other historical areas such as royal observatory in Greenwich that is a very old
observatory that has been playing major role in the history of astronomy and navigation.
Figure 1.
In figure 1 the clipper ship is Cutty Sark a British build on River Leven. This boat has
now been permanently docked in Greenwich, London this is 19th century team clipper which has
been known for its speed during those times. The Onboard exhibitions and costume characters
document the life that was like for the crew when they had to steer the ship to the ports all

around the world. It is a great representation for British Heritage and shows the tourist about the
history of this boat. It is the famous design of this boat that has been able to make a remarkable
fast passage time that helped the ship towards its dominance.
Figure 2.
The following figure is gate of The Royal Observatory which has been known as the old
Royal Observatory. It has played a very important role in the history of astronomy and
navigation. These are some reason why it has a very important place in the cultural tourism of
Greenwich. It has the observatory code of 000 which was the first in the list as the Prime
Meridian passes through it. It was commissioned in 1675 by King Charles II. This also connects
this place with the royal British history giving it more importance in the eyes of the cultural
tourism.
Figure 3.

The figure 3 in this photo essay is the gateway of the National Maritime Museum in
maritime museum in Greenwich, London. It is that part of Royal Museums Greenwich that is the
network of museums in the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site. This unlike any other
publicly found museums in UK has a general admission charge. Museums consist of all the
different roots of the waterfront and is the home of Greenwich mean time that has been the
centre for astronomical study which has navigated across the world. It has many historically
important features that has given the museum importance in the cultural tourism.
Figure 4.

The figure 4 contains two images, in the second image the entrance to the section of the
museum with Queens house has been highlighted. The first image is the Queen's house which
can be said to be a very important part of the Greenwich culture tourism (Salvitto and Gormley,
2022). Visiting the Queen's House in Greenwich is a very well-known part of tourism visits for
many tourists. It is former royal residence that was built between 1616 and 1635. This shows the
materialistic and architectural importance that this building has in the history of Britain. The
Queen's house is one of the most important buildings in British architecture. It is the first
consciously classical building which was constructed in the country. The Architect of this
building was Inigo Jones was also responsible for building the Palladian architecture in Italy.
There is no other way of Greenwich for the classical design of the House one of the most
important building in the English architecture. There are many monuments and painting in the

Queen's House that are also very famous. The Royal Museums Greenwich is known for many
things but out of all it is famous for Queen's House.
Figure 5.
The above figure 5 is one of the Conde Nast pillars along the East Putnam Avenue in Old
Greenwich. It is very old and due to which the stone of this pillar has been showing some marks.
They are the ruins of the distant age that has been able to look more like the ruins in 2005. This
pillar is a great representation of the local history and its involvement in the cultural tourism
would be the factor that will help its get preserved (Effort afoot to restore Condé Nast pillars in
Old Greenwich, 2015).
Figure 6.

This figure 6 is the General Wolfe Stature which was build in 1930 for the memory of
commemorate general James Wolfe. This statue shows the victory of Wolfe's against the French
at Quebec which was secured by British. Wolfe Statue holds a lot of importance in the cultural
tourism as it is the part of the Heritage (Cai and McKenna, 2021). This monument was unveiled
by the Marquis de Montfcalm a descendant of commander in Chief of French Forces. This
monument gives the clear idea of the hero during the wars which took place in that era. It is very
important for the heritage of Britain and needs to be conserved and preserved.
Figure 7.
The figure 7 is the statue of Sir Walter Raleigh which was erected in commemoration of
the 350th anniversary of the foundation of the commonwealth of Virginia. Raleigh opened up the
colonization of the Britain for which he was honored 350 years later by this statue in Greenwich.
The historical importance behind this statue has developed heritage with related to this statue. It
is visited by many in Greenwich and has been able to provide the records that the statue which
was originally destined for being erected in front of the National Gallery.
Figure 8.

The figure 8 of this photo essay shows the statue of George II at Greenwich. This statue
has been directed to King George II of Britain who has given direction and patronage towards
the magnificent hospital that was established by the King's own predecessors to alleviate the
burdens of retired seamen. This statue has been made of single piece of marble weighing 11 tons
as was the fashion at the time of King is depicted wearing the military clothes of Roman
Emperor and holding a sceptre and orb. Hence, this statue has been able to gain importance in
the British history, heritage and culture.
CONCLUSION
From the above essay it can be concluded that the cultural tourism in Greenwich is very
good. This is of course due to the Royal Museum Greenwich which contain great sightings such
as the Cutty Sark, Queen's House, National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory. Apart
from this there also other additional sightings at this museum which holds some of the greatest
monuments and statues. This was a photo-essay in which with the help of images of the cultural
sights the cultural tourism importance the selected area and its sights were explained.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Cai, W. and McKenna, B., 2021. Knowledge creation in information technology and tourism
research. Journal of Travel Research. 60(4). pp.912-915.
Chiao, H. M., Chen, Y. L. and Huang, W. H., 2018. Examining the usability of an online virtual
tour-guiding platform for cultural tourism education. Journal of Hospitality, Leisure,
Sport & Tourism Education. 23. pp.29-38.
Cuomo, M. T., and et.al., 2021. Digital transformation and tourist experience co-design: Big
social data for planning cultural tourism. Technological Forecasting and Social Change.
162. p.120345.
Duignan, M. B. and Pappalepore, I., 2019. Visitor (im) mobility, leisure consumption and mega-
event impact: The territorialisation of Greenwich and small business exclusion at the
London 2012 Olympics. Leisure Studies. 38(2). pp.160-174.
Ebejer, J., 2019. Urban heritage and cultural tourism development: a case study of Valletta’s role
in Malta’s tourism. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change. 17(3). pp.306-320.
Hassan, A. and Ekiz, E., 2021. Sustainable authenticity in a World Heritage Site: The Maritime
Greenwich example. European Journal of Tourism Research. 28. pp.2804-2804.
Kennell, J. and Powell, R., 2021. Dark tourism and World Heritage Sites: a Delphi study of
stakeholder perceptions of the development of dark tourism products. Journal of
Heritage Tourism. 16(4). pp.367-381.
Richards, G., 2018. Cultural tourism: A review of recent research and trends. Journal of
Hospitality and Tourism Management. 36. pp.12-21.
Salvitto, D. and Gormley, R., 2022. Reading and Response. Quantum. 16. p.3.
Seyfi, S., Hall, C. M. and Rasoolimanesh, S. M., 2020. Exploring memorable cultural tourism
experiences. Journal of Heritage Tourism. 15(3). pp.341-357.
Vergori, A. S. and Arima, S., 2020. Cultural and non-cultural tourism: Evidence from Italian
experience. Tourism Management. 78. p.104058.
Online
Effort afoot to restore Condé Nast pillars in Old Greenwich, 2015[Online]. Available through:
<https://www.greenwichtime.com/news/article/Effort-afoot-to-restore-Cond-Nast-
pillars-in-6697909.php>