Heritage and Cultural Tourism Management

HERITAGE AND
CULTURAL TOURISM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1.1 Growth and development of the UK heritage and cultural industry...................................1
P1.2 Potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural resources..........................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................5
P2.1 Purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers. .5
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................7
P3.1 Evaluation of the impact of different types of ownership on the management of heritage
and cultural sites..........................................................................................................................7
P3.2 Analyzing the roles and responsibilities of organizations in heritage and cultural sector. .8
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
P4.1 Evaluation of the methods and media for interpretation within heritage and cultural
industry for tourists....................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Tourism supporting the UK economy..............................................................................2
Figure 2: Contribution in economy..................................................................................................3
Figure 3: Growth in Heritage Sector...............................................................................................3

INTRODUCTION
Cultural heritage tourism majorly focuses on the experience of people and place through
interpretation of events that took place in the nation or society and the restoration of historic
structures. It involves that artifacts or cultural property that is inherited from past are presently
maintained in the present for today’s generation so that they will be aware of their history
(Heritage and the UK tourism economy, 2013). Cultural heritage includes things like landscapes,
buildings and monuments along with the work of art, books and artifacts as well as education,
traditions and language of different nations.
Natural and cultural heritage plays a significant role in contributing in the tourism sector
as tourists for visiting these places only by which travel and tourism sector is earning attractive
profits. In the present report, there will be focus on growth and development of the UK heritage
and cultural industry along with the potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and
cultural resources. Apart from that, purpose of heritage and cultural attractions along with the
roles and responsibilities of organizations in the heritage and cultural industry will be
highlighted.
TASK 1
P1.1 Growth and development of the UK heritage and cultural industry
Culture and heritage contributes in the economy of UK to a great extent which is the
reason that the UK heritage and cultural industry in continuously growing. However,
conservation and preservation of the natural and cultural sites is important as if they would not
be taken with care, they would get destroyed and the future generation would not have anything
proof to learn about their history. Thus, maintenance of cultural sculptures is required. Since past
decade, this industry is an immense growth and still it is continuously developing (Shinde,
2014). In current scenario, growth of heritage and cultural tourism are the reasons of good
facility of roads which reduces the travelling issues of people, superior airways services which
saves the time of people and improvement in the local transportations.
Through effective use of promotional tool, that is, advertising, heritage and tourism
industry is successfully boosting the interest of visitors in heritage and cultural tourism. Through
the way of documentary movies, articles in newspapers and magazines, industry is capturing the
attention of visitors by which people across the world are coming and visiting the UK heritage
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and cultural tourist places. Natural and cultural heritage in UK involves manmade, artifacts and
intangible attributes that were developed in present, being maintained at present and for the
future generation, they are now preserved and protected by government of the nation. Heritage
and cultural tourism creates a lot of jobs and provides various benefits to the society (Fisher and
Ormston, 2013).
In the past few years, transportation has increased because of this industry which is also
helping in offering employment to people of UK. It is ultimately supporting the nation by
increasing economy’s wealth. Thus, the revenue generated from tourism industry is used for
developing the heritage places of UK and keeping the culture preserved. After the year of 2001,
heritage and cultural tourism industry started growing because various campaigns were started
for making people aware about the tourist destination and to attract them for visiting the places
(Mill, 2008). Major events that take place in UK with respect to natural and cultural heritage are
Proms and Street party which are generally organized in summer season. Some of the destination
which attracts the tourists towards nation is British Museum, Natural History Museum, Science
and V&A museum.
Figure 1: Tourism supporting the UK economy
(Sources: Visitor’s economy facts, 2014)
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Figure 2: Contribution in economy
(Sources: Visitor’s Economy facts, 2014)
Figure 3: Growth in Heritage Sector
(Sources: Visitor’s economy facts, 2014)
International visitors highly influence the heritage sector of UK as they have 28%
contribution in the total UK tourism. The positive results can be assessed by the fact that Britain
was successful in attracting 15.2 million visitors with 4% increment from the last year. However,
in the month of June, 2014, 2.89 million international tourists were welcomed by Britain. In UK,
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visitors mainly come to visit famous buildings, monuments, castles and churches of nation. This
country is not recognized for world class historical place, however, it is known for other exciting
destinations that are having great surprising things for people which attract them to a great extent
and give them a wonderful experience. Along with that, these monuments provide an emotional
touch to people that make them feel good (Varum and et.al., 2011). The British Tourist Authority
is there in UK which is engaged with the cultural places with the purpose of attracting tourists by
organizing the campaign, named “Britain for all seasons”. It proves to be highly supportive in
providing a tremendous growth to UK economy by generating employment opportunities in real
estate markets.
P1.2 Potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural resources
Conservation of heritage and cultural resources states about protecting the natural
resources from the past so that they can be preserved for present as well as for future. It says
about the proper use of resources that were preserved in the past so that future generation can use
that. This protection and preservation is provided by the government authorities of nation that
ultimately leads to improvement in job opportunities, business as well as in education and social
sector (Grimwade and Carter, 2000). But, in the process of conservation of heritage and cultural
resources, many conflicts occur that have to be solved out in order to carry out the work.
As per the given case study of Lhasa, Tibet, it has been found that Tibet is known as “the
roof of the world”. It is considered as the worldwide tourism destination which is offering
combination of fabulous monasteries, breath-taking high-altitude treks and unique intangible
culture. Lhasa is the capital of Tibet and is called as home of religious temples. People of this
place are famous for offering hospitality to the tourists in a unique manner (Boniface and
Cooper, 2009). The major potential of Tibet is that it has been recognized by the Chinese
government by which some large scale projects are considered for here currently.
However, there are some conflicts which occur in Tibet in the conservation of heritage
and cultural tourism. The biggest conflict which this place is facing is that every year, more than
10 million visitors in which mostly there are domestic people and foreign visitors and journalists
are banned to visit the tourist destinations present here. The conflict was about, the Tibetan
capital, Lhasa in which there is a major international resort group's five-star hotel which is under
construction and is going to set the stage for more commercial ventures in the ancient city that
will wear away the Tibetan cultural heritage (Zan and Lusiani, 2011).
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Here, a campaign was launched named as “Free Tibet” in which the demand of
boycotting the developments that were occurring in Tibet was there. It is because; they argued
that if any development will be there in the heritage of Tibet, its important will become low.
Thus, the campaign was launched to boycott the worldwide Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG)
hotels over the company’s “Resort Lhasa Paradise”. Reason behind boycott of this campaign was
that if 1,100 rooms will be constructed as per the project, the “oppressive” political situation of
Tibetan people living at this place will be ignored (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2012). After this
raised issue, IHG’s hotel is now built on the edge of the city which is approximately two miles
away from the Barkhor areas.
This was the major conflict which Tibet has faced in the conservation of heritage and
cultural resources. Reason behind conflict was not wrong but many benefits of opening this hotel
are also there that cannot be ignored. With the help of this project, there are many opportunities
for the people living at this place like through execution of this project, people residing in Tibet
would have employment and may Chinese tourists would visit the place that were earlier banned
to enter in Tibet (Urry and Larsen, 2011). This will ultimately lead to rise in the economic
condition of nation and will increase the throughput of wealth of this place.
Apart from that, tourism income in the communities of Tibet will also be enhanced which
will lead to rise in the living standards of people of Lhasa and wider Tibet. In order to preserve
the heritage and culture of Tibet, businesses which are Tibetan owned will be allowed.
According to this, hotel will have to follow the policies that economically marginalize Tibetans
and to keep the culture preserved; it should employ Tibetans and those who can speak the
language of this place (Youell, 2000).
TASK 2
P2.1 Purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers
Heritage and cultural attractions play a crucial role in the UK economy by capturing the
attention of visitors and through increasing number of tourists in the nation. With the help of this
industry, economy is growing at a fast pace. In order to understand the purpose of heritage and
cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers, example of British Museum and
The Natural History Museum is taken. The Natural History Museum is the London’s most
prestigious and pre-eminent museum of natural history which provides number of examples and
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facts of natural history. It comprises of 80 million items which shows that it is home to life and
earth science specimens (Hall, 2008). Within five collections, all its items come, that is,
entomology, mineralogy, botany, zoology and paleontology. On the other hand, British Museum
is committed to art, culture and human history. This museum is located in the Bloomsbury area
of London. It is documenting the history of humans and has 8 million works in it which is among
the largest originates from all continents. Purpose of these museums and the way in which they
meet the needs of different customers are described as below:
Research – Maximum people who visit the British and The Natural History Museum,
their main purpose is to investigate about the history and gather in-depth information
about that. Thus, it provides range of research opportunities to scholars and scientists
(Ciaffi, 2013). As The Natural History Museum is famous for exhibition of dinosaur
skeletons, it will help the scientists to do research on that and have the results. Thus,
through gaining plenty of knowledge from these museums, scientists would gain the help
to a high extent.
Entertainment – British museum plays a vital role in providing entertainment to the
visitors like families with having children as British management organizes many events
that prove to be very helpful in attracting people that came to visit the British and The
Natural History Museum from different nations. Especially children get fascinated by
seeing these events and feel happy by visiting these museums. Both these museums are
the top most tourists destinations of London, UK for which most of the visitors come
(Conrady and Buck, 2011).
Education – Along with providing entertainment and research opportunities, these
museums provide education to students who are also a kind of customer for tourism
industry. It serves as a very important factor of UK as education contributes in the
development of a country to a high extent. British and The Natural History Museum also
serves as education centers as they provide learning to students. Government is using
these heritage places in this way also as students learn a lot of things from these
museums (Marcotte and Bourdeau, 2012). Both the museums have immense information
for students and other people as well.
Economic development – As both the museums help students to gain learning from there
which they can use in their studies and in other ways, it helps in rising the economic
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standard as more knowledgeable will be the students, more opportunities will be there in
the nation to grow. The heritage and cultural tourism attractions like British and The
Natural History Museum has enlarged the massive quantity of tourists in UK. Thus,
through collecting, foreign currency, level of economic development of the country has
increased as well (Masip, 2006). Apart from that, it is also helping the nation by
supporting government as a good source of revenue generation for suppliers and
creditors.
Income sources – Heritage and cultural tourism has always been god source of income
generation for UK economy as it generates many employment opportunities for the
nation by attracting large number of tourists in the country. Media plays a significant role
in this as for promoting these destinations, advertising through different mediums is
required for which media is needed (Moulin, 2000). Thus, it creates job opportunities for
this field.
Recreation – It can be understood in a way that British and The Natural History Museum
also provides leisure to the visitors which is one of the objectives of people who come to
visit UK. One of the reasons behind coming in UK from different nations is to have
amusement so that coming from their tight schedule would have worth and value.
TASK 3
P3.1 Evaluation of the impact of different types of ownership on the management of heritage and
cultural sites
On the management of heritage and cultural sites, different types of ownership have
distinct impact. There are many kinds of ownership present which plays a vital role in preserving
and conserving the heritage and cultural sites of nation. One among them is public ownership in
which government takes part in all decisions of the heritage and cultural destinations while, in
private ownership, complete authority is in hands of owner only and government do not interfere
in it. Generally, museums belong to public ownership however; there are some which are owned
by itself and not by government (Heritage and the UK tourism economy, 2013). In London, UK,
one among the most popular museums is Science Museum. Its ownership lies in the hands of
government only which takes all its decisions. The management of this museum is done by
government authorities only. Any changes done in the policies and management of museum, it is
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created by the regulatory bodies of UK. Fund of Science Museum is collected through public as
it is a national museum and people of the nation have to contribute in its fund to preserve and
conserve it.
It is not essential that all heritage and cultural attractions must be publicly owned only as
there are some private museums too like Tenby Museum and Art Gallery. It is a privately owned
museum which is independent and government has no interference in it. This museum is situated
in South West Wales and known as the oldest one since 1878 (Shinde, 2014). It is one of the
most populated attractions in UK as high number of visitors comes to visit that place. Thus, this
heritage and cultural tourist destination do not need to take any permission from government for
managing it.
There is one more museum that was having public ownership. It is The Victoria and
Albert (V&A) Museum which was owned and controlled by the government and known as the
most popular museum in London, UK. Any decision taken for this museum was made by
regulatory bodies and they only managed all the activities of museum that take place for
attracting visitors towards it. For this museum also, funds were gathered by the local people of
nation. However, now, its ownership is converted into private and thus, government is having no
role in this museum after change in its ownership (Fisher and Ormston, 2013).
Besides private and public museums, joint ownership is also a form of ownership that
heritage and cultural destinations have. In this kind of ownership, government as well as the
private owners has equal control and power regarding the museum. Apart from that, one more
kind of ownership is there that is known as partnership in which two individual are there who
manage the museum and administers the work with equal controlling power (Mill, 2008). While
taking decisions, both the bodies play a significant role and contribute their suggestions. In
addition to this, franchisee is also there which also a kind of ownership but not so common in
case of heritage and cultural sites. Under this, a private owner transfers his ownership to another
individual who manages the business; however, he is not the real owner (Varum and et.al.,
2011). In preserving and managing the heritage and cultural sites, all kinds of ownership proves
to be very helpful and influence the tourism sector to a high extent.
P3.2 Analyzing the roles and responsibilities of organizations in heritage and cultural sector
Many roles and responsibilities are there which firms of heritage and cultural industry
need to fulfill in order preserve the natural resources of nation and to attract more visitors year
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by year. In UK, there are approximately 240 museums which are for their heritage and cultural
aspects. Major reason behind these museums is to protect, preserve and conserve the ancient
things of country so that future generations would also know about their history and will have
proud on that (Bouchier, 2012). Thus, to save the natural resources of nation for upcoming
generations, heritage and cultural tourism industry needs to fulfill many roles and responsibilities
which involve:
Providing advice and guidance for conservation: The most popular museums of London,
UK are Science museum, V&A museum, British museum and The Natural History
museum. They all preserving the ancient building, culture and natural resources of the
country and their management also provides many kinds of advices to society and visitors
with respect to protect the environment and heritage and culture of nation which is the
foremost responsibility of heritage and cultural tourism sector (Spake, 2008).
Saving natural resources: This industry has the major role and responsibility to make
people aware with the history of nation with accurate and correct information rather than
giving them fake information. If this role is not played in an ethical manner, it would lead
to spoil the image of nation by which heritage and cultural tourism will get adversely
affected. Natural resources involves archeology, that is, land and water along with the
designated elements like ancient sites, that is, museums and other historical buildings or
temples (Balmer, 2013). These resources can be saved by imposing restriction through
authorities of heritage and cultural sector in a way that visitors will be allowed to only see
these things and touching them is not permitted.
The national heritage protection plan: It is one of the most important roles that heritage
and cultural tourism sector plays. This plan is followed by almost all museums and other
heritage and cultural destinations so as to work with ethical norms and sustainability and
ne in this sector for a long term. It says about conserving the history with preserving all
natural resources of nation (Grimwade and Carter, 2000). According to this plan, it is the
responsibility of this industry to make people aware about the history of nation with
factual information.
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TASK 4
P4.1 Evaluation of the methods and media for interpretation within heritage and cultural industry
for tourists
In case of heritage and culture industry, there are various media and methods that can be
considered by the management of company for the purpose of interpreting with the tourists. In
order to attract tourists, various types of historical data and facts in the respect of this industry is
communicated to them. Historical events in this industry are very helpful for communicating
with tourists about the hidden facts which did not enclose to them. Various historical events are
conducted by the management of British Museum and The Natural History Museum that are
related to Youth Inclusion Program and etc (Boniface and Cooper, 2009). Through this event,
youngsters are invited to show their creativity and skills in front of tourists and local citizens.
Behind organizing event, main aim of company to target the young people for promoting their
talent along with encouraging visitors to visit its museums. In heritage and cultural industry,
proper interpretation is crucial to provide overall information to tourists regarding tourist
destinations as well as things available at museum (Zan and Lusiani, 2011).
Further, it is essential for the management of British Museum and The Natural History
Museum to communicate properly with tourists about the local traditions as well as historical
sites in order to attract them towards museums. Along with this, pleasant and memorable
experience needs to be provided to them by considering their needs. In case of British Museum,
exhibition is one of the best methods that are used by the management for displaying of various
historical things. With the help of exhibition, they are able to provide experience to the visitors in
terms of design practice and current art (Swarbrooke and Horner, 2012). This method for the
interpretation is very beneficial for British Museum to inspire present and future generations in
the respect of giving value to their culture. With exhibition, workshop of crafts is also organized
by this museum in well and systematic mannered. While, The Natural History Museum is
focused to organize various public events in order to gain the interest of people through
displaying them several creative practices. Fashion event is one of the best examples of public
events which are organized by the management of The Natural History Museum (Urry and
Larsen, 2011). Through this event, thousands of visitors are focused on taking interest in the
experience provided by this museum. Along with this, there is also an event that is organized by
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this museum on the annual basis that is related to display of contemporary design in front of
people and tourists.
All these events and programs support the management of Museums to share knowledge
with tourists regarding the value and beliefs of culture and historical sites. Through attracting
them towards culture sites, management will be able to encourage them to visit their museums.
Mostly people available in event are archeologists and historians who are specialized in their
fields and they are mostly focused on understanding the truths which are hidden (Youell, 2000).
So that, language used at the time of interpreting should be understood by all the tourist or
visitors.
CONCLUSION
It can be articulated from the facts and figures that protecting and preserving culture and
heritage is an asset for society to the nation it belongs as through this, history can be kept for the
future generations. Along with that, it is a critical factor that through the way of heritage in travel
and tourism industry, government give due emphasis on paying attention on the preservation of
the culture of nation. It can be inferred from the report that many authorities and regulatory
bodies are there which are using significant measures in order to protect and preserve the
heritage and culture of country. Report shows that natural and cultural heritage proves to be very
helpful in attracting the visitors to visit various destinations of the heritage.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Balmer, T. M. J., 2013. Corporate heritage, corporate heritage marketing, and total corporate
heritage communications: What are they? What of them?. Corporate Communications:
An International Journal. 18(3). pp. 290–326.
Boniface, B. C. and Cooper, C. P., 2009. Worldwide destinations. 5th ed. Butterworth-
Heinemann.
Bouchier, D., 2012. Cultural Heritage and the Challenge of Sustainability. Left Coast Press.
Ciaffi, D., 2013. Intangibles: enhancing access to cities' cultural heritage through interpretation.
International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research. 7(1). pp.68 – 77.
Conrady, R. and Buck, M., 2011. Trends and Issues in Global Tourism 2011. Springer.
Grimwade, G. and Carter, B., 2000. Managing small heritage sites with interpretation and
Community involvement. International journal of heritage studies. 6. pp. 33-48.
Hall, C. M., 2008. Tourism Planning. Policies, processes and relationships. Pearson
Marcotte, P. and Bourdeau, L., 2012. Is the World Heritage label used as a promotional
argument for sustainable tourism. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and
Sustainable Development. 2(1). pp.80 – 91.
Masip, D., 2006. Cultural heritage tourism — opportunities for product development. Tourism
Review. 61(1). pp.13 – 20.
Mill, R. C., 2008. Chapter 3: The Inter-Relationships between Leisure, Recreation, Tourism, and
Hospitality. SAGE publications.
Moulin, C., 2000. Appreciating the built environment through cultural tourism: Fundamental
changes in values and approaches. Tourism Review. 51(2). pp.7 – 13.
Spake, D., 2008. Decoding southern culture and hospitality. International Journal of Culture,
Tourism and Hospitality Research. 2(2). pp.97 – 101.
Swarbrooke, J. and Horner, S., 2012. Business Travel and Tourism. Routledge.
Urry, J. and Larsen, J., 2011. The Tourist Gaze. 3rd Ed. Sage Publications.
Varum, C. and et.al., 2011. Scenarios and possible futures for hospitality and tourism. Foresight.
13(1). pp. 19-35.
Youell, R., 2000. Travel and tourism. Pearson Education.
Zan, L. and Lusiani, M., 2011. Managing Machu Picchu: institutional settings, business model
and master plans. Journal of Cultural Heritage Management and Sustainable
Development. 1(2). pp.157 – 176.
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Online
Fisher, R. and Ormston, A., 2013. United Kingdom/ 1. Historical perspective: cultural policies
and instruments. [pdf]. Available through:
<http://www.culturalpolicies.net/web/unitedkingdom.php > [Accessed on 10th December
2015].
Heritage and the UK tourism economy. 2013. [pdf]. Available through: Website:
<us/howwework/Documents/HLF_Tourism_Impact_single.pdf>. [Accessed on 10th
December 2015].
Shinde, K., 2014. Planning and management in cultural tourism destinations in India. [Online].
Available through: <http://www.queensu.ca/surp/dr-kiran-shinde-lecture-planning-
cultural-tourism-destinations-india>. [Accessed on 10th December 2015].
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