The Role of Museums and Cultural Attractions in Tourism: A Literature Review

This essay explores the significant role of museums and cultural attractions in the tourism industry. It examines the historical and contemporary perspectives on cultural tourism, highlighting the importance of heritage preservation, economic benefits, and the evolving nature of visitor experiences. The essay draws upon a comprehensive literature review to analyze the interconnectedness of museums, cultural attractions, and tourism development, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices and responsible tourism management.

THE ROLE OF MUSEUMS AND CULTURAL ATTRACTIONS FOR TOURISM

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................2
BODY................................................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.........................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION...................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES.....................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
The International Council of Museums has defined museums as a non-profit making that has
historical significance for the visitors and tourist from around the world. The cultural and
heritage attractions have huge significance in the tourism sector and are defined as travel
directed towards experiencing the architecture, art and activities of the past. Museum
audiences have a strong link with the tourism sector; people from around the world visit
popular museums around the world for education, archaeological, architectural and tourist who
want to explore the ancient heritage of a particular country. This report is written in the form
of an essay highlighting the importance of museums and cultural attractions in the travel and
tourism industry.
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BODY
Literature Review
Chen et al. 2012, in their report stated that Cultural heritage sites and places have a significant
importance in the travel and tourism sector. People from around the world visit several nations
known for rich heritage and culture for example UK, Egypt, etc. People have acquired
knowledge and have increased their mobility for accessing the tourism products and are
exploring heritage and cultural attractions all over the world. Museums around the world have a
strong connect with the audiences and people are fascinated by the beauty of these museums
and plan their holiday trips for exploring the beauty of these museums. The tourism activities
comprise of many elements when tourist visits any cultural site like cathedrals, art galleries,
museums etc. In the past the meaning of cultural tourism was just high culture but in the
present modern era there are different meanings and perceptions of cultural tourism for
example for some people cultural tourism are linked with education, archaeological
significance, ancient culture etc. (Richards, 2011). The general perception of people of museums
from around the world is to educate the tourists about the country’s rich heritage, culture and
past history. They stated that the main role and purpose of the museums is to protect the
heritage and culture of a nation and to attract more and more customers for tourism activities.
Csapo, 2012 in his report stated that with the advent of industrialization and globalisation the
visits to heritage and cultural attractions have significantly increased from the past. Visiting
heritage and cultural attractions have become quite popular among people especially people
from archaeological backgrounds, students and researchers (Richards, 2011). People especially
tourists have a curiosity to find about the relevance and existence of these cultural and heritage
attractions and why, how and by whom these museums were built at the first place. The
heritage and cultural tourism can be considered as a form of tourism where people from around
the world participate for learning about various different cultures and for experiencing the rich
cultural heritage of a nation. Heritage and cultural attractions also provide a motivation for
preserving and conserving these attractions for the existence of the tourism industry. But from
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the tourism point of view, these attractions require more than conservations and preservation.
The significance and existence of these attractions should be conveyed to the visitors for
enriched understanding as it is the responsibility of the members of the host communities of
these attractions to educate the tourists about these attractions (Smith, 2013).
Black, 2012 in his report stated that tourism sector has emerged worldwide and the
government organizations are protecting the heritage and cultural attractions around the world
as these cultural attractions determine nation’s history, culture, ethics, values and customs.
Therefore it is not only important for the governing bodies to protect these cultural attractions
but it is the responsibility of people and tourist to promote sustainable tourism development
and growth (Kruczek, 2010). Today many tourist sites and cultural attractions are in danger for
getting damaged by terrorist attacks, huge influx of the tourist especially during the festive
seasons that can cause severe damage to these monuments. When many tourists visit a
particular museum then there are high chances of museums getting deteriorated. For example
the Taj Mahal a popular museum in India is made of white marbles but due to increased
pollution in the city the colour of the museum is turning from white to yellow. This graves a
serious concern for the government so as to take measures for minimizing the effect of
pollution in the city (Kruczek, 2010). The Taj Mahal is a monument that signifies India’s past
cultural heritage and people from around the world visit this museum in large numbers every
year.
(Richards, 2011) in his report stated that the heritage tourism is in line with global cultural
tourism and it has emerged as of the most popular tourism categories. Therefore, it is utmost
important that these heritage attractions are given economic assistance in support for
sustainable development and growth. They have described the importance of heritage tourism
for building sustainable economy and have categorised heritage tourism into three main
categories first is the natural attractions that may comprise landforms, rural scenery and flora
and fauna. The second category is the cultural attractions that comprise of festivals, arts, crafts
and traditional products and the last is the built that includes historic monuments, buildings and
industrial sites.
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(Boniface, 2013) in his report stated that tourist from around the world are mostly attracted
towards the popular monuments, natural heritage and cultural attractions and without the
existence of these attractions thorium industry will have no significance. Hence it is utmost
important that these heritage and cultural attractions are protected for the tourists of the
present and future generation. The heritage tourism can also be classified as literary tourism,
dark tourism, legacy tourism and industrial heritage tourism. There are many historical towns in
the developed and developing nations and these countries make every possible effort for being
dynamic in protecting, developing and preserving these attractions for the tourists (Barbieri and
Mahoney, 2010). Preservation, Maintenance and development of these heritage attractions
requires huge cost investment and need support from the government and many other funding
organizations. Tourism is an important section for the developing economies like Sri Lanka, India
etc. The income received from the tourism sector help in the economic growth of these nations
and the developing countries are given more emphasis on developing cultural attractions and
preserving these attractions.
(Petroman, 2013) in his report stated that heritage, culture and environment in the tourism
sector are interconnected. Different scholars have introduced a new concept to tourism as
creative tourism in which the heritage and cultural attractions can offers creative tourism
product for the tourists in order to grab their attention. For example the art galleries in the
museums offers variety of tourism products like the visual arts and the performing arts;
similarly media section in museums offers print media, audio-visual services to the tourists.
Even the popular museums in the UK like the British Museums and Queen House offer tourism
activities and products to the tourists for example tourist visit these museums with their
families and carry their children ,luggage and other items. Hence proper facilities for the tourists
are provided in the museums where tourists can keep their luggage and some food facilities for
refreshments. Moreover, some fun activities are also organised for the kids so that they remain
entertained while the tourist are busy visiting the museums. This also indicates that Museums
and Tourism activities are interlinked and museums have high importance in the tourism sector.
(Hooper, 2013) stated that the heritage and culture are intimately linked since the very birth of
the modern tourism industry. The heritage and cultural tourism has relations since the very
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beginning of the leisurely travel. In the past tourism was mainly confined to trade, business and
religious activities and people from the elite class travelled around the world. The museums also
play a critical role in the success of the tourism industry for any nation (Rajesh, 2013). The
tourism sector attracts millions of tourists from across the globe for visiting monuments,
heritage attractions etc. In the UK Museums has a great success story as the museums play a
critical role in attracting local as well as international tourists for showcasing nation’s rich
cultural heritage. These museums are also a great source of economic income for a nation and
the UK government is investing huge capital in preserving and conserving these cultural and
heritage attractions. The heritage and cultural attractions is also a cornerstone for nation’s
tourism sector. Hence it is essentially important that these resources or predicts are maintained
and are further developed for attracting more and more customers to these attractions. The
cultural attractions like the Museums, Monuments etc. also need to be developed so that they
offer value for money to the tourists for having quality experience while they explore the
beauty of these attractions.
Stylianou, 2011 in his report stated that tourism is one of the largest industries and for the UK it
is the fifth largest industry. Moreover, there are many popular cultural attractions in the UK that
attract nearly 32 million tourists from around the world every year. In the UK almost all the
popular visitor's attractions are the museums and three of the UK museums are amongst the
top visited museums in the world. The visits to these museums and art galleries in the UK have
increased to 7% which is three times higher than UK average visitor attractions. As per the
survey conducted 7.4 million visitors visited the UK museums for the year 2006. Moreover, the
heritage and cultural tourism in the UK contributes to approximately £20.6 billion for UK’s GDP
which is more than the income generated from the film and advertising industries. Heritage and
Cultural sectors are amongst the main motivators for grabbing the attention of the international
tourists and as per estimates, 30% of the international visits in the UK are for heritage tourism.
The cultural and heritage tourism represents an area that has significant social and economic
benefits (Dümcke and Gnedovsky, 2013). Due to rapid industrialization and globalization, there
is a need for the government agencies to explore ways for increasing the attendance of the
tourists in the popular tourist destinations so that increased revenue can be generated from the
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tourism business. The local and national government of a country should carefully operate the
policies thereby focusing on issues such as enhanced customer service, preserving and
protecting the cultural attractions (Rajesh, 2013).
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CONCLUSION
The above literature review clearly concludes that museums and cultural attractions play a
crucial role in the tourism sector. Heritage and cultural attractions are considered to be a place
of attraction where people from around the world learn, witness and experience the history and
past background of the country. The heritage attractions are in danger from terrorist attacks
and many other dangers like increased pollution, dust and congestion. Hence it is essential that
these attractions are preserved, protected and conserved for the upcoming generation.
Moreover it is a collective responsibility of individuals, groups and people from the host
communities to protect and conserve the heritage and cultural attractions for the tourists.
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REFERENCES
1. Apostolakis, A. and S. Jaffry (2005). Stated Preferences for Two Creative Heritage
Attractions, Annals of Tourism Research, 32(4), 985 1005.‐
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4. Richards, G., 2011. Creativity and tourism: The state of the art. Annals of tourism
research, 38(4), pp.1225-1253.
5. Boniface, P., 2013. Managing quality cultural tourism. Routledge.
6. Petroman, I., 2013. Types of cultural tourism. Scientific Papers Animal Science and
Biotechnologies, 46(1), pp.385-388.
7. Hooper-Greenhill, E., 2013. Museums and their visitors. Routledge.
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11. Smith, M., 2013. The Routledge handbook of cultural tourism. Routledge.
12. Kruczek, Z., 2010. Between Attraction and Tourist Trap–Cultural Tourism Dilemmas in
the 21 st Century. Economic Review of Tourism, 43(3), pp.144-150.
13. Barbieri, C. and Mahoney, E., 2010. Cultural tourism behaviour and preferences among
the live performing arts audience: an application of the univorous–omnivorous‐
framework. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(5), pp.481-496.
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14. Rajesh, R., 2013. Impact of tourist perceptions, destination image and tourist satisfaction
on destination loyalty: A conceptual model. PASOS. Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio
Cultural, 11(3).
15. Dümcke, C. and Gnedovsky, M., 2013. The social and economic value of cultural
heritage: literature review. EENC paper, pp.1-114.
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