Heritage and Culture in Modern Society

The assignment examines the interconnectedness of heritage and culture, analyzing their definitions and historical development. It highlights the role of museums, specifically the Science Museum, in presenting these concepts through exhibits, technologies, and interactive experiences. The focus is on understanding how heritage and culture contribute to shaping modern society and individual perspectives.

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UK COLLEGE
BUSINESS AND COMPUTING
An assignment submitted in partial fulfilment for the award of
BTEC HND Travel and Tourism Management, Level 4
Unit 19-Heritage and Cultural Tourism management
Module Type: Module Code: L/601/1757
Learner Declaration
I certify that the work submitted for this unit is my own.
Signed and submitted by: Antonio Elvis Pospai
Student ID: HNDTTM6022
Batch 3
Lecturer: Magdalena Wronska
Verifier:
Hand out date: 21.05.2014
Submission date: 21.05.2014

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Contents
Introduction..............................................................................................................................3
Task 1P1Understand the growth and development of the heritage and cultural industry
within travel and tourism........................................................................................................4
P1.1-Analyse the growth and development of the heritage and cultural industry.........4
Monuments Act of 1882 (The Creation of English Heritage)............................................4
Broadening Support for Heritage – the 1990s....................................................................4
P1.2-Discuss potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural resources
................................................................................................................................................5
Central Jordan.....................................................................................................................5
The Giant's Causeway........................................................................................................6
Task 2P2 Understand the purpose of heritage and culturalattractions within the travel
and tourism sector....................................................................................................................8
P2.1-Assess the purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs of
different customers...............................................................................................................8
Science Museum.................................................................................................................8
Victoria & Albert Museum.................................................................................................9
Task 3P3 Understand roles, responsibilities and ownership oforganisations in the
heritage and cultural industry..............................................................................................12
P3.1-Evaluate the impact of different types of ownership on the management of
heritage and cultural sites..................................................................................................12
UNESCO World Owned Heritage Sites Management.....................................................12
Public-Private ownership in Heritage Site Management.................................................13
P3.2-Role and responsibilities of heritage organizations and analyse their roles and
responsibilities....................................................................................................................14
Organization 1 - ICOMOS - international council on monuments and sites...................14
Organization 2 - ICCROM – international centre for the study of the preservation and
restoration of cultural property.........................................................................................15
Task 4P4 Understand the role of methods of interpretation within the heritage and
culture industry......................................................................................................................17
P4.1-Evaluate methods of interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry for
Tourists................................................................................................................................17
Conclusion...............................................................................................................................19
References...............................................................................................................................20

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Introduction
Two of the main tourism resources are the natural resources and the cultural heritage.
UNESCO defines heritage as both “build” cultural sites and natural sites. Natural attractions
can be defined as tourism objectives or destinations that are not made by man while “build”
attractions are tourism attractions constructed by man.
The heritage concept can be defined as “what we inherit from the past and use in the present
day” (Timothy, 2011) and it can include cultural attractions, old art and crafts, historical
locations, historical build or landscapes, natural resources etc.
If heritage tourism can be defined in a simple sentence, the heritage tourist is difficult to
define, each individual is different, and some people have little or no interest in the heritage
while others are very interested. Some will understand heritage as old towns and buildings
like City of Edinburgh, while some will consider heritage to be “natural wonders” like the
Giant’s Causeway, some people will consider heritage to be old customs and archaic
organisational forms, and others will be interested in arts and crafts.

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Task 1P1Understand the growth and development of the heritage and
cultural industry within travel and tourism
P1.1-Analyse the growth and development of the heritage and cultural industry
The growth and development of our heritage could be defined through some of the following
major events in the history of UK:
Monuments Act of 1882 (The Creation of English Heritage)
In the year 1882, for the first time state shown some interest in the cultural and heritage
monuments of the country. The movement started in 1882 went on for 100 years in which
government did some great things to save the heritage and culture of the country. Some of
the important steps taken by the government in this time are:
1. Government took care of the heritage by developing the tools and other systems to
protect the heritage.
2. In the year 1960, government introduced a list which had the details of all the cultural
value properties which were not destroyed in the war.
3. In the year 1980s, Michael Heseltine, then Secretary of State for the Environment,
took one major step in the direction of saving the cultural heritage by proposing the
formation of an agency which could take care of all the issues related to the country’s
heritage. Because of his efforts, in 1984, “English Heritage” was formed to take care
of all the cultural value items in England. English Heritage was also responsible for
the preservation of all the cultural item which were brought into England after 1880.
Broadening Support for Heritage – the 1990s
Gathering the support to save our culture and heritage was not an easy task. Although the
establishment of the English Heritage has provided a little hope for the people who cared for
our culture, a lot had to be done.
1. Cathedral Grants Scheme 1991

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Under the Cathedral Grants Scheme 1991, the survey of all the cathedrals of the
country was done and the amount needed for the repairs were granted by the
government. The total of £52.3 million were granted in this scheme.
2. Conservation Area Partnership grant schemes (CAPs) 1993
CAP scheme was started in 1993. The main motive of this scheme was to renovate all
the places which have any kind of historic value to the country.
3. The Joint Places of Worship Scheme 1996
This scheme has a very sacred place in the heart of all the people of the country.
Under this scheme, all the places of worship in the country were repaired on the
urgent basis.
4. Buildings at Risk Register1998
This scheme was like a boon to the people who were the owners of the building which
had some cultural value. When these people were not able to keep the buildings safe,
government helped them by giving the funds to do the same.
P1.2-Discuss potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural
resources
Central Jordan
As any form of tourism or industry, the heritage tourism has its own issues and conflicts of
interests. To understand better we will use an example Central Jordan, one of the main
tourism destinations for the UK consumer. In most cases heritage and history are considered
similar, in Jordan, heritage is considered everything build or crafted after 1700 BC as long as
it bears the national specifics of design, while history is considered everything before the
1700BC.
The government encourages a consumption of heritage goods, a consumer market for rugs,
pots and jewellery that can appeal to foreign buyers.

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A conflict comes also from the need to protect and preserve the heritage while exploiting and
capitalising on its resource. Ancient historical places like the Roman Theatres from Amman,
Jerash and Uman Quasi host classic and pop musical festivals (Casey, Dunlop &Selwood,
1996).
In Movenpick resort the old Otoman village is invaded by heritage tourists that are welcomed
with Ice cream and Japanese shiatsu massage.
In the rural areas tourism development is seen as destructive. People know that tourism
development will restrict their access to historical sites, public areas used for play, social
gathering or pasture will be replaced by parking lots, hotels and ticket boots for access to the
historical sites (Porter & Salazar, 2005). For the sake of conserving heritage and cultural
resources in the destination greater conflict takes place with respect to access versus
conservation. In order to carry out heritage and cultural activities the major focus is on
considering that key activities that are regarded as the main source of income. In contrast to
this it is important to make sure that focus of the heritage and cultural aspect has focus over
enhancing the number of international as well as domestic visitors towards the destination.
The enhancement in the visitors number direct impact the sites. Access towards new
technology is the another conflict that can be resolved by increasing the number of skilled
personnel involved in tourism development.
The Giant's Causeway
The Giant’s Causeway is a great heritage and cultural site of the country and it is situated in
Northern Ireland. The reason why Giant’s Causeway has become such a famous destination
for tourists is that according to the people, it was created almost 50 million years ago and not
by the people, but by the slowly cooling lava from very large lakes. Thousands of people
reach Northern Ireland daily to just have a view of the Giant’s Causeway and the marvellous

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landscapes created here by the nature itself. You could estimate the popularity of the Giant’s
Causeway by the fact that every year around 750,000 tourists visit this place.
But this increasing number of tourists at Giant’s Causeway has created a problem for the
local government and the authorities who want to explore the Giant’s Causeway for the
monetary profits. The locals want to develop this place and open some entertainment zones
like holiday villages and golf courses. They also want to build hotels and visitor centres for
the tourists, so that they could earn lots of money but the increasing number of visitors are
creating problems to them. Now this kind of situation has started a war among the local
groups who want to develop the area for the economic benefit and the Government who
wants to stop the over development at any cost to save this place which is of very great
importance for the cultural heritage of the country.
There was also another conflict related to the Giant’s Causeway regarding the construction of
the Giant’s Causeway. The locals used to claim that the Giant’s Causeway was not a natural
place and it was not built by some cooling lava from huge lakes. According to the locals, The
Giant’s Causeway was built by the giant Finn MacCool. But later scientists proved that locals
were not right and they were just using the stories of Finn MacCool to get the attention of
foreign tourists (Robinson & Boniface, 1999).
The Conflict Resolution on Giant’s Causeway: The second conflict was resolved
successfully by a team of scientists using the geology with modern tools and they have
confirmed that Giant’s Causeway was not built by any human and it is a purely historic
structure made by the cooling lava from huge lakes. To resolve the first conflict with locals,
Government could offer them a developed Special Economic Zone (SEZ) a little fat from the
site. In this manner the site would not be affected by the local business and also the locals
would be happy by earning the revenues (Strinati, 1995).

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Task 2P2 Understand the purpose of heritage and culturalattractions within
the travel and tourism sector
P2.1-Assess the purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs
of different customers
The purpose of this task is to explain purpose of heritage and cultural attractions within the
travel and tourism sector. For the purpose of this task, a trip to Science Museum and Victoria
& Albert Museum was organised to assess how heritage and cultural attractions meet the
needs of its consumers.
Science Museum
The Science Museum was established in the year 1857 in the city of London and it is one of
the world’s largest technology based museum with more than 2.6 million tourists visiting the
museum per year. Science Museum is ranked as the 6th largest museum of the country. The
Science Museum is basically a collection of machines from different times and also has
above 300,500 scientific machines. Some of these machines are the prototypes of latest
technologies and some even represents the futuristic ideas of technology. In this way Science
Museum is a combination of our heritage and the new world which lies in front of us and
gives us the inspiration to reach the limits of technology and advancement.
Collections at Science Museum
As mentioned above there are more than 300,500 items in the museum which are divided in
different segments according to their timeline and suitability to that segment. Some of the
major attractions of Science Museum are Stephenson Rocket, Puffing Billy (A steam
locomotive engine which is supposed to the last of its kind), 10,000 year clock of the Long
and the first paper which was ever typed on a typewriter. All these items always attracts the
tourists who wants to know about their culture and heritage and also the way technology in
their world evolved.
The Dana Centre

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The Dana Centre is a bar and café which is always filled with the tourists. It is in the Science
Museum and it was opened in 2003. Dana Centre offers every types of snacks and beverages
for every age group and tourists are often found sitting in the Dana Centre and discussing the
marvel of the items presented at the Science Museum.
The Science Night
The science night has become the passion of the children visiting the Science Museum
because of the adventures found here. It is a whole night event which shows lots of
technological stuffs and amazing inventions of the great scientists. Around 370 children
could enjoy the Science Night at a time where they see the scientific performances and
sometimes even participate in them. The main adventure is that these children are allowed to
sleep in the museum for the night, right among the historic and latest inventions.
Victoria & Albert Museum
As Timothy (2011) stated, heritage is “what we inherit from the past and use in the present
day”. It can be a natural site, a historical place, a historical build, customs, beliefs, folklore,
arts, crafts, organisational forms, etc.
Heritage tourism “focuses on the management of the past, inheritance and authenticity to
enhance participation and satisfy consumer motivations by evoking nostalgic emotions” with
the purpose of generating income to its constituencies and to act as a custodian of heritage
(Chhabra, 2012).
Victoria Albert Museum is considers to be “the world's leading museum of art and design”
and it has a purpose of “enriching people's lives by promoting the practice of design and
increasing knowledge, understanding and enjoyment of the designed world”
(vam.ac.uk). The museum presents a history of the world’s arts, crafts and designs, the
visitor can learn the progress and evolution of variouscivilizations throw the art and design
legacy that they left and the influences that they brought to the modern day.

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The museum addresses various social purposes and needs like, recreation, entertainment,
education and research. But the main purpose of the museum is to act as a guardian of
heritage, to address the educational needs of the society and to satisfy the need for knowledge
and self-improvement of its visitors.
The Victoria Albert Museum is targeting both local and inbound tourists. Most of the
inbound tourists are visitors from America and Europe; middle class and rich people, most of
them with at least degree level education, interested in art and design and the history of art
and design. They are visiting the museum for the vast collection of artefacts gather from all
over the world and from various time periods, looking for improving their knowledge.
The fact that the museum entrance is free, makes it affordable to everyone disregarding the
financial situation (Zeppel, Hall &Weiler, 1992). The local visitors cover various segments of
market starting from degree educated middle class and rich people and going to less poor
people, interested in gaining knowledge about the world or just to relax and entertain
themselves . By age the visitors are various, young students of arts and design, middle age
tourists interested in the historical aspect, school groups organised for research and
educational purposes etc.
To address the various needs of each group Victoria Albert Museum presents a vast
collection of paintings, sculptures, artisan objects, architecture samples etc. The museum
artefacts are grouped mainly by global region, country and are organised by type of item and
time period.
As an example, if a visitor is interested in the Japanese culture he can find samples of
ceramics, paintings, armours, swords, jewellery, accessories, dressing, furniture objects,
architectural samples, old books and texts etc. Each of the artefacts with a description of the
time period, purpose, cultural significance, techniques used for crafting etc.

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The visitor can admire the artefacts, expand its knowledge, research the cultural evolution of
the society, analyse how various societies are influencing each other and compare it with
similar societies or societies from other parts of the globe.
For educational purposes Victoria Albert Museum is running various programs addressed to
schools, students, teachers and all those willing to find out more. The museum designed
various group activities based around its connections that involve identifying various art
stiles, materials, crafting techniques, time periods, influences etc.
From this programs we can name Voyage through the Islamic Middle East, Exploring plant-
based design through the Jameel, Gallery of Islamic Art, and Exploring calligraphy through
the Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, architecture& exploring skylines, Textiles learning
resources
The museum organises programs of Sculpture and drawing where visitors are showed
exponents of classic art, are gaining knowledge about various techniques used and have the
opportunity to try and replicate them.
Besides the declared social purpose the museum has also an economical purpose, in 2004 the
cultural attraction generated by the Victoria Albert Museum attracted 2 257 325 visitors, the
museum brings money to the local economy from inbound tourists and creates jobs directly
and indirectly (Misiura,2012).
Throw festivals like The London Design Festival, Victoria Albert Museum promotes London
as a capital of design and it brings professionals from all over the world to London, this
boosts the local design industry and has a ripple effect on the economy.

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Task 3P3 Understand roles, responsibilities and ownership oforganisations in
the heritage and cultural industry
P3.1-Evaluate the impact of different types of ownership on the management of
heritage and cultural sites
There are basically four types of ownerships present in the heritage and cultural sites
management. These four types of ownerships are mentioned below:
 Privately Owned Heritage sites
 Publicly Owned Heritage Sites
 Public-Private Ownership of the Heritage sites
 UNESCO World Owned Heritage sites
UNESCO World Owned Heritage Sites Management
The concept of World Owned Heritage Sites was brought into the picture in the year 1972
when UNESCO adopted some of the heritage sites from the different states and took over the
management of these sites. Although, the country or the state in which the heritage site is
situated are still the official owners of the site but as per the UNESCO guidelines, once a site
is included in World Heritage, it belongs to every single person on the earth and the
management is run by the UNESCO itself. UNESCO is public organization. It is a
specialized agency that possess 195 member states as well as nine associate members.
In the World Heritage Convention in 1972, UNESCO defined some guidelines to manage the
historical sites under their power. These guidelines are:
1. The constant review of the heritage site
2. Nominating the properties under UNESCO
3. Monitoring the properties
To gather the support from international communities for the management of the historic site.
How UNESCO Ownership influence the management of the heritage site

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1. Broadening the Definition of the Heritage
In this type of ownership, the heritage site is projected as a world heritage instead of a
heritage of a specific state or a country. In this manner the help is arranged from a
variety of sources and the management is done according to the world standards
defined by UNESCO.
2. Defining the Physical Boundaries
There are sometimes conflicts over the physical location and boundary of a particular
site. In these types of cases, UNESCO interferes and talks to the concerned authorities
to resolve the issue and define the physical boundary of the heritage site.
3. An integrated approach to Heritage Management
There are always many issues related to a heritage site. Managing the tourists,
managing the political strategies, managing the resource constraints, managing the
ownership issues, managing the scientific issues and managing the natural disasters
and climate changes. Under the mentorship of the UNESCO, all these issues are
handled by an advisory committee which consists of experts in all these areas.
Public-Private ownership in Heritage Site Management
The public-private ownership is defined on the basis of an agreement in which the parties are
public agencies (Federal Government, State Government or any other Government authority)
and a private agency. The services of the public agencies and private agency are used in
collaboration for the management of the heritage site mentioned in the agreement. Along with
the services, agreement also defines the shares in which the benefits from the heritage site
will be divided among the both parties. The agreement also explains how the risks and
responsibilities associated with the heritage site will be taken care of and who will be
responsible for different types of management work over the site.
The reason of Collaboration:
The invention of the public-private ownership happened to meet the increasing cost of
managing the heritage sites. Since the governments alone were not able to manage all the

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heritage sites and UNESCO is also not able to take control of all the heritage sites of the
world, the public-private ownership came into existence. The government funding for the
managing of heritage sites of high value was reducing day by day to the economic conditions
of the country and Private sector saw an opportunity to make some money in managing the
heritage sites.
The main benefits of public–private ownership is that it saves the people’s money in the form
of less investment from the government side and the private companies are mainly local who
could manage the sites more effectively because of this.
P3.2-Role and responsibilities of heritage organizations and analyse their roles and
responsibilities
Organization 1 - ICOMOS - international council on monuments and sites
ICOMOS is an International Organisation which mainly works in the areas of the
conservation and protection of the heritage sites worldwide. ICOMOS is a non-government
organisation and works on the principle of non-profit.
Role of ICOMOS:
1. ICOMOS mainly emphasis of the use of latest technology for the protection of the
heritage sites which are of great importance. They use the scientific techniques to
invent the new methodologies for their work.
2. ICOMOS has a very big network of the people like scientists, historians,
anthropologists and philanthropists who work as a team.
3. The main role what members of the ICOMOS plays in the heritage site management
is to provide the scientific theories and help the owners in managing the heritage sites.
Responsibilities of ICOMOS:
1. The main responsibility of the ICOMOS is to preserve and enhance the heritage sites
and the culture associated with them.

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2. ICOMOS is the Advisory Body of the World Heritage and helps UNESCO in making
the policies for the heritage sites management.
3. Gather the talent from all around the world and train them in the process of saving the
heritage and culture.
4. ICOMOS also provide lots of information without any cost to the people all around
the world who are associated with heritage sites.
Organization 2 - ICCROM – international centre for the study of the preservation and
restoration of cultural property
The ICCROM is also an International Association for the study of the preservation and
restoration of the cultural property. The members of the ICCROM are individual states which
works in coordination with ICCROM to manage the heritage sites in their states. The role and
purpose of the ICCROM is to serve the people of the world by saving their heritage. Right
now ICCROM has more than 131 states as its members.
Responsibilities of ICCROM:
The responsibility of the ICCROM is to keep the world heritage protected through the use of
following five Methods:
1. Training
ICCROM has dedicated itself in developing the latest tools for heritage management
and protection. They also run training programs for professionals and has trained
more than 5000 professionals till now globally.
2. Information
ICCROM has the largest library in the world on heritage management which has more
than 82,000 items in more than 35 languages (Smith &Akagawa, 2008).

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3. Research
They research on the heritage sites and cultures
4. Cooperation
ICCROM works in the partnership with many other agencies to provide their services
in all the areas of the world.
5. Advocacy
ICCROM works a lot in the field of public awareness which is must for the protection
of heritage and culture.

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Task 4P4 Understand the role of methods of interpretation within the
heritage and culture industry
P4.1-Evaluate methods of interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry
for Tourists
The main purpose of Heritage and cultural interpretation is to provide information and
education to the public, this can easily be seen by visiting the London Science Museum
and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
According to Tilden (1957) interpretation is “an educational activity which aims to reveal
meaning and relationships through the use of original objects, by first-hand experience, and
by illustrative media, rather than simply to communicate factual information” Interpretation
means translating heritage and cultural objects in to information easy to be understood by the
visitors. Interpretation allows the visitor to understand the heritage and enhances its
experience and knowledge. By interpreting the heritage object and presenting its “story” it is
easier to increase cultural awareness, to increase interest in the past and even to increase
involvement from the customer in protecting the heritage.
Besides the educational purpose and the social gains, for the Science Museum and V&A
Museum interpretation of heritage and cultural objects has also a commercial value, by
enhancing the visitors experience they will be interested in coming back again and referring
the experience to others, this means more customers and more revenue (Light, Prentice,
Ashworth &Larkham, 1994).
To enhance the visitors experience the Science Museum and V&A Museum use the
principles of Thematic Interpretation in which the interpretation of the objects and the
interpreters’ story are centred on a theme that guides the communication and the message.
This approach facilitates the communication between the interpreter and visitors and helps
visitors to understand objects, facts and events.

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The thematic approach to interpretation can be seen in both museums during the entire visit
experience. Starting from the layout of the rooms, walk paths, objects showed, arrangements,
messages displayed, and activities organised etc.
Victoria Albert museum is known as one of the largest arts and design museums in the world,
most of the thematic presentations are related to design, history of design and influences, if a
visitor goes to the Islamic Middle East section he will notice that the objects are covering
various aspects of art and design in Middle East. The objects exposed will be various; books,
pottery, carpets, gun powder weapons, blade weapons, utensils, silver, jewellery, wood craft,
furniture, carpentry, architecture samples, they are different items but they all tell the story of
design evolution in the Islamic Middle East (Evans & Shaw, 2004). To present the story the
museum uses written descriptions and audio recording describing the items and their
meaning, it also organises guided tours and provides educational materials to teachers to be
used for interactive classes with the children visiting the museum. The museum also
organises live events where visitors can see how various items are used, or even crafted and
they teach visitors the crafting techniques.
The visitor arriving at the Science Museum space section will find a story based on the
humanity space exploration that explains all the key stages and developments of the past, the
modern day discoveries and what should we expect from the future. The Science Museum
uses scaled models to present large objects like the Apollo module, satellites, rockets or the
solar system; video projections allows the visitor to see beyond the solar system, to explore
and to understand better the technological evolution until today and possible future
developments. Written description and sound recordings provide explanation for each item.
Activities like quizzes and interactive games test the level of understanding on various
subjects and help the visitor gain more knowledge.

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Conclusion
In the modern world, the two terms, Heritage and Culture have become so similar that some
people use them interchangeably. But if looked in the past when the culture started to grow,
the term culture could be defined as the history, beliefs, ethics, traditions and daily routines of
a group of people which were preserved for centuries so that the coming generations could
learn something good from them. All this preserves which were manifested in a manner so
that only the look of them could attract the soul of modern civilization are known as our
heritage.

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References
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arts and built heritage in the UK. London: Policy Studies Institute.
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Evans, G., & Shaw, P. (2004). The contribution of culture to regeneration in the UK: a review
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Morris, E., Ashworth, G. J., & Larkham, P. J. (1994). Heritage and culture: a capital for the
new Europe. Building a new heritage: tourism, culture and identity in the New Europe., 229-
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Smith, L., & Akagawa, N. (Eds.). (2008). Intangible heritage. Routledge.