Importance of Maintaining World Heritage Sites for Modern Society

This article discusses the importance of maintaining World Heritage Sites for modern society. It provides an overview of the World Heritage Site and explains the significance of preserving historical sites and its cultural, economic and social benefits. It also evaluates the adverse impact of Heritage Sites to the tourism industry and provides recommendations to combat the negative consequences of tourists in these sites.

ACADEMIC WRITING FOR
BUSINESS AND
MANAGEMENT

Table of Contents.
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

TOPIC: Evaluate the argument that it is important for modern society to
maintain World Heritage Sites
World Heritage Site (WHS) is the place, area or landmark which has legally authorized
and is being preserved by an International Organization known as UNESCO. The area is
designated due to the significance in specific reference for having unique culture, scientific
value, history or any other important value (Canale and et.al, 2019). The place is elected by the
World Heritage Committee and being included in the Heritage List which than contemplated of
having 'Outstanding Universal Value' to everyone. Further, it will discuss the overview of the
World Heritage Site with briefly explaining the concept, nature and procedure of the Site. Later,
it will describe the significance of preserving the historical sites and its cultural, economic and
social benefits after the declaration of a place as a historical site. Lastly, it will evaluate the
adverse impact of Heritage Sites to the tourism industry and recommendations to combat the
negative consequences of tourists in these sites.
The origin of the WHS could be found its existence back in 1954 by the Egypt and
Sudan government to the UNESCO so to protect the endangered sites. The Director-General of
UNESCO has launched a movement in 1960 to preserve the monuments. With the success of the
campaign, UNESCO took around seven years to frame the convention draft to save the heritage.
This programme was initiated by USA and signed in 1972 at Stockholm. The Convention came
into effect on 17th December, 1975 being ratified by 194 countries (Gursoy, Akova and Atsız,
2022). Primary objective of UNESCO to conserve the heritage sites is to pass these historical
things to the future generations. The mission to preserve the sites is further divided into eight
targets. They encourage the local community or society by providing various means to protect
the historical sites. The idea of protecting the sites was initiated by United States in 1965 as a
White House Conference to conserve the world's superb areas and sites for the future generations
as well as present one which was also known as “World Heritage Trust”. There are mostly three
kinds of Heritage i.e. firstly Cultural which includes monuments, buildings or relics, secondly
Natural such as natural areas and lastly Mixed Heritage which is combination of nature and
culture. The process of inclusion on the World Heritage List is being provided under Operational
Guidelines which give the selection criteria. These criteria are revised on the regular basis and
for selection one of the ten criteria should be met. The first one was related to the human

creativity which has been a complete masterpiece. Secondly, it was related to the architecture
development such as monumental arts, design or town-plan. Thirdly, the exceptional testimony
of a civilization which is being there or has vanished. Fourthly, outstanding kind of technological
or architectural monument. The human interaction with the culture or environment which was a
unique method in the irreversible change is the fifth criteria. Sixthly, beliefs and ideas having the
artistic as well as literary works which is the living tradition of the humanity. The seventh
criteria was regarding the natural phenomena which contain natural beauty. Outstanding stages
of history of the earth focusing on significant features is the eight criteria. Ninthly, emphasizing
on the biological and ecological process which aids in the development of marine and animals
and last criteria was regarding preserving the natural habitats from the view point of science as
well as conservation.
A significant character to highlight the city's important cultural or natural heritage is by
acknowledging the buildings, monuments, palaces, forts, culture, architecture etc. and falling
under the umbrella of the given criteria. There was an utmost need to protect the heritage
because they are the only tangible evidence which reflects our history and past. Because of the
conservation of the sites archaeologists are able to trace the evolution of the community in terms
of civilisation (Yi and et.al., 2018). Some Historical Monuments are built in the memory of their
beloved one's and are still the reason for which the city loved it and want to protect it. There are
economic benefits attached to the preservation of historical heritage. The sculptures which are
designed and created for past 300-400 years back are beautiful to saw. This is the reason why
public has attracted towards visiting the heritage sites. Apart from that, this would clearly see a
rise in the tourists who are travelling from one corner to another which resulted in the economic
growth worldwide. The significance of preserving historical sites was the aesthetic reason which
includes using valuable and unique materials in constructing the old buildings. There are some
positives of socio-cultural factor after the place being declared as a heritage site as it creates
employment opportunity in the field of different sectors such as hospitality, local products,
handicrafts, guide service etc. Due to the place being elected as heritage, government would
improve the infrastructure facilities which could be easily accessible for the public living there.
This would enhance the ancient traditions such as handicrafts, old rituals, ethical dance and
celebrations (Ribera and et.al., 2020). Whereas, there are few economic advantages due to the
recognition of the place being heritage site as it would generate the taxes for government which

they could utilize for better infrastructure of the area. There could be an increase in the private
investment in different sectors which would improve the standard of living of that specific
location. Lastly, it would generate easy cash-flow within the area due to the rise in the tourism
industry. This would encourage the government to make plans and organize cultural events for
the visitors which assist the heritage site to attract more tourists in the particular region.
Due to rise in the touristic activity all over the world, the study has suggested that it could
cause negative as well as positive outcomes. There is a threat from visitors on the natural and
cultural sites. Management of cultural tourism has relied on the sustainable development and is
formed on the four pillars i.e. social, cultural, environmental and economic. Lack of adequate
communication of knowledge of a specific place to the tourists and community could hinder the
monetary and protection support. Improper knowledge regarding the culture of each other
could narrow down the thinking ability of the large society resulting in decrease in the
preservation on the site with time (Levin and et.al., 2019). This could form into potential conflict
for the locals and the visitors resulting in the poor lifestyle of the host society (Bridgewater and
Rotherham, 2019). The conflicts could reduce the authenticity of the heritage sites. The
unplanned tourism activity clearly shows the damage visitors has done on the host country
biodiversity, ecology and historical sites. There are many incidence where the tourists didn't
respect to the local spiritual and traditional culture which is the part of heritage (Zhuang, Yao
and Li, 2019). The plastic waste which is caused by the visitors at the heritage sites is awful to
watch. Recommendation to combat the negative impact of the tourism at the heritage sites could
be done by implying the role of ICOMOS Cultural Tourism Charter. The major part of this
charter is to minimize the threat which is being caused to the heritage sites. They should
facilitate the industry of tourism to advertise the methods to preserve and conserve the heritage.
The another suggestion is that the Heritage Committee should start including the innovative and
intangible sites which has considered to be the unique one. There must be proper communication
between the local communities and the government regarding the awareness of the desired goals
of the locals to protect their culture. All the stakeholders such as companies, governments,
locals, NGOs must be collaborated towards the welfare of the heritage sites. There should be a
proper strategic plan which must be conveyed to the tourists before visiting the heritage sites and
levied with the high fines in absence of not following the guidelines. The government should
invest in the various programmes and launch voluntary schemes for the locals to promote the

conservation of the heritage sites as well as protect the ecology (Öztüren and et.al., 2021). The
host country having heritage site should focus to build the better infrastructure facility provided
to the tourists due to avoid the dissatisfaction among the visitors.
It has been concluded that to protect, conserve, preserve and maintain the world heritage
sites is very crucial for the modern society because heritage is the sole reason which provide in-
depth wisdom and knowledge of our traditions, beliefs, customs and history. It assisted in the
development of our culture which further contribute in the political, social and world point of
view. World Heritage Sites was crucial for many iconic habitats, endangered species, stunning
landscapes and rare methods of ecological processes which results in the modern community. It
has been summarised and discussed the importance of protecting heritage which adds distinctive
feature to that particular landmark or natural place. This contributes in the treasure of the
government due to the rise of visitors because of the reason to experience Heritage Sites.
Therefore, in case of contemporary society there are ample of benefits if the World Heritage Site
has been maintained and if the sustainable techniques are being followed than the host country
could effectively optimize from natural or cultural heritage.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Bridgewater, P. and Rotherham, I. D., 2019. A critical perspective on the concept of biocultural
diversity and its emerging role in nature and heritage conservation. People and
Nature. 1(3). pp.291-304.
Canale, R. R. and et.al, 2019. UNESCO World Heritage sites and tourism attractiveness: The
case of Italian provinces. Land use policy. 85. pp.114-120.
Gursoy, D., Akova, O. and Atsız, O., 2022. Understanding the heritage experience: a content
analysis of online reviews of World Heritage Sites in Istanbul. Journal of Tourism and
Cultural Change. 20(3). pp.311-334.
Levin, N. and et.al., 2019. World Heritage in danger: Big data and remote sensing can help
protect sites in conflict zones. Global environmental change. 55. pp.97-104.
Öztüren, A. and et.al., 2021. Managing natural tourism attractions based on visitor reviews: a
case study of Golden Beach, Karpaz. Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism
Themes. 13(4). pp.535-544.
Ribera, F. and et.al., 2020. A multicriteria approach to identify the Highest and Best Use for
historical buildings. Journal of cultural heritage. 41. pp.166-177.
Yi, X. and et.al., 2018. Authenticity and loyalty at heritage sites: The moderation effect of
postmodern authenticity. Tourism Management. 67. pp.411-424.
Zhuang, X., Yao, Y. and Li, J., 2019. Sociocultural impacts of tourism on residents of world
cultural heritage sites in China. Sustainability. 11(3). p.840.
1