Comprehensive Report: Heritage and Culture Tourism in the UK

This report provides a detailed overview of heritage and cultural tourism in the UK. It begins by examining the growth and development of the industry, highlighting the factors that contribute to its success, such as the UK's rich history and cultural attractions. The report then delves into potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural resources, using examples like Lhasa, Tibet, to illustrate the challenges. It also explores the purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers, referencing the British Museum and National History Museum. Furthermore, the report analyzes the impact of different types of ownership on the management of heritage and cultural sites and the roles and responsibilities of organizations in the industry. Finally, it discusses the methods and media used for interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry for tourists, providing a comprehensive analysis of the sector.

Heritage and Culture
Tourism

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Growth and development of the UK heritage and cultural industry................................1
1.2 potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural resources........................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
2.1 Purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers4
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................6
3.1 Impact of different types of ownership on the management of heritage and cultural sites6
3.2 roles and responsibilities of organizations in the heritage and cultural industry.............7
TASK 4............................................................................................................................................8
4.1 Methods and media used for interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry for
tourists....................................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Among the many other sectors operating in a country, tourism industry is growing at very
fast pace with gradual increase in the market share. Focus of government towards the
development of tourism industry is increasing in the very significant manner. Domain of industry
is expanding with the inculcation of several components in it. There have been transition in
sector from the informal tours in the form of movement of people at holy places to the planned
and systematic tours organized by operators. Keeping that in consideration country's focus have
been shifted to the development of culture and heritage. There is high degree of correlation
between culture-Heritage and tourism. It attracts wide stream of people from all around the
world by providing them various opportunities and to explore them. Report is prepared to outline
various dimensions of cultural and heritage tourism such as its growth and development,
conflicts and issues occurring while developing cultural tourism and roles and degree of
involvement in different types of organizations.
TASK 1
1.1 Growth and development of the UK heritage and cultural industry
UK's magnificent history and pervasive culture has been the reason of attraction since its
colonialism time (Pratt, 2010). It plays a vital role in the economic growth of the country.
Tourism in UK is developed due to the increase in purpose of visiting. In today's time, tourism
has been increased to a wide extent such as people are visiting different country for education,
entertainment, education and learning, health, fitness purposes and for business interest. Among
this, the number of travellers visiting for cultural and heritage tourism accounts the major share.
Cultural heritage refers to the legacy of customs, places, practices, artistic expressions and
places. Hence, it is the combination of tangible and intangible inheritance from the past. Culture
and heritage tourism is evolved in various stages.
In ancient times, movement of people was limited to the casual tours that were in form of
visiting places which were considered holy and sacred (Masip, 2006). These tours were informal
in nature then gradually these trips are converted into organized tours. First such tour was”Grand
tour” which was a long trip of around 1-2 month was organized for the elite section of society.
Now in contemporary tourism there are many operators and travel agents that plan and organise
trips and tours.
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 Attractions: British majesty and its style of sophistication has been popular in different
countries and that attracts to visit UK. Places such as Royal pavilion, SS Great Britain,
cathedral church, castles and Smeaton's Tower are the places of attraction. Large number
of places has attributed the need of development in services provided at these places of
attractions. At present administration's focus is on providing best services to traveller’s
hence training sessions and programs are organized to improve the skills and talent of
employees working in this industry. (Al-hagla, 2010). As preferences and choices of
people have changed, the supply procedures is also altered with the changing scenarios in
the nature of services provided by the operators and the organisers. Cultural heritage: Counted among the most prestigious tourist destination is the treasure
trove of culture and heritage. It has abundance of spectacular castles and palaces,
sculptures and monuments, historic buildings and heritage sites and many museums.
Further, at present administration of country's focus is to make it sustainable and Eco-
friendly. For this purpose certain measures have been adopted. Such as with the
advancement in the technology, improved interactive methods are used by the
organization operating in this field. Electronic interaction system is installed at places to
make the experiences at these places more resourceful and memorable (Ashworth
and Larkham, 2013).
 Advancement in technology: Cultural and heritage tourism is developed to the wide
extent with the advancement in technology in varied section. Earlier the movement was
in informal nature was done with very limited modes of transportations and facilities.
Post industrialisation, there is the paradigm shift came in the cultural and heritage
tourism. Movement of people became very fast in nature, connectivity and networking is
escalated in the very smooth manner. Further the advancement in communication
technology has led the improvement in this industry. New methods are installed at the
sites and places belonging to heritage and culture to make the place more significant in
nature. Better transportations and communication is the prime reason for the growth and
development of the industry in this section.
UK culture and heritage are experiencing the imminence growth and development along
with the widening of domain of its working. It encompasses several elements to bring
improvement in the tourism (Booyens, 2010).
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1.2 potential conflicts in the conservation of heritage and cultural resources
Along with enrichment of country with varied range of resources, there are many times
when tourist destination fall into various conflicts and issues. These conflicts and issues hinders
the growth and development of destination with respect to the increase in earnings and visitors
reach. This hampers the image of place as tourist point and deviates the visitor's count from that
place. One such place is mentioned in the scenario which explains the issue that is related to the
damage happened at that place due to disputes and conflicts occurred at that place. Place given is
Lhasa, Tibet knows for its spectacular beauty and magnificent monuments. There are large
number of people who wish to visit the place and explore the assets of this place (Cloonan,
2013).
For that purpose, Government and other legislative bodies has made several significant
steps in the growth and development of the place. As a tourist destination and give a boost to the
place so that large number of people visits this place. One of the crucial step taken in this respect
is the opening of multinational hotel group IHG, International hotel group in that area. It was one
of the prominent step undertaken by the government to target several sections (Dahles, 2013).
Growth became stagnant due to the issues and conflicts occurring in that area. So the step taken
will inhibit the attitude possessed by people and promote the place to the outer world. Thi s was
the crucial step taken by the government to solve many issues in different sectors such as people
were not resistant with the view to visit this place, unemployment of the place, slow or stagnant
economic growth and many more. With the establishment of hotel group at this place, hope came
into existence for the improvement of the situation.
Further, the government is also taking steps to rejuvenate the temples and other sacred
places in this area. The place is of great significance for the people belonging to Buddhist
culture. Temples and monuments at this place have the global significance for the people all
around the world. Collaborating with number of organizations, Government caters to improve
the conditions of these places with the help of expertise and specialist in the field such as
architect and historian. Under their supervision renovation was done (Daskon and Binns, 2010).
Government is taking steps to promote the place for varied purposes such as education and
learning by collaborating it with educational institutions and programs that are conducted for the
enhancement of knowledge and information about the heritage of Chinese culture. Further
research and development is also promoted at this place to uncover the various facts and
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information hidden behind the unexplored temples and monuments. This will help to solve the
questions related to historical significance and existence (Flew, 2011).
There are certain events that inhibit the growth and development of these places and
hinder the foreign exchange earnings at that place. Few such events are London-based campaign
that was held to stop the development of these places and keep it idle. Such reasons affect the
image of place as the tourist destination. Boycotting the development and growth of the place in
the form of campaign was very demotivating for the citizens living there and desiring the
development. Keeping that in consideration it is very essential to look into the fact and realize
the need of steps in this regard to get the place out of this bad situation. This will resolve several
issues related to the stoppage of improvement such as unemployment, slow economic growth
and low financial earnings (Ghimire, 2013).
TASK 2
2.1 Purpose of heritage and cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers
Countries are enriched with the wide range of resources such as natural resources,
cultural resources, heritage, human resources and many more. Government and other legislative
bodies see them as a great opportunity to improve the balance of payment conditions by
exploiting them in the efficient manner. One of the major source of attraction among all
resources endowed by the country that accrue lucrative results is its cultural and heritage
resources. Considering them as the source of earning and to fulfil varied purposes, development
of these places and sites is processed (Hoffman, 2006). Cultural places and sites attracts tourist
for the following purposes. Two such places of attractions are British museum and national
history museum.
British Museum
Established in 1753 and situated at Bloomsburg, London is one of the prestigious
destination of UK which is visited by the wide range of people every year to explore different
offerings of the place. The purpose of this organization to enable the people of the world to know
about the facts and figures of the human history. Segmented into several sections this place
comprises millions of artefacts that signify the evolution of human history along with the
specified time line. Place encompasses the artefacts, prints and drawing from different corner of
the world such as Greece, Rome, Atlantic, Egypt and many others. This organisation is dedicated
to human history, art and culture is of great importance to the country and world.
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National History museum
National history museum located in London is the home of around 80 million specimens
of earth and life sciences (Kratky, 2011). It is the centre of exhibition of skeletons and remains of
ancient and past species and considered as the centre of ornate architecture. It has extensive
range of books, journals and artwork such as paintings, prints, drawings. Along with this, it also
consists manuscripts written several decades and centuries back containing various useful facts.
The place with global importance has the specimens collected by Charles Darwin. Education and learning: One of the prime reason to visit cultural and heritage sites is for
the acquisition of knowledge and information about the different culture and historical
significance of places. Today, rather than teaching with conventional methods and
process, focus is on enhancing the thinking ability and applicability of knowledge. For
the purpose, practical teaching approach is adopted by educational institutions and
organizations (Larkham, 2012). They organize tours and trips to these places to let them
know about various facts and figures. Mentioned museums British Museum and National
history Museum organizes series of educational and public engagement programmes to
students in which specimens placed at these museums are demonstrated. Recreation and entertainment: People interest and choices to entertain themselves is
changing and their visits are not confined to lakes and coastal areas. Inclination towards
exploring historical sites and places are increasing in the significant manner. Realizing
the increased ratio of visitor’s organizer are also increasing the level of their services and
offerings. They offer wide range of services such as interacting methods. With this,
significance and importance of place is narrated using electronic methods and improved
services.
 Research and development: The presence of wide range of artefact and evidences of
historical significance has attracted a large number of people from the country and across
the world for the purpose of research and development. Several investigations are done to
explore the uncovered facts and information that is of present and future significance
(Lyon and Wells, 2012). There are many specimen collections related to earth and life
sciences placed at these Museums that help in revealing and tackling science questions
related to natural resources, planetary science and their evolution and informatics.
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TASK 3
3.1 Impact of different types of ownership on the management of heritage and cultural sites
The process of exploitation of cultural and heritage tourism is the integrated method that
is processed by the number of organizations and institutions. Based on the ownership and
purposes these organizations function in different ways. Tools and techniques used by these
organizations differ according to the domain of working. Fundamentally there are three types of
organization working in this area that is Government organizations, private organizations and
voluntary or charitable organizations (Macleod and Carrier, 2010).
Government and other legislative bodies functions with respect to the boosting culture
and heritage tourism in country adopting varied range of steps as per their suitability. Along with
government, there are certain organizations that function under the control of government to
undertake the growth and development of culture and heritage sites. Few examples of
government owned organization are Science Museum and heritage lottery fund. There are varied
functions performed by these institutions. Science Museum established at London performs
varied range of functions (Marcotte and Bourdeau, 2012). The prime function performed by it is
taking care of all the buildings and historical sited that are affiliated to it in the form of
renovation and maintenance. Their focus is on the preservation of valuable assets such as
monuments, buildings, prints, drawings, manuscripts and archives. These pictorial monuments
are preserved. They prevent damage to these buildings for their present and future preservation.
It promotes the significance of these heritage and cultural sites for education and learning
purposes. Further it also plays vital role in attracting visitors from all around the globe and
provide them memorable experiences. They promote these places for the enhancement of
research and development purposes and attract researchers from around the Globe (Masip, 2006).
Heritage lottery fund is the organisation established to preserve and make nation's heritage
accessible in nature. For this purpose they arrange funds and finances so that assets can be
preserved and saved from damage.
Along with there are some private organisation that function to prevent and preserve the
nation's treasure that is useful not only for the country men but also for the people living around
world in different countries who visit these places to explore and entertain. These organisations
work in collaboration or under the guidance of Government in different forms (Mckercher
and Cros, 2012). They aim to showcase the offerings of country and earn profitability by
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increasing the customer base in the form of number of visitors. Two such organisation working
in this area is British Tours and Trailfinders. With the large amount of shareholders their basic
aim is to increase the treasury of cultural and heritage sites of country. Trailfinders is having 27
centres in country which provides outstanding products and professional and thoughtful services.
British tours are the tour operator engaged in business that arrange tours and trips of traveller and
make their journey memorable. Working on the concept of “London tour guides” in one of its
services, it enables the travellers to explore magnificent castles, museums in the form of night
stays and sightseeing (Moore and Whelan, 2012).
There are some charitable and voluntary organisation work for the growth and
development of cultural and heritages. Their prime function is to bring awareness among the
people for the preservation of these assets. Adopting various methods and techniques, these sites
are improved and maintained Up to very large extent. One example of such organisation is
VISIT Britain working in this area only. This organisation conducts programs and session at
various places such as schools, colleges and many more to narrate the importance of these places
and need to preserve them. Another organisation working in this area is NADAFAS which
functions in two aspects that is to work for the conservation of these resources in direct method
and in another by arranging funds and finances. These organisation runs with the donations and
aid given by government and public (Moulin, 2000).
3.2 roles and responsibilities of organizations in the heritage and cultural industry
Preserving nation’s assets is the prior duty and responsibility of all the people living in
the country. Along with the fundamental duty pursued by countrymen there are some
organizations who function particularly for this purpose only which is preservation and
maintenance of these assets. By preserving these sites countries government can take further
better future steps within the field of education, learning as well as development. It can be easily
determined with the help of two best organizations they are, English Heritage and Heritage
lottery Fund (Wyrwich, 2012). English Heritage: It is that government agency which looks after the overall heritage
sites in the national region. They mainly aims to preserve almost 400 English historical
building. Further, there responsibility is fully entitled with the preservation of past and
historical monuments as well as upcoming future generation. In this organization, trust
committee takes all the strategic decisions relating to the funds, management as well as
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campaign for preserving such sites, they are also responsible for taking appropriate
measures as well as renovations of such sites at the time of requirements. Local people
must be aware about the benefits of preserving these sites and how it is helpful for their
country to grow (Timothy, 2011). For the same, company need to launch and start a
campaign as well as sustainability program so that better preservation can takes place.
 Heritage Lottery Fund: As the name conveys this organization is responsible for the
collection of fund. One of the main responsibility of this organization is the collection of
fund and lottery in order to execute the business process. Due to this role, they use to
collect lottery and funds from different sources for the preservation of heritage and
cultural sites. It should be used for the maintenance of any type of damage caused by
people or visitors (Shin, 2012). For the same, it is essential to make them aware about the
disadvantages of these damages. Further, government can impose taxes or fine on the
visitor for cause of damaging the property. There are several other ways such as
workshops, plays and sponsorship of volunteers and members to promote the sustainable
tourism and protection of heritage and cultural sites.
TASK 4
4.1 Methods and media used for interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry for
tourists
Each country is enriched with the wide variety of resources. Government and legislative
bodies caters to develop the place in order to attract the large number of people. With the visit of
wide stream of people at tourist destination, foreign exchange earnings increases to a large
extent. It also creates a good image at the outer world in the form of people's appreciation. In that
regard, various steps are been taken by the government and other legislative bodies in varied
sections. One such section is making the experience of visitors memorable and comfortably, by
providing them the outstanding services. One such targeted area of concern is the form of
interpretation. Various methods have been adopted by the government with the technological
advancements and improvements (Robertson, 2012). Interpretation refers to the interaction
process of the producers and the services to the visitors at the place. The communication between
them through various mediums is referred as the interpretation. It is processed by the government
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and other provides organization by the team of expertise and specialist. It is processed in two
stages that is prior to the visit of that place and post visit.
Prior to the visit of that place
People concern about making their journey memorable. In choosing the destination they
become very particular in nature. They cater the precise and accurate information about the place
they wish to visit (Shin, 2012). There are various ways with which the offerings of the place are
showcased. To reach the large number of people advertisements is telecast on radios and
television. In that programs information and offerings are narrated in the very attractive manner.
This is the very effectual method used in references. Ambassadors and promoters are used for the
purpose. One of the crucial method used in recent days is making attractive websites on which
the relevant content can be posted with regard to the places and its amusements. In those
websites, the virtual tour is provided with the help of satellites and transmissions. It gives the
similar kind of experience to the person with the navigation and tour in the virtual form. Along
with this information and knowledge are posted on the tourist magazines released by several
groups and official magazine issued by government (Shipley and Kovacs, 2008).
Post visiting that place
After the person visit at that place various forms of interpretations are provided to the
visitors. Published form: The interpretation is done in published way in the different forms. At the
entry of visitor they are provided pamphlets containing the information and content about
the place with complete description. It enables the visitor to have the complete
entertainment along with the knowledge about the place. Dramas and plays: A comprehensive method is adopted by the organizers of that place in
the form of dramas and plays (Sims, 2010). This act as the element of dual purpose.
Along with providing the entertainment to the visitors, it the effective manner of
portraying the historical or cultural si8gnifixcane of that place. With the display of drama
and plays, people get entertained and also endowed with vast knowledge. Electronic Interpretation: Advancement of technology has led to the development in the
method of interpretation in new form that is electronic interpretation. In this form, there is
the audio visual system that is controlled in the room by the experts and specialist. It
guides the tourist in the way to proceed further and also narrates them the significance of
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that place. It is the lucrative method adopted by the advanced countries like UK at their
cultural and heritage sites (Timothy, 2011).
 Guides: One of the fundamental method which is used on wide scale in the interpretation
that is provided to the visitors by the guides. The form of interaction formed by these
people are irreplaceable. To extend the degree of comfort and precise of experience by
the visitors' training and development sessions are given to them (Wyrwich, 2012). It
enables them to interact in better way. Along with this different people are appointed
knowing different languages to communicate. It is processed so they communicate in
familiar languages enable the visitor to coordinate in better manner.
CONCLUSION
Cultural and heritage tourism has been widened to the very large extent with the
inculcation of several components into it. Earlier it was confined to the movement of people in
informal manner to the places having sacred and holy significance. Further, with the evolution in
the industry there is involvement of several organizations in it. Government and other legislative
bodies cater for its development and growth by adopting varied processed and methods (Cultural
Heritage. 2016). In this report, several components of the cultural and heritage tourism is
discussed. From the present study it is articulated that there is so much of advancement in
technology and methods of promotion and its maintenance.
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Online
Cultural Heritage. 2016. [Online]. Available through: <http://sdt.unwto.org/content/cultural-
heritage-1>. [Accessed on 22nd January 2016].
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