Discuss the relationship between heritage and tourism
‘Tourism is everywhere, the enemy of authenticity and cultural identity’ The last half of the twentieth century saw a massive increase in the amount of cross border heritage tourism. In the western world there has been a significant decrease in the number of working hours that people work and this has lead to the extension of tourism to all segments of society and to all regions of the world. The historical pattern of tourism has been from only being only open to small, wealthy milieu of society to being opened up to the vast majority of the population. Heritage places and sites can be seen as products that are often constructed and owe their existence to the past. ... In this way, by examining the change in the way that heritage is packaged it is possible to understand better the evolution of the tourist person. In this essay I intend to examine the relationship between heritage and tourism by examining some of the viewpoints of various authors. Words and indeed concepts such as; globalisation, modernity, historical reality and authenticity all interlink with this subject and need to be examined to get a broader understanding of the relationship. It is necessary to first try and get a better meaning of the terms heritage and tourism by way of definition. This must be followed by a closer examination of the terms separately and only then can the full relationship between them become the focus of this essay. As with many terms and concepts in the English language, heritage can be difficult to describe. Different people have different ideas about what constitutes heritage. To some people, a large rock in a remote place may not hold much heritage value, but to the locals who think it is the rock of their ancestors (for example) it may constitute a massive part of their self-identity and heritage. The Oxford English Dictionary defines heritage as ‘that which has been or may be inherited’. ... A more precise meaning was given by the 1983 National Heritage Conference that described heritage as ‘that which a past generation has preserved and handed onto the present and which a significant group of the population wishes to hand onto the future’. This is more precise but implies a culture choice has to be made and the focus is on preservation and conservation of the heritage site. This can be seen as the traditional role of heritage places as they were generally only visited by the educated class who understood the significance and often had some knowledge of the history of the site and the indigenous people. This form of heritage was often unmodified and could only be found off the beaten track where there would be a lack of facilities and at-hand information.