Table of Contents
Introduction
Heritage and cultural tourism industry is of vital
importance in context to UK as it contributes heavily to the economy of the
country. With increasing demand for the heritage and cultural tourism sites, UK
has emerged as one of the prime destinations with huge tourists coming from
within UK and foreign countries to visit the cultural and heritage sites
present in the country. The aim of present paper would be to explore the
cultural and heritage tourism industry in context to UK. There are four tasks
and below would be the objectives which would be fulfilled with the help of
completing each task:
LO1: Understand the growth and development of the
heritage and cultural industry within travel and tourism
LO2 Understand the purpose of heritage and cultural
attractions within the travel and tourism sector
LO3 Understand roles, responsibilities and ownership
of organization in the heritage and cultural industry
LO4 Understand the role of methods of interpretation
within the heritage and cultural industry
Present paper would look into the two case studies
given for tourism industry which are for “The Giant’s causeway” and Central
Jordan. Further present paper would also look into heritage and cultural
tourism related aspects for the Science museum and V & A museum located in
London.
TASK 1: Understand the growth and development of the heritage and cultural industry within travel and tourism
Heritage can be considered as the things which have been
inherited from past and in different contexts meaning of heritage would also be
different. Cultural heritage can be defined as the physical artefacts and
intangible attributes while natural heritage can be characterized by
inheritance from flora and fauna. Heritage tourism would be travelling to
different places so as to represent authentic stories about people and places
which occurred in past time.
P1.1 Analyse the growth and development of the
heritage and cultural industry
Since inception the cultural tourism retains its
position as the most important part of heritage tourism which came under the
chief interest from the 16th century. At the starting phases the
cultural tourism used to be the main attraction for the tourists but with the
passing time the tourism has become the culture. Recently the cultural tourism
came into sight as a chief regulation though the culture and arts had been in
the limelight with key customer attractions at the starting days. The
unfavourable influence of the native or local sightseers of their cultural
lands is one of the most important issues which is discussed in the
chronological data on cultural tourism.
Heritage and cultural tourism prevailing in UK can be
considered as the lifeline for overall tourism sector and there has been
enormous growth recorded in this tourism sector. The major factors attributing
success to the cultural and heritage tourism would include importance of
culture, increasing interest for consumers and wide range of options offered to
the consumers. In UK contribution of heritage and cultural tourism industry can
be understood from the statistics which shows that there are more than 10
million people visiting UK for heritage and cultural tourism aspects every
year. More than 40% of the people visiting UK are for heritage and cultural
tourism only (Carter, 2009). Heritage and
cultural tourism offers high opportunity for growth in economy wherein it can
be analysed that tourism has increased by more than 2.8% year on year as
compared to the other industry sectors which are growing at 0.8% such as
manufacturing, telecommunication and mining etc. Another major advantage for
the cultural and heritage tourism in UK is the growing number of employment
provided by tourism sector where in heritage sector is responsible for 113000
direct and 157000 indirect jobs.
Construction industry which is one of the vital
components of GDP in UK get support from tourism sector as there is high amount
of revenue which comes in construction sector from tourism industry. Tourism
sector accounts for more than 43% of the revenue for construction industry
wherein year 2008 accounted for £47.2 billion of revenue (Levy et al, 2001). Revenue in
repair and maintenance industry is expected to rise at a rate of 8% annually in
coming year attributing to high growth for the construction sector due to
heritage and cultural tourism. Heritage tourism in UK develops high reputation
for the country wherein it has been revealed that 80% of the visitors coming in
UK would visit the historic monuments. Tourist visit in UK for historic
monument can be compared with other visiting places, such as theatre opera
which accounts for only 10% visits, sports activities accounting for 11% of the
visits and museum accounting for 23% of the visits in UK. Some of the key sites
attracting high number of tourists in UK would include St Paul’s Cathedral,
Tower of London, Stonehenge, Roman Baths, Leeds Castle, York Minster, Palace of
Westminster, Chatsworth House and Westminster Abbey. Looking at the various
historic sites from the aspect of most visiting site by tourists it can be
established that Tower of London is having highest popularity with more than
2.3 million tourists visiting the place on yearly basis from UK and outside UK
as well.
Developing the time frame for heritage and cultural
tourism in UK it can be revealed that Winchester City museum is more than 100
years old and celebrated its century in year 2003. Winchester city museum is
considered as one of the most popular and historic Roman tower made in UK. Castle
of Wolvesely is popular since year 1554 for the marriage of Philip II in the
castle. Cathedral of Winchester has remained the popular place of worship for
more than 900 years old. Winchester Cathedral is known for fine architecture
developed and hidden treasure inside the cathedral (Jones,
2009).
It has been revealed that heritage tourism is gaining
its importance not only in UK but around the world as tourists are focusing
their attention towards the heritage and cultural tourism activities. Figure 1
below highlights the various sites or attractions which are a part of the
heritage tourism activities in special reference to UK:
Figure 1: Showing activities and sites which are a
part of heritage tourism
As given above that the physical attractions such as
Science museum and V&A museum are among the attractions which are forming a
part of physical attractions for heritage tourism in UK. Destinations which are
associated with people and particular themes are also the part of heritage
tourism. Similarly, destinations which are associated with particular
industries and theme are a source of heritage tourism in UK. Further other
activities such as routes & journey, events and heritage holiday packages
are also a part of the heritage tourism industry in UK.
P1.2 Discuss potential conflicts in the
conservation of heritage and cultural resources
There is ongoing debate in the heritage and cultural
tourism industry for the access versus conversation of the tourism sites. There
are two aspects for the heritage and cultural tourism activities wherein at one
side it is a rich source of revenue for the nation while on other side with
increasing number of tourist there is adverse impact on the various tourist
sites. So there needs to be some solution so that both revenue and sites can be
properly managed. Revenue needs to be enhanced and there are no adverse impacts
on the sites with high number of tourists visiting the place (Ward & Wilkinson, 2006).
Another example in the same regard can be taken from
central Jordan wherein revenue comes mainly from the tourism activities and
there is issue pertaining to access versus conservation of these sites. Local
community people are highly dependent upon incoming tourists in order to get
their livelihood. With increasing number of tourists visiting the area there is
problem for the decay of monuments. Hence it is clearly evident that there are
conflicts for the conservation versus access given to the people for these
tourism sites.
Task 2: Understand the purpose of heritage and cultural attractions within the travel and tourism sector
Heritage tourism would be having main purpose of
visiting the places which are attached to the historic people or stories of
these people. Along with people and stories, events, routes, festivals and
themes would also be associated. Further for a which has high number of
heritage site the major purpose would be to gain income, providing chances of
employment and building reputation through heritage and cultural tourism
activities.
P2.1 assess the purpose of heritage and
cultural attractions in meeting the needs of different customers
In order to explore the purpose with which tourists
around the world come and visit the historic sites in the world would be
revealed through two museum which are Science museum and V&A museum. Science
museum is one of the most popular and old museum located in city Kensington and
home for more than 2 million people from UK and foreign countries. Science
museum is public funded museum and tourists come to visit Science museum due to
education & research, recreation & entertainment and inheriting
heritage & cultural aspects among the next generation (Beck and Cable, 2011). Science museum contains more
than 300,000 objects which are includes the invention of 3-D Cinema, Jet engine
and steam engine etc. There are five different stores in Science museum which
have been divided based on the objects places on each store. First floor
contains items related with agriculture, second floor contains items which are
related to mathematics, third floor contains Science monuments of 18th
century, fourth floor contains invention from medical Science while fifth floor
of the museum containsart & Science related to the medical and veterinary
Science.
V&A museum is even bigger as compared to the
Science museum and contains objects more than 4.5 million. This museum is home
for items such as arts and design and some of the items places in this museum
are more than 5000 years old. Entire museum has been divided into small
galleries and there are in total 145 galleries divided in V&A museum. The
key collection of items placed in V&A museum would include furniture,
fashion items, jewellery and painting etc. This museum is of high importance
for country in order to restore the historical significance of culture of UK (Regnier et al, 1994).
Considering the target segment of consumers for the
heritage and cultural tourism it can be revealed that there are mainly three
consumer segment for these activities and these three segments are individual
customers, group customers travelling together and group customer travelling
together with common set of interest with each other. Individual consumers
visiting the tourism sites would be visiting for the purpose of research,
education and recreation purpose. Second segment of people would be travelling
together may be due to the travel package availed by them as group travel
packages comes with cost efficiency as compared to individual travel packages. Third
segment of the tourists would include the people traveling together due to
common set of interest and these tourists would be travelling people with whom
they share the common interest.
The major target segment for these museums would
include the adults and students who are coming to the museum for leisure,
enjoyment, research, recreation and gaining knowledge regarding heritage and
cultural aspects of UK. The usage rate for the museum would be quite high as
there are more than 2 million tourists coming at each of the museums. Looking
into the reasons for heritage and culture tourism segment leisure has been
considered as the most popular reason. There are more than 10 million visits
which take place for heritage and culture tourism in UK. Further there is high
association between the leisure trips and heritage tourism segment in UK. More
than 40% of the tourists are who are coming for leisure activities would
definitely visit heritage and cultural tourism sites in UK. For income
generation also heritage and cultural tourism is among the major segment for UK
tourism activities.
The backgrounds of the two museums satisfy the demands
of the visitors in terms of fun, enjoyment, recreation and gathering knowledge
regarding the historical backgrounds of the monuments. During the visit the
visitors can gather information regarding the chronological and as well as the
scientific details regarding the monuments. As the museums allows the visitors
to satisfy their recreational needs the tourists can spend gala time with their
family during the visit. According to the viewpoint of some visitors, the
monuments are the sources of the academic projects where they can complete the
entire research by collecting the required details about the monuments by
visiting them.
Task 3: Understand roles, responsibilities and ownership of organization in the heritage and cultural industry
In order to gain high revenue and maintain the
heritage sites it is important that ownership structure should be properly
developed. A site which has suitable management structure would be having high
number of tourists visiting the site along with conservation of site from any
kind of decay. There are basically two types of ownership structure in heritage
and cultural tourism in UK which are public private partnership and public
ownership. For the tourism sites which are funded by public agencies would
involve protection, maintenance and promotion activities from the government
agencies. In the public private partnership structure for management of site roles
and responsibilities would be divided so that each party becomes responsible
for particular activity.
P3.1 evaluate the impact of different types of
ownership on the management of heritage and cultural sites
The two major ownership types for management of
cultural and heritage sites would be public private partnership and public
ownership. Example of public private partnership (PPP) can be taken as the
Woodland Trust while English Heritage and Nature England are the example of
publicly managed tourism sites in UK. The two ownership types adopted in the
management of cultural and heritage sites would be having their impact in terms
of management and responsibility defining for the tourism sites (Ham, 1992).
The difference in ownership for the management of
tourism sites can be observed in terms of the key challenges which are faced in
the management of these sites for the two different ownership types. It is
imperative that there would be high requirement of funding for managing these
sites, creativity, level of responsibility & role assignment and lack of
entrepreneurial spirit. Publicly funded sites are facing issues as the subsidy
which has remained biggest issue for these organizations. Hence in order to
propose solution for the funding problem PPP arrangements are quite useful
wherein funding can be obtained through several sources so as to manage these
sites well and enhance income generation program. Creativity and
entrepreneurial spirit can be enhanced for the management of cultural and
heritage sites through development of public private partnership as empty
spaces can be managed well and revenue enhancement can be done through
effective ways.
It has been observed that changing demographic
pattern, secularization and development of the new tourism sites has led to
lower charm of these cultural and heritage tourism sites. Role of PPP structure
would be very important in such situations wherein through effective promotion
tourist awareness can be created so as to enhance overall number of visitors coming
to these places. Further public organizations have lost trust with the local
communities as well and development of public private partnership for managing
these sites would lead to the re-development of that mutual trust and
understanding.
PPP structure for management of cultural and heritage
tourism sites would be unique in terms of the providing training and education
for the various stakeholders who are involved in the activity of management of
these sites. An efficient organizational structure can be developed in public
private partnership due to effective role & responsibility assignment
activities. The major advantage for defining role and responsibility for the
tourism site would be in terms of enhanced revenue along with preservation of the
site (Salazar, 2007[NN2] ).
P3.2 Analyse roles and responsibilities of
organizations in the heritage and cultural industry
Present context would analyse the roles and
responsibilities which are involved in the heritage and cultural tourism
industry. Department
of culture and Woodland [NN3] trust has been selected for this context. Woodland
trust which is public private partnership arrangement is charitable trust
wherein the major objective for the organization is to work for natural
habitats. The funding requirement for the organization is arranged through
multiple sources such as donation, membership, appeals and charitable trust.
Woodland is one of the popular brands and leverage on their ability to
influence the people for contributing towards the purpose of Woodland trust.
The major influence would be on the government agencies, land owners and like-minded
organizations prevailing in UK. There are more than 1100 woods which are
managed by Woodland trust and total covered area for Woodland trust is approx.
200 sq. KM. There are both natural as well as semi natural spaces arranged in
order to preserve the natural habitats.
Department
of culture [NN4] can be considered as another example involved in
management of cultural and heritage sites in UK. Department of culture in England
is publicly managed organization wherein the major role for the organization is
to promote the cultural and heritage tourism in country. Department of culture
would be responsible for managing cultural tourism along with leisure
activities associated with it. Olympic and Paralympics games held in year 2012
were also managed by Department of culture in England (Silberman,
2006). Department of culture would be involved in activities such as
development of list for the heritage sites, obtaining license for the export
& import of goods associated with cultural & heritage tourism in
country and management of the art collection for the heritage sites. This would
require department of culture to manage the work responsibility in order to
preserve the tourism sites so that higher number of tourists can be attracted
towards these sites. Another organization which involves in conserving the
natural sites available in England named as Nature England in order to
magnetize more number of visitors in the direction of the sites.
For the organizational plonking of heritage tourism organizations,
voluntary ownership are a crucial composition which includes appointing
charitable organizations based on which the management process of the heritage
sites can be implemented using the funds raised from the public donations.
These kind of charitable organizations are developed in public welfare with a
transpar5ent intention of administering a scrupulous heritage reserve[NN5] .
Task 4: Understand the role of methods of
interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry
Interpretation for the heritage and cultural tourism
sites is important as this would help in order to provide the key information
pertaining to these sites. Interpreting the significance for these sites would
help in order to understand the importance and remember the facts and stories
related with these tourism sites. Methods of interpretation used in the
cultural and heritage industry are of immense importance as they would help the
tourists to understand the meaning & significance of the places &
sites. Communication developed with the tourist would be of immense importance
so that they can understand and appreciate the particular tourism site. Key
principle governing the methods of interpretation for the heritage and cultural
tourism industry in UK would include development of information sources,
authenticity, sustainability and inclusiveness etc. Appreciation activities for
the heritage & cultural sites are universal right and it is important to
make use of the suitable methods so as to appreciate these sites. Evidence
gathering and rich information sources should be related with the methods of interpretation
used in the cultural and heritage tourism activities. In the present context of
visit made to the two museums i.e. Science museum and V&A museum
information pertaining to the two sources were collected and presented to the
tourists so that they can understand the importance of these sites.
P4.1 evaluate methods and media used for
interpretation within the heritage and cultural industry for tourists
It can be revealed that methods of interpretation used
in the two museums were such as to provide ease of interpretation to the
tourists so that they can understand the cultural and heritage significance of
the two museums. The two museums make use of the different methods of
interpretation involving several media types so that rich information can be
provided to the tourists regarding these sites. There is requirement for the
proper information not only to give interpretation of these sites but also to
arouse interest of the tourists who are visiting these sites (Tilden, 2007). Some of the key media types which
were deployed in the Science and V&A museum would include exhibits, video
& audio display, websites, videotapes and guides providing manual
information to the tourists coming to visit these places. Printed media
deployed in the museum would include books, advertisement, guides, brochure and
leaflets.
Online resources have also developed in order to
impart information to the tourists so that tourists who are located at long
distance can also get the required information. Technology also has key role in
promoting and interpreting these sites wherein through use of audio &
visuals and online sources information is imparted to the tourists. Every
method of interpretation used in the museum has specific role in enhancing
significance of the sites. Print media used in interpretation would be having
role to offer rich content pertaining to these sites. Website and other online
tool has the significance as they would provide information to tourists who are
located at far distance and forms the source of low cost marketing and wide
reach. Usage of the modern tools and technique such as display systems and
audio system would enhance interest level for the tourists.
Thematic interpretation method can be used wherein
central theme would be highlighted so as to make effective communication. This
would promote the method of interpretation which is convenient and interesting
for the tourists coming to these sites. For the present context of Science
museum the central theme was the progress which Science has done in recent
years to showcase the benefits which people have derived from the advancement
in Science field. Communication developed in the Science museum was around the
progress of Science which has been done in the time period.
Usage of both personal and non-personal media type was
done so as to make interpretation for the several objects in the museum.
Personal media type used for the interpretation of sites would include using
the manual methods for interpretation wherein tourist guides or other sources
would be referred in order to share information regarding the tourism sites.
Non personal media types would be used wherein audio & video methods are
deployed in order to enhance the interpretation for the objects placed in
museum. Non personal media types are more useful as compared to the personal
media type because of the reason that there is high level of information
displayed through interactive medium in non-personal media (Moscardo et al, 2007). Further non
personal media would be a source of rich information for the tourists and would
be preferred as high amount of information can be shared by developing documentary
so that tourists does not feel that they are bombarded with high amount of
information. Personal media type would be useful in order to develop interest
of the tourists in objects placed in museum by interacting with them. Further
feedback regarding tourist’s experience in the two museums can be taken by
making use of the personal media type.
Conclusion
The present paper has highlighted the importance level
of culture and heritage tourism in context to UK. Heritage and cultural tourism
has been developed as a rich source of income and employment for UK wherein a
major part of the GDP is contributed by Heritage & cultural tourism.
Further there are high numbers of visits taking place in UK every year due to
heritage and cultural tourism only. Purpose for heritage and cultural tourism
has been explored in the present context wherein it has been established that
recreation, research, enjoyment and leisure are among the major reason for
heritage and cultural tourism in UK. Two types of organizational structure
which can be deployed to manage the heritage and cultural tourism in UK have
been understood and these are PPP and public organizations. Roles and
responsibilities for the two different organizational structures would be
different and it has been established that PPP arrangement are better in order
to develop effective management for the tourism sites. Finally methods of
interpretation used for the cultural and heritage sites have been understood
and there are two methods deployed such as personal media and non-personal
media.
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