Chain of Reflective Experiences: How Tourists Give Meaning to Intangible Cultural Heritage Experiences

Thilini Alahakoon

doi:10.4038/cbj.v12i1.70

Abstract

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is a tourist offer that is embedded within the people of a destination and their lifestyles. Given this nature of ICH, this paper aims to explore how tourists give meaning to ICH experiences especially in the absence of formal sources of information. It employs a qualitative phenomenological stance with a sample of 21 European tourists. The Appropriation Theory was used for theoretical support. Findings indicate that recollections and reflections of past travel experiences contribute to the interpretation of ICH experiences. Specifically, such recollections and reflections create a sense of familiarity with new ICH experiences allowing tourists to connect with them more, resulting in subjective meaning assignment which may or may not be the meaning envisioned by destination marketers and the host community. This study also initiates a discussion on ‘chain of reflective experiences’, through which further exploration of the effects of past travel experiences on new experiences are encouraged.

Highlights

Postmodern tourists use the power of their intellect and imagination to receive and communicate messages, constructing their own sense of historic places to create their individual journeys of self-discovery (Nuryanti, 1996)
Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) refers to “practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills, instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with communities, groups and individuals” (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2003, p. 3) which are embedded within people and their lifestyles
As the recollection and reflection of past travel experiences to interpret new experiences is a form of mental immersion, this study considers the Appropriation Theory as a suitable lens to explain the process tourists go through when interpreting new travel experiences

Summary

Introduction

Postmodern tourists use the power of their intellect and imagination to receive and communicate messages, constructing their own sense of historic places to create their individual journeys of self-discovery (Nuryanti, 1996) In such situations, familiarity with a context and/or theme of an event or situation helps consumers dive straight into the relevant experience and immediately become immersed in it (Caru & Cova, 2006). Making it a valuable tourism resource, ICH is recognised as a vital economic tool that allows income generation when included in tourism (Lenzerini, 2011). Despite this importance, studies focusing on ICH as a travel experience is still in its infancy

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