Abstract
World heritage status ratifies the enduring significance of a specific place for all of humanity. Inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage register not only formally recognises the local, national and international importance of place, but equally creates a range of externalities that are often construed to be positive and hence desirable. Foremost amongst these are the economic benefits purported to flow from tourism. Within the wider pantheon of tourism, world heritage tourism is a rapidly growing niche market. The logic follows that the economic benefits generated through world heritage tourism can, in part, be invested into the development and management of the site so as to preserve it for future generations to enjoy. However, the reality is much more complex. World Heritage tourism is in fact a double-edged sword. With increased visitations come the risk of over-crowding, an erosion of the very features and amenities that underpin the designation and possibly the commodification of the site itself. Consequently, the careful management of world heritage sites is essential to ensure that the impacts of world heritage tourism are mitigated. This chapter critically engages with these challenges, drawing upon a case study of the World Heritage core of George Town, Penang.
Highlights
Cities have emerged as key tourism sites
While World Heritage (WH) status has been construed as a ‘magnet’ that provides a given location with an ‘...effective differential advantage’ (Fyall and Rakic 2006 p.163) in the tourism marketplace, it is recognised as being beset by a range of challenges
What is evident from this literature is that the purported benefits derived from urban tourism may well constitute marketing hyperbolae as opposed to being based on a rigorous evidence base
Summary
Cities have emerged as key tourism sites (see Edwards et al, 2008). As the principle spaces of human habitation and history this is not surprising. Karski (1990, p.15) noted the complexity of cities as a critical motivating factor in attracting tourists, observing that: People with the means and inclination to do so have been drawn to... cities just to visit and experience a multiplicity of things to see and do. [Cities are] the melting pots of national culture, art, music, literature and magnificent architecture. Tourism generally is acknowledged as being vulnerable to shifting tastes and desires, Ashworth and Page (2011: 8) argue that ‘[t]he popularity of historical periods, artistic styles and personalities waxes and wanes’ and as a consequence the attractiveness of the specific nature of urban tourism products are vulnerable to changing consumer tastes Notwithstanding these issues, the promotion of tourism development remains a key policy direction the world over. Beyond UNESCO’s altruistic aspirations are a range of other motivations driving inscription on the World Heritage List Foremost amongst these are the purported economic benefits said to stem from the emergence of WH oriented tourism as a niche market of overall global tourism (see for example Li et al 2008; Boniface 1995; Poria et al 2011).
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