Sustainable Competitive Advantage of Cultural Heritage Sites: Three Destinations in East Asia

Abstract

Cultural heritage plays an important role in the creation of creative cities, giving them a new lease of life and generating employment opportunities and local economies in the process. The revitalisation and development of cultural heritage and intangible cultural heritage have become a major part of national development policies worldwide. This study adopts a multiple case analysis approach. Four cultural heritages of three destinations in East Asia (Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) were selected as case studies because they have all adopted a public–private partnership approach to the conservation and reuse of historic buildings. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted and secondary data collected from a variety of sources to bring the findings of this study closer to the practical development of cultural heritage. Base on Five Forces analysis, we propose an “Extended Five Forces” model of cultural heritage. The new component, i.e., historical landscapes and cultural sustainability, is proposed to expand the theoretical foundations of the sustainable management of cultural heritage. The findings show how they can collaborate with communities to create value and gain a sustainable competitive advantage on a global scale and contribute to the sustainable management of cultural heritage in Asia.