The Influence of Heritage Sites as Filming Locations on Tourists’ Decisions to Visit Sites and Their Perceptions of Them. Case Study: Game of Thrones

Disaster risk management of cultural heritage: A global scale analysis of characteristics, multiple hazards, lessons learned from historical disasters, and issues in current DRR measures in world heritage sites

The Natural World Heritage site (NWH) has a dual role of protection and utilization. The buffer zone of the South China Karst (SCK) World Heritage (WH) site is scattered with village dwellings, which adds pressure to preserve the outstanding universal value (OUV) and integrity protection of the WH site. The development of agroforestry is an essential means to maintain rural livelihoods, protect the ecological environment, and realize the protection and development of the heritage site. Studying the synergy and regulation of the heritage site integrity protection and the buffer zone agroforestry development is essential. This study takes the Shibing and Libo–Huanjiang karst WH as the study areas and administrative villages as the evaluation unit. From 2020 to 2023, through data methods such as remote sensing data interpretation, information data survey and collection, comprehensive index analysis, coupling coordination degree model, and GIS spatial analysis, a systematic study was conducted on the basic frontier research, synergy relationship, and regulation of the heritage site integrity protection and the buffer zone agroforestry development. The results demonstrate that the Shibing and Libo–Huanjiang karst WH sites integrity protection and agroforestry development in the buffer zone have a high coupling degree and a good coupling coordination relationship. This reveals that the heritage site integrity protection and the buffer zone agroforestry development are an interconnected and mutually influential whole, which the synergistic relationship between them is developing in a positive direction; The buffer zone agroforestry development lags behind the heritage site integrity protection, based on which proposed the regulatory measures for the synergy development of the heritage site integrity protection and agroforestry development in the buffer zone. The findings in this study provide references for the synergies development of the WH karst site integrity protection and agroforestry development in the buffer zone.

Tourism space reconstruction of a world heritage site based on actor network theory: A case study of the Shibing Karst of the South China Karst World Heritage Site

This research study examines the impact of film induced tourism and destination branding on locations featured in popular films and television series. It also investigates the characteristics of film induced tourism and determines if the key film and tourism stakeholders support the integration of film into Yorkshire’s (UK) tourism product. Yorkshire was selected as the case study area, as it has been the film location for many popular television series and is the subject of much location research within the tourism discipline. The need for a thorough investigation into the film induced tourism phenomenon was particularly evident from the literature review undertaken, as it showed that there was a significant research gap in the successful integration of this phenomenon and destination marketing. In response to this gap, a two phased approach was adopted; the first involved a tourist survey regarding the film induced tourist, while the second phase consisted of strategic conversations with the key stakeholders behind the Yorkshire brand. The issues evolving from these and also the literature review, highlight a number of implications for the future development of such destinations, namely the successful use of destination branding in the promotion of a film location. These issues also facilitated the creation of the Film Marketing Action Plan (FMAP), as it has become apparent that most of the film induced tourism models investigated were inadequate in explaining the relationship between film induced tourism and destination branding. Thus, a new model that is more reflective of the process was developed, using the main concepts and themes that arose from the research findings. Overall, film induced tourism is not widely welcomed by the stakeholders and the implications for retaining a clear balance between Yorkshire’s current tourism product and making the most of the opportunities that could arise, may be the most appropriate way forward.

PurposeThe sixth of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has access to improved sanitation as one of its targets. Sanitation is important not only for environmental quality and public health but also for the outstanding universal value (OUV) of heritage monument sites and tourism promotion. The study examined the causes of open defecation (OD) in the neighbourhood of a World Heritage (WH) site in Ghana and the implications of the practice for sustainable tourism and heritage management.Design/methodology/approachThe study used the qualitative approach. Data were gathered from purposively targeted respondents (an Environmental Health Officer, Heritage Managers, a Tourism Expert, Hoteliers, Zoomlion Staff, Open Defecators, Community Opinion Leaders and Ordinary Community Residents) and analysed using the thematic approach.FindingsIt became evident that the causes of OD were: the lack of toilet facilities in many houses in the community, filthy and foul-smelling public latrines, poor attitude and heritage culture, mental and income poverty, inadequate sensitisation and a poor law enforcement regime. OD threatened the sustainability of heritage tourism and its associated livelihoods, as well as public health. In addition, it impaired the authenticity and integrity of the heritage monument, culminating in a detraction from the OUV of the heritage property.Practical implicationsIn collaboration with the local, national and international stakeholders, the managers of the heritage monument should design and implement a comprehensive environmentally friendly plan. The plan should consider demarcating the boundaries of the heritage asset, monitoring the protected area, enforcing sanitation laws and mounting intensive sanitation education campaigns. It should also consider providing a decent toilet in the vicinity of the monument for the transit population, facilitate the provision of a toilet in every house through the community-led total sanitation approach, installing digital cameras at vantage points in the buffer zone of the castle to capture open defecators and punishing offenders severely to deter others from engaging in the ignoble practice of OD.Originality/valueThe authors argue that sanitation at heritage sites in developing countries merits further discussion within the WH network to promote sustainable heritage conservation management and tourism.

This chapter presents and discusses the results of a survey on visitors’ expectations and experiences of a key geological heritage site in the UK; the Giant’s Causeway and Causeway Coast World Heritage Site, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. The survey sought to determine the opinions on the on-site interpretation (until 2012) to gauge whether this has an influence on visitor understanding and overall experience of the site. Given the gap in heritage tourism literature pertaining to geological heritage sites and the paucity of information on tourists’ expectation of interpretation at such sites, the findings presented in this chapter may help to reduce the gap and add to the research in the area of geological heritage interpretation. The survey results revealed that the on-site interpretation (until 2012) did not seem to fully meet the needs and expectations of the visitors and that it was in need of some updating. More interpretation in the form of boards, leaflets or audio guides that highlight, locate, and describe the key features of the site, or provide more information highlighting the significance of the Giant’s Causeway and its designation as a geological World Heritage Site, would meet the basic informational needs of the visitors. The survey also indicates that a key requirement would be to provide more human interaction. Provision of on-site rangers/guides was considered by the visitors to be a good way of improving their experience. Having rangers available to answer questions, give guidance on what to see/visit on the site, or to give guided walks would greatly improve the their understanding and experience of the site. Other ways to improve the visitor experience are suggested in addition to highlighting improvements that could be made to the on-site interpretation. The outcomes from the survey also have some implications for management of the World Heritage Site. The popularity of the site as a tourist attraction, with over 750,000 people visiting each year, presents significant challenges in being able to deliver a high quality visitor experience without compromising the conservation of the site.

Strategy of integrating Egyptian sites into world heritage property: Rashid city as a case study

World Heritage (WH) sites are areas for international conservation of nature and culture with outstanding universal values. The Nordic countries possess two large landscapes with WH recognition that serve as a base for this study, the WH Laponia and the WH High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago. The WH Laponia in Sweden combines both cultural and natural value; the Norwegian area of Laponia is not designated WH, but represents an area with governmental ambitions to become an UNESCO WH site. The WH High Coast/Kvarken Archipelago (Sweden/Finland) is a serial-nominated, transnational WH site designated purely on nature merits. Within these WH sites, there are local communities and indigenous peoples with democratic rights who participate in the management of the areas and use the local resources of their natural environment.This article analyses the processes of WH nomination and implementation of the WH Convention (1972) in the Nordic countries. It also depicts a strong Nordic tradition of transnational learning (TNL) which is also used within WH governance. The article uses comparative methods and theories of governance, co-management, transnational governance and TNL in the analysis of the transboundary WH sites. The empirical results illustrate the challenges of local democratic participation in the national and transnational decision-making regarding nomination and implementation of the WH Convention. It suggests that deficiency of democratic participation during early stages in pre-WH designation processes may be compensated by TNL. Learning between and within WH-related networks and groups, show in the Nordic perspective examples of incorporating WH stakeholders in cooperation across national borders. TNL may be restricted by cultural and legal limitations.

Based on graphic analysis and density calculation,this paper studies the characteristics of the spatial distribution of world heritage sites,mainly cultural and natural heritage,of Africa at continental,regional and state levels.As of 2012,a total of 126 sites in Africa are included in the World Heritage List.In 1978,world heritage sites from Africa were added to the World Heritage List for the first time,followed by a burst of number increase for a short period of time.After that,for many years it has been slow in terms of new heritage sites being added.Now it is the time to explore the characteristics of the spatial distribution of world heritage sites in Africa,and the study provides a reference for site selections in the interactions and exchanges with African states.The study has found that the world heritage sites are relatively concentrated on the continental coasts and islands,in mid-size river basins and eastern local areas,with higher densities in Eastern,Northern and Western,and the highest in Eastern Africa.Among the states,Senegal,Tunisia,Gambia,Cape Verde,Mauritius and the Seychelles have the highest densities,followed by C te d'Ivoire,Morocco,Togo,Kenya,Uganda,Malawi,Zimbabwe and other states.Except for Malawi,Zimbabwe and Mauritius,the states with higher density of cultural heritage sites,including Egypt,Morocco,Tunisia,Senegal,Benin,Ghana,Togo,the Gambia,Cape Verde,Ethiopia,Kenya and other states are in Eastern,Western and Northern Africa.The corridor of Cameroon-Central Africa-Democratic Republic of Congo is the region rich natural heritage.At the regional level,except for Northern Africa,there are higher densities of natural heritage sites in other regions,with the highest density in Eastern Africa.At the state level,except for Tunisia,the states with higher densities of natural heritage sites,including Niger,Guinea,C te d'Ivoire,Senegal,Cameroon,the Central African Republic,Democratic Republic of the Congo,Tanzania,Kenya,Seychelles,Uganda,Madagascar,South Africa,Zimbabwe and Malawi are in those regions.In addition,the distribution and density of world heritage sites at the regional level and the state level are showing good overlap.

Understanding the spatiotemporal variation and drivers of ecosystem services is fundamental to optimal management and sustainable development of World Heritage (WH) sites. Although WH sites face multiple natural and anthropogenic threats, our understanding of their ecosystem services is still limited, especially for karst WH sites. In this study, we assessed habitat quality (HQ), carbon storage (CS), soil retention (SR), water conservation (WC), and the combined ecosystem service (CES) of karst and non-karst WH sites in Southwest China from 2000 to 2020 using the InVEST model. We also assessed trade-offs/synergies among ecosystem services using the spatial overlay method, and identified driving factors of variation in ecosystem services using geographical detector and structural equation models. The results showed that ecosystem services of the WH sites exhibited high spatiotemporal variation. In particular, there were higher values in the property zone than in the buffer zone, and an increasing trend in SR but a decreasing trend in HQ and CES over time. Compared to non-karst sites, karst WH sites had significantly lower values of HQ, CS, SR, and CES, but higher spatial heterogeneity in CS, WC, and CES. Weak trade-offs among ecosystem services dominated the WH sites, with the proportion of weak synergies increasing over time. Compared to non-karst sites, karst WH sites had a significantly lower proportion of strong synergies and a significantly higher proportion of weak synergies. The provision of ecosystem services was primarily influenced by natural factors (e.g., landscape division index and normalized difference vegetation index), followed by anthropogenic factors (e.g., distance from road and population density). Overall, these findings may have important implications for decision-making aimed at protecting the outstanding universal value, authenticity, and integrity of WH with different attributes.

Although there are more than 270,000 protected areas worldwide, there is currently little data on their protection and management effectiveness. As a kind of protected area, natural world heritage (WH) sites are small but represent some of the most important natural landscapes, covering a very large area. But natural WH is threatened by climate change, natural disasters and human activities. Therefore, to achieve the sustainable development of WH sites, it is very important to analyze the management status of WH sites. Based on this, the study extracts inspiration from Enhancing our Heritage Toolkit: Assessing management effectiveness of natural World Heritage sites. An assessment system of the management effectiveness (ME) of natural WH sites has been established, which has three dimensions (including management foundation, management measures, and management performances) and 21 indexes. The reliability and validity of the index system are tested using the exploratory factor analysis method, and the results show that the index system has good reliability and validity. Then principal component analysis and comprehensive assessment methods are used to analyze the ME of the Fanjingshan WH site. The results show that the management effectiveness of the Fanjingshan WH Site is relatively excellent, but it still faces challenges from tourism development and community participation.

PurposeThis paper presents participants' experiences of the collaborative process. The paper introduces the World Heritage Site and presents the central learning outcomes of a process through which researchers and practitioners sought to develop an empirically-grounded, site-specific and practice-led research agenda relevant to World Heritage management. The purpose of this paper is to discuss an approach to improving collaboration between researchers and practitioners in the World Heritage field.Design/methodology/approachFrom September 2021 to April 2022, a research-practice team comprised of social scientists and managers of the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site in Norway participated in a capacity-building pilot initiative under the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership programme. Bringing researchers and practitioners together in a joint collaborative process, the Heritage Place Lab (HPL) pilot programme aimed to function as an incubator for developing research agendas for World Heritage Sites.FindingsThe paper demonstrates that close collaboration between heritage researchers and practitioners can benefit World Heritage Sites, offering managers valuable inputs for informed and inclusive decision-making. In the case of the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site, an improved understanding of the diversities in local values would benefit management, as existing management issues underpin the site's complexity. Furthermore, fruitful collaborations between heritage researchers and World Heritage managers depend on an overlapping and reflexive understanding of central concepts. This can be achieved through collaborative research-practice processes but is likely to require careful time management.Originality/valueFocussing on the collaborative process between World Heritage researchers and practitioners, and using additional information for comparable World Heritage examples obtained online, this paper shows how research interests and management challenges can be developed and aligned more successfully through cooperation and improved communication over time. Beyond the specific results for the Rjukan-Notodden Industrial Heritage Site, the broader discussion presented on the challenges and importance of addressing the complexities of managing heritage sites will be valuable for other World Heritage Sites and managers.

(2003). The politics of heritage in Tana Toraja, Indonesia: Interplaying the local and the global. Indonesia and the Malay World: Vol. 31, No. 89, pp. 91-107.

Since the launch of the World Heritage Convention in 1972, World Heritage sites have become increasingly popular. To date, more than 1000 sites have received World Heritage status, among them 228 natural and mixed sites. Yet too, in the past four decades, protected area paradigms have evolved from rather strict and exclusionary to more integrative approaches. Nevertheless, relatively little is known on how such developments influence World Natural Heritage (WNH) sites. This paper presents the results of a global survey of 128 of 211 WNH sites listed in 2011 and analyses the results by taking the year of inscription as a reference. The article shows that the understanding of WNH status has undergone great changes: from being perceived as an internationally valued instrument to foster conservation, WNH status has now rather become a label of great promotional importance. This can, e.g., be shown by a decreasing influence of WNH status on the status of protection of a site. Conversely, the influence of WNH status on visitor numbers has increased with time. Furthermore, evidence suggests that more complex effects of WNH status attribution, such as a site’s influence on sustainable development, take time to develop and are thus greater for sites that have been inscribed in the list at an earlier date. Given these developments, it is necessary to rethink whether the World Heritage approach in its current form is still timely, and how the development potential of World Natural Heritage sites can be tapped while ensuring their conservation.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present grounded theory as an alternative approach for conceptualizing and modelling the consumer experience. The basic theoretical tenets of the grounded theory approach are contrasted with more traditional assumptions and methods used in consumer research.Design/methodology/approachThe approach is based on qualitative methods and a series of systematic ethnographic procedures, which along with the simultaneous processes of data collection and analysis, lead to the development of an inductive derived grounded theory of the visitor experience. In order to develop a model of the interactive experience of visitors to heritage sites, case studies are conducted at three World Heritage Sites in Thailand.FindingsThe findings indicate that the grounded theory approach has the potential to reveal a rich and deep understanding of visitor experiences, including the ways that visitors interact with the site, their interpretation of the site, and the meaning of the site for them.Practical implicationsIt is suggested that the grounded theory approach can be a valuable tool in exploring the insights and meanings of visitors' experience and could be applied to future research in consumer behaviour. There are practical implications of this kind of research for the management of heritage sites in terms of visitor expectations, interactions and interpretations.Originality/valueThis study has developed a model of the experience and interaction of visitors to Thai World Heritage Sites which could be applied to other heritage sites. It illustrates the theoretical and practical issues of grounded theory approach to exploration and inductive development “interactive experience” of visitors at heritage sites. This is a qualitative research approach that could be adopted for a range of experience based industries such tourism, leisure and hospitality.