The role of academic field-trip organizers as gatekeepers for emerging heritage sites in Malaysia

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article is the result of a multi-year study on the opinions of educators involved in organizing academic field trips to emerging heritage sites on the margins of the tourist gaze in Malaysia. Focusing on travellers from an architectural background, the study analyses the relative importance of tangible and intangible elements to the appreciation of heritage from a professional as well as personal point of view. By analysing the experiences of five different architect-academics who visited carefully chosen historical sites endangered by a variety of developmental or other threats throughout peninsular Malaysia, this study shows how potentially significant locations nevertheless require a careful curation of their narratives to attract visitor interest. It identifies the organizers of academic field trips as important gatekeepers for curating these narratives and highlights how long-term personal and professional development rather than a desire for monetary gain are powerful catalysts for local academics to evolve into cultural intermediaries championing authentic narratives for emerging heritage sites. Given the vital importance of domestic tourism in an uncertain post-coronavirus future, this study points to the need for the creation of long-term partnerships between academia and emerging heritage sites in Malaysia to fill an ‘authenticity gap’ threatening their survival.