Heritage Tourism Destination Research Articles

Enhancing Sustainable Tourism in Medan through Heritage-Based Development

This study aims to analyze the strategies for developing heritage tourism in Medan, focusing on the Kesawan area as a key destination. The research utilizes SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats), which helps identify the internal and external potential in the development of heritage tourism in the city. The results show that Kesawan’s strengths lie in its historical, cultural, and architectural value, as well as its strategic location, making it an attractive tourist destination. However, the weaknesses identified include inadequate infrastructure, limited human resources, and insufficient funding. Opportunities include the growing trend of cultural tourism and government support for heritage development. Nevertheless, threats such as uncontrolled urbanization, climate change, and economic pressures require particular attention in managing the area. The integration of heritage aspects in the city’s tourism master plan is progressing well, with the Medan City Tourism Development Master Plan (RIPPARKOT) outlining sustainable development strategies and policies. This study recommends improving infrastructure, enhancing human resources, and adopting effective marketing strategies to support sustainable heritage tourism development. Proper management could position Kesawan as a premier heritage tourism destination, contributing to the local economy.

PRESERVING AND MANAGING CHINESE SETTLEMENT HERITAGE TOURISM IN LASEM, INDONESIA

This research examines Chinese settlements' preservation and management strategies as heritage tourism in Lasem, Rembang, Indonesia. Ancient houses in Chinatown settlements are vulnerable and require a social resilience strategy as a solution. This study used a qualitative approach and data collection techniques through observation, in-depth interviews, documentation, and focus group discussion (FGD). The informants were owners of ancient houses utilizing their buildings as heritage tourism destinations. The results of this study show that the community or owner in managing settlements or Chinese houses as tourist destinations should have three capacities in the social resilience perspective, namely 1) coping capacity, which includes resources, knowledge, skills, and learning; community as the main actor, community awareness, and social kinship system; 2) adaptive capacity which includes: community networks, human and environmental relations, and community participation; and 3) transformative capacity which includes community infrastructure, multi-stakeholder partnerships, technological innovation, diversity and economic innovation. This study concludes that the owners of ancient houses in Chinatown settlements who utilize their buildings as tourism destinations are quite resilient.

Resident well-being and perceptions of World Heritage Site management: divide between urban and rural WHSs

ABSTRACT This comparative case study focuses on residents’ subjective well-being (SWB) and their perceptions of conservation and tourism in two prominent World Heritage Sites (WHSs) in Turkey, i.e. (rural) Cappadocia and (urban) Istanbul’s Historical Peninsula, to evaluate them in tandem with their governance frameworks. A modified SWB survey instrument is administered to residents in both WHSs. The most notable differences in SWB surface in community, environment, and standard of living domains favouring Cappadocia – underlining tourism’s varied influence on SWB domains in rural and urban settings. While the perceived association between conservation and tourism is stronger in Cappadocia, Istanbul’s residents view conservation more positively. These differences point towards conservation’s perceived instrumental role in facilitating tourism development in rural WHSs and the disconnection of urban WHS residents from conservation efforts and tourism management. Our findings suggest SWB may complement tourism impact analysis and build a bridge between residents, policymakers, and administrators. Addressing the disconnection between residents and tourism and conservation-related frameworks and initiatives to increase resident awareness of heritage value are suggested as potential contributors to the long-term viability of WHSs as heritage tourism destinations.

Towards the Wall or the Bridge? A Case Study of Host–Guest Symbiosis in a Chinese Heritage Tourism Site

The close connection between community residents and tourists in heritage tourism sites strengthens the relationship between people and places. To explore the mechanisms of host–guest interaction and the driving factors of residents’ willingness to participate in tourism in heritage tourism destinations, this study adopts a mixed-method approach combining qualitative research and quantitative analysis. The results of the study show that host–guest symbiosis in heritage tourism destinations goes through four stages: identity qualification, bodily co-presence, common focus, and emotional solidarity. Quantitative research (SEM) reveals the impact of residents’ welcoming nature, emotional closeness, and sympathetic understanding towards tourists on the sense of community belonging, as well as the subsequent response of willingness to participate in tourism. Through the analysis of the host–guest interaction mechanisms and symbiotic relationships in heritage tourism sites, the key emotional factors influencing residents’ participation in tourism are revealed.

Visual Analysis of Social Media Data on Experiences at a World Heritage Tourist Destination: Historic Centre of Macau

The burgeoning field of sustainable tourism in historically significant urban districts has derived increasing attention in tandem with broader urban economic development. The perceived image of a tourist destination significantly affects tourist consumption behaviors and destination choices, while negative evaluations provide destination managers with insights for targeted improvements to tourist amenities, thereby contributing to the sustainable development of these historically significant districts. This study leveraged Python 3.12.3 software to collect online textual data from popular tourism websites, specifically Ctrip 8.71.4 and Mafengwo 11.1.7. Then, ROST CM6.0 software facilitated high-frequency word analysis, network semantic analysis, and sentiment analysis to outline the perceived image and characteristics of the Macau Historic District, a UNESCO World Heritage site, from the perspective of tourists. The findings are as follows: (1) The image of the Historic Centre of Macao as a tourist destination comprises four primary dimensions: cultural (16.02%), landscape (30.85%), emotional (16.97%), and local (36.16%). (2) Tourists perceive the Historic Centre of Macao as a blend of dynamism and tranquility, tradition, and modernity. (3) Emotional evaluations of the Historic Centre of Macao as a tourist destination are primarily positive (85.45%), whereas negative sentiments constitute 5.76%, with recurring themes pertaining to overcrowding, high prices, a lack of interactive experiences at attractions, excessive commercialization, and insufficient public rest facilities. These findings offer valuable directives for the future planning and development of tourism in Macau, a city recognized for its World Heritage status. (4) In summary, the thematic image of the Historic Centre of Macao can be considered authentic, romantic, and commercialized.

RESEARCH ON THE INFLUENCE OF INDUSTRIAL HERITAGE TOURISM INTERACTION BEHAVIOR ON VALUE CO-CREATION

This article is dedicated to an in-depth analysis of how interest rate adjustments in the financial sector reflect subtle changes in macroeconomic policies and reveal the complex motivations behind the behavior of market participants. With qualitative research methods, we carefully examined the launch of China's inter-bank lending market in 1996, the removal of the deposit interest rate ceiling in 2015, and the comprehensive reform of the loan market interest rate quotation mechanism in 2019. This study examined the intrinsic connections between interactive behavior, experiential value, and value co-creation in the field of industrial heritage tourism, specifically focusing on the moderating role of cultural identity. The study used research methods like structural equation modeling to confirm that interactive behavior has a significant positive effect on value co-creation. It also found that cultural identity positively moderates the relationship between experiential value and value co-creation. These findings not only enrich relevant theories but also provide practical guidance for the development of industrial heritage tourism. The results indicate that industrial heritage tourism destinations should prioritize interactive experiences for visitors, design interactive activities that cater to diverse experiential needs, and enhance visitors' sense of identity with industrial heritage culture to facilitate value co-creation and promote sustainable development in industrial heritage tourism.

Peningkatan kompetensi Bahasa Inggris bagi Anggota Pokdarwis di Kampung Peneleh Surabaya

Kampung Peneleh Surabaya is one of the tourist destinations that has the potential to become a heritage tourist destination for domestic or foreign tourists. Therefore, it is necessary to develop English language competence for tour guides who are members of the Kampung Peneleh Tourism Awareness Group (Pokdarwis). The plan of development is by conducting workshop for tour guides starting with Focus Group Discussions, making tourist destination guide scripts, and practice at the location. The result of this training is that Pokdarwis is very excited to take part in the training and from the evaluation results it is necessary to conduct further training to improve pronunciation, intonation, and fluency.

Tourists’ satisfaction on cultural heritage tourism quality: An empirical study Hanoi, Vietnam

Based on the additional Functioning Tourism System (FTS) model of Gunn (Gunn, 1988; Gunn & Var, 2002; Herrin, 2015; Huyen, 2020), the concepts of service quality and tourist satisfaction, this study proposes a model to assess tourists’ satisfaction on service quality at the cultural heritage tourist destinations. The research model includes the following factors: Cuisine service, Entertainment service, Accommodation service, Transportation service, Cultural heritage knowledge service and Heritage characteristics. The study used a quantitative research method with a sample of 400 responses from domestic and international tourists. The research results show that the overall level of tourists’ satisfaction about the tourist destination as well as the quality of cultural heritage tourism services in the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam heritage site is good. The most satisfied tourists are the nature and characteristics of the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, followed by the cuisine service factor at this heritage site, then the cultural heritage knowledge service about the Van Mieu - Quoc Tu Giam, accommodation service and entertainment service and finally transportation service.

Nostalgic tourists acquiring resilience and emotional solidarity through self-congruity and functional congruity

From the perspective of stimulus–organism–response theory (S-O-R), this study explores whether self-congruity and functional congruity cause tourists to form positive nostalgic emotions toward heritage destinations and whether the nostalgic emotions elicited by tourists’ experiences at heritage destinations promote their physical and mental health resilience, as well as their emotional solidarity with local residents. Data were collected from Daxi Old Street, Lukang Old Street, and Anping Old Street, located in northern, central, and southern Taiwan, respectively. A total of 959 respondents were collected. The research results reveal that self-congruity and functional congruity positively impact tourists’ nostalgic emotions in heritage destinations. Product involvement does not moderate self-congruity's effect on nostalgia, but it does moderate functional congruity's impact. The study also supports the positive influence of nostalgic emotions on both tourist resilience and emotional solidarity in heritage tourism. These findings are crucial for governments and stakeholders planning and managing heritage tourist destinations.

Determinants of cultural heritage tourism demands: Learning in cultural heritage tourism destination

This research aims to elucidate the determinants of cultural heritage tourism demand by using visit frequency as a dependent variable. Combining use of the truncated Poisson model and order logit model, we analyze the demand structure of cultural heritage tourism relative to frequency of visits to the Forbidden City. Although the results based on the two models differed, we show major determinants to be authenticity selection attributes and sociodemographic and tripographic characteristic variables. These variables are expected to be helpful in learning in cultural heritage tourism destination and suggesting better cultural education programs for cultural sustainability in cultural heritage tourism.

Preferences of Tourists for the Comfort of the Semarang Old Town Area After Revitalization as a Heritage Tourism Destination in the City of Semarang

Semarang Old Town Area has been designated as a National Cultural Heritage Area based on the Decree of the Minister of Education and Culture of the Republic of Indonesia Number 682/P/2020. Revitalization of the Semarang Old Town Area abbreviated as KKLS is carried out with the aim of sustainable development and providing the benefit of increasing economic value for the local community by making minor changes to historic buildings, as much as possible to maintain authenticity, and if changes are needed, they must be carried out with careful consideration. After the revitalization, KKLS became one of the popular destinations by offering views of old buildings along with their historical value, being able to have a good influence on increasing economic activity and being able to become a strong tourist attraction for tourists. However, there are still problems related to the provision of public facilities such as toilets, parking, and lighting. Convenience is basically not only related to the availability of facilities but also regarding the psychology felt by tourists towards these facilities. The purpose of this research is to find out the comfort level of post-revitalization KKLS based on tourist preferences. The results of this research show that tourist feel comfortable, this is proven by six of the eight variables stating that they area comfortable.

Unveiling the Legacy of the Nineteenth Century Riotinto Mining Railway: From Historic Heritage to Thriving Tourist Attraction

The Riotinto mining railway is a remarkable construction. Stretching an impressive 348 km it was built between 1873 and 1875 to transport minerals from Riotinto’s mining operations to the international port of Huelva. At its height in the 1950’s, this monumental railway network had a fleet of 162 locomotives (mostly steam but also diesel and electric) and around 3,300 freight cars and carriages. Towards the end of the 1960’s the line began to fall into disuse, and it was closed entirely in 1984. Since the establishment of the Rio Tinto Foundation in 1987, dedicated efforts have been made to preserve this invaluable railway heritage and today, the fruits of their labor can be enjoyed at the Riotinto Mining Park where tourists can ride a fully restored 22 km section of this historic rail network. The park is highly successful and has recovered strongly after the COVID-19 pandemic attracting a record 96,935 visitors in 2022. The majority of the park’s tourists are from Spain but also a significant number are international (principally from Germany) highlighting the global importance of this site and the railway as a sustainable heritage tourism destination. Taking the restoration of the Riotinto mining railway as a case study, we aim to demonstrate the transformative power of the preservation and restoration of industrial heritage.

Sustainability of the Sumedang Larang Palace as a Tourism Attraction of the Kingdom of Sunda Heritage in West Java

Sumedang Larang Palace is the last Sunda Kingdom Palace in West Java today. This study aims to explore the supporting elements of the Sumedang Larang Palace as a tourist attraction for the Sunda Kingdom heritage in West Java. This type of research is descriptive qualitative research. The place of this research is the Sumedang Larang Royal Palace, located in the city of Sumedang. The primary data used in this study were obtained by interview, observation, and documentation. The results showed that the Nazir Waqf Foundation of Sumedang Prince mandated the Sumedang Larang Palace. In managing the Palace as a heritage tourism destination, it has been regulated in the organizational structure of the Foundation. Employee management is carried out by human resource management, who records, directs, supervises, and performs operations. Furthermore, through its management, the Foundation also maintains and adequately manages the collection of historical artifacts of the Sumedang Kingdom at the Geusan Ulun Museum. Resources are collected independently by managing palace assets. The Foundation also cooperates with external parties to organize and manage the Palace by involving the government, academia, the private sector, and the media.

Let’s see the whole picture: a multi-platform visual analysis of historic Mission San José on Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, and TripAdvisor

ABSTRACT Tourists frequently research, plan, and reflect on their travel experiences online via social networking sites (SNSs). While past tourism research suggests that differences exist in the type of content shared by tourists on different SNSs, there is little research comparing the tourist-generated content (TGC) or user-generated photographs (UGPs) from multiple SNSs. To address this gap in literature, the current study utilized a visual content analysis of tourist-generated social media images from Instagram, Pinterest, Flickr, and TripAdvisor in order to compare these platforms and the messages they communicate about the heritage tourist destination of Mission San José located in San Antonio, Texas, United States. Employing a case study approach of a single tourist destination allowed for the exploration of how a destination can be visualized differently by tourists across different SNSs, how different SNSs are used in different ways by tourists, and how historic visual narratives are communicated in contemporary online spaces. Study findings establish the importance of analyzing visual content from across multiple SNSs because each site offers a unique perspective on the destination. These findings have implications for tourism marketers and researchers attempting to leverage user-generated online content to better understand perceived destination image, particularly in heritage tourism spaces.

Information sources and tourism heritage: a sustainable economy perspective

PurposeConserving appropriately the culture and heritage of a city through sustainable tourism is a key element for its economic development. Heritage cities generate economic, social and environmental benefits through tourism management. This study aims to intend, in the context of economic sustainability of the territory and promotion, to improve the understanding of the relationship between the sources of information of tourists and their motivations, with satisfaction and future behaviour intentions. For this, a study has been carried out in the Old Town of Cáceres (Spain), a city recognised as a world heritage property by UNESCO.Design/methodology/approachThis study applies a descriptive analysis, based on frequencies. For data collection, a structured questionnaire has been used to identify the opinion of tourists during their visit to the heritage city of Cáceres.FindingsThis study demonstrates the existence of a positive relationship between the sources of information and the tourist experience with their future behavioural intentions and satisfaction of their visit. All this in the global context of the destination for sustainable economy and the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. Furthermore, the results of the study suggest that the motivations of tourists are the most important factor in explaining the overall experience and loyalty of tourists to a city.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of this study is the data set used. The results must be contextualised at the time and place when the questionnaire was conducted.Practical implicationsThe proposed model makes it possible to advance future heritage tourism strategies, in terms of planning and communication of the heritage resources of a destination. Tourism heritage institutions should increasingly invest in communication improvements based on new technologies and social media. At the same time, integrated planning with special policies for the sustainable protection of heritage can make important progress in the tourist and cultural development of the destination.Originality/valueThis article tests for the first time within the context of heritage cities in Spain and in the context of a sustainable economy and cultural heritage for destination, the relationship between different sources of site promotion information and future tourist behaviour intentions. It provides original evidence of the value of applying the underlying theory of the proposed model in a world heritage tourist destination.

Survival Strategies of Local SMTEs in Covid-19 Pandemic in Heritage Tourism Sites in Turkey

Covid‑19 pandemic has been a multi‑dimensional challenge for tourism industry globally for more than 15 months now, but even so, there is a lack of information about the impacts of pandemic on different destinations and tourism enterprises. To contribute to the scientific endeavors to understand, explain, and explore the impacts of this disease on tourism, this research investigates the impacts of the pandemic on local small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) in Cappadocia Region, a globally well‑known Heritage Tourism destination in Turkey, and their survival strategies. Primary data was collected through structured interviews conducted with 97 respondents from two participant groups including respondents from small and medium accommodation facilities and tourism enterprises including auxiliary tourism services. We found that heritage tourism destinations and SMTEs located in these destinations seem to be much vulnerable to the impacts of Covid‑19 owing to destination characteristics. Findings show that great majority of the SMTEs has established solidarity based new business relations for survival but they also have spent their resources for future growth and investment which seem to jeopardize the recovery efforts

The Role of Digital Marketing as a Resilience Factor in Cultural Heritage Tourism: A Conceptual Paper

This paper aims to investigate the effects of online destination brand experience, destination brand authenticity, and ethical digital destination marketing on the behavioural intentions of cultural heritage tourism destinations. In this study, a sample of 315 respondents will be collected among the tourists at cultural heritage destinations in Malacca and Penang, Malaysia. The types and sources of data in this investigation will be based on quantitative data, which is primary data obtained through questionnaires. The sampling technique was a purposive sampling technique. The data collection method used in this research is allocating an opinion poll online using Google Forms. The findings of this research will be beneficial for tourism marketers in forming a strategy to attract travellers and enhance the destination’s brand image.

ARE YOU LOOKING FOR AUTHENTICITY? THE INFLUENCE OF AUTHENTICITY OF CULTURAL HERITAGE TOURISM ON TOURISTS' INTENTION TO REVISIT

The revisit of tourists can effectively reduce the market cost of tourism destinations and maintain stable tourist sources, which is an important index to evaluate the development potential of tourism destinations and judge the stage of their life cycle. Taking cultural heritage tourism destinations as research sites, based on the ABC attitude model, this paper explores the influence mechanism of authenticity on revisit intention and the mediating effect of place attachment and the moderating effect of variety-seeking. The results show that the influencing factors and mechanism of revisit intention of tourists in cultural heritage destinations conform to ABC attitude model, which is a continuous process of cognition-affect-behavior sequence. Both objective and existential authenticity have significant positive effects on revisit intention. Place attachment plays a partial mediating role between objective authenticity, existential authenticity and revisit intention. Variety-seeking moderates the effect of objective authenticity on revisit intention. The lower the level of Variety-seeking, the stronger the positive relationship between objective authenticity and revisit intention.

The Effect of Transportation Networks on Heritage Tourism and New Urbanization—Empirical Research Based on Rich Heritage Sites in a Chinese Province

Accelerating the construction of transportation networks has become an important bridge to promote the urbanization of heritage tourism destinations. Based on the development dilemma of tourism towns in northwestern China, this study collected the panel data of 10 cities in Shaanxi Province from 2006 to 2019 and used a panel error correction model to investigate the long-term and short-term relationships between heritage tourism and new urbanization. In addition, this paper establishes a regression model of the transportation network’s regulatory effect, revealing the extent of the impact of the transportation network on heritage tourism and new urbanization. The results show that (1) in the short term, the influence of heritage tourism on new urbanization is not remarkable, but in the long term, heritage tourism plays a positive role in facilitating new urbanization; (2) the short-term contribution elasticity of new urbanization to heritage tourism is less than that in the long term; (3) the regulatory effect of the transportation network rectifies the deviation caused by overdeveloped urbanization to moderate development in heritage tourism destinations.

Analyzing Online Reviews to Uncover Customer Satisfaction Factors in Indian Cultural Tourism Destinations.

Tourism to Indian heritage destinations has been on the rise due to the increasing demand for heritage tourism. Increasing customer satisfaction and promoting Indian culture require tourism businesses to understand factors influencing tourists' experiences and behavior towards these destinations. Therefore, this study analyzes four popular heritage tourist destinations in India by using online reviews collected from Google Travel. Data are refined, processed, and visualized using the R programming language and UCINET 6.0. Furthermore, we explore the fundamental framework and interconnections among these characteristics through the utilization of exploratory factor analysis and linear regression analysis with the assistance of the SPSS software package. Based on customer reviews obtained from Google Reviews, an analysis was conducted on 6618 reviews of four heritage tourism destinations in India. From the top 60 words, four clusters of words were created, including "Physical characteristic", "Cultural and historical link", "atmosphere", and "area". Through explanatory factor analysis and linear regression analysis, we found that Physical characteristic, Cultural and historical link, atmosphere, and area all play a significant role in customer satisfaction. This study provides heritage destination managers and Indian government with insights into which attributes impact customer satisfaction the most and offers valuable marketing insights. As a result of this study, we are able to gain a greater understanding of the Indian heritage tourism market, and in doing so, we provide businesses with implications on how to enhance customer service.