Heritage tourism

Heritage tourism, sometimes called cultural heritage tourism, is a type of tourism that focuses on the culture and history of a location. Travelers who visit an area because of its heritage are generally interested in experiencing the people, events, and history of that area in an authentic way. Although people have traveled for this purpose for millennia, modern travelers have shown an increased interest in having experiences that both inform and entertain when they visit new places. At the same time, those responsible for travel destinations, such as mayors, business owners, chambers of commerce, and so on, have learned that promoting their areas and encouraging people to travel to them brings economic benefits, prestige, and increased pride to the local inhabitants.

Background

People have shown an interest in travel for as long as they have known that there were other places to go. A focus on travel is evident in ancient literature, such as the ancient Mesopotamian Epic of Gilgamesh, which dates back more than four thousand years, and the ancient Greek Iliad and Odyssey. In those times, people often traveled to relocate to better hunting grounds, more fertile farmland, or more profitable trade areas. Historians are uncertain when heritage tourism, or traveling to a place simply to experience its people, history, and culture, began. However, one of the oldest forms of heritage tourism may be the pilgrimage.

For many centuries and into contemporary times, people have engaged in pilgrimages. A pilgrimage is a journey to a site of some special significance. These journeys are often religious in nature, with travelers seeking a site where an important religious event is believed to have occurred or where the remains of a significant religious figure have been buried. For example, Geoffrey Chaucer's fourteenth-century fictional work The Canterbury Tales features travelers on a pilgrimage to Canterbury Cathedral, the final resting place of St. Thomas Becket, a trip that people who lived during that time often made themselves. People of many faiths undertake such trips. Many Muslims make the pilgrimage (hajj) to Mecca at least once in their lives. Christian and Jewish travelers often visit holy sites in and around Jerusalem.

People did not begin using the terms cultural tourism, cultural heritage tourism, and heritage tourism to define the idea of traveling to a location for the sake of experiencing its history, landscape, and culture until the latter part of the twentieth century. Beginning in the 1970s, books on heritage tourism offering advice on preparation, communication, and challenges entered the market. This occurred largely because the Baby Boomer generation—those born between 1946 and 1964—reached adulthood with enough leisure time and money to travel for pleasure, leading to an increase in heritage tourism.

In the last three decades of the twentieth century and the early decades of the twenty-first century, the number of people engaged in heritage tourism periodically rose and fell. This is because heritage tourism is highly dependent on factors such as war, natural disasters, and the economic and political situations of a location. Nevertheless, the concept of heritage travel has remained popular, with many people able to name at least one location they would like to visit for the sole purpose of seeing the sights and enjoying the culture.

Overview

People travel for a wide range of reasons. In ancient days, people often traveled because travel was the only way to trade goods with others. In contemporary times, travel still helps facilitate business arrangements, and many people travel all over the globe for work. Travel may be undertaken for educational purposes, such as attending a conference or seminar, or to reach a college or university. Some travel to immigrate, or move to a new place where they intend to set down roots. Others travel to visit family or friends who have moved. Tourism is generally considered any kind of travel for pleasure, though business purposes may also be included.

Heritage tourism differs from the many other types of tourism in that its main purpose is to see and/or experience some specific site or aspect of the culture at the destination. Travel to any geographic site of historical interest for the purpose of engaging with that history can be considered heritage tourism. For example, many people travel to famous battlegrounds, such as those in Gettysburg and Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; Yorktown, Virginia; or Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Traveling to an area to view its museums and famous structures, such as the Great Pyramids of Egypt, is also considered heritage tourism. Trips of this nature often include some opportunity to observe or participate in life as it is or as it was for locals, such as historical reenactments, special meals, or other events featuring certain foods and customs. Others include a chance to stay in a historic structure.

For travelers, heritage tourism is appealing because it is both entertaining and informative. Tourists can experience something in person that was previously known only through books or video presentations. Such experiences build a sense of connection to the past and to people beyond the traveler's inner circle.

For those hosting tourists—museums, communities, caretakers of historic sites, local inhabitants, and so on—heritage tourism is a source of pride. Heritage tourism can also be a significant source of revenue. A 2003 study by the Travel Industry Association of America indicated that heritage tourists stay longer and spend more per trip than those who travel for business or personal reasons. This creates increased opportunities for businesses in tourist destinations to provide food, housing, and merchandise to travelers.

The drawback for such communities is that the influx of people can strain the area's infrastructure, requiring extra public works projects such as roads and waste disposal to accommodate visitors. Heritage tourism increases upkeep costs, as hundreds and sometimes thousands of people visit a site each year, and the increase in people can also degrade the environment. Additionally, the income is often seasonal, with tourists visiting more at one time of the year than others, which can create cash flow problems for the community and its local residents.

Bibliography

"Benefits of Cultural Heritage Tourism." South Dakota State Historical Society, history.sd.gov/preservation/docs/CHTBenefits.pdf. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

"Defining Heritage Tourism." Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, 3 Mar. 2006, www.achp.gov/heritage‗tourism. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

“Heritage Travel.” National Park Service, www.nps.gov/subjects/heritagetravel/index.htm. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

McGuckin, Nancy, and Jana Lynott. "Impact of Baby Boomers on U.S. Travel, 1969 to 2009." American Association of Retired Persons, 2012, www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/research/public‗policy‗institute/liv‗com/2012/impact-baby-boomers-travel-1969-2009-AARP-ppi-liv-com.pdf. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

"Sustainable Tourism: UNESCO World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism Programme." UNESCO, whc.unesco.org/en/tourism/. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Villarrubia, Eleonore. "Catholic Pilgrimage, a Spiritual Journey." Catholicism.org, 17 July 2010, catholicism.org/catholic-pilgrimage-a-spiritual-journey.html. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.