heritage and tourism thesis

CULTURAL AND HERITAGE TOURISM

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15 Thesis topics related to Heritage Conservation

More than just history, heritage conservation aims at preserving the characteristic elements of a cultural resource to retain its heritage value and extend its life. Traditional conservation practices focus on tangible commodities and follow simple guidelines of minimal intervention and appropriate reversible methods. In recent years, however, the definition of heritage and subsequently conservation has changed as our understanding of what constitutes a community has changed. 

Moving beyond the realm of the tangible, cultural heritage is now considered to be just as significant as built heritage. Conservation not only helps in safeguarding a cultural resource but also in revitalizing local economies , and in bringing about a sense of identity, pride and belonging to the community.

As we evolve our built environments, heritage conservation becomes crucial in maintaining a common identity that is reflected in different forms of expression. Here are 15 such thesis topics for you.

1. Contemporary Architecture over Historic Environments | Heritage Conservation

Common conservation practices aim to replicate and preserve the architectural elements of the historic structure being restored. Newer additions in these built environments are designed to assimilate seamlessly with the original structure and maintain a common visual narrative for the entire site. However, some projects have chosen to challenge these methods and create contemporary elements over historic environments. 

This co-existence can be studied to shed light on architectural philosophy’s progression over the years and create a comprehensive timeline for the site. 

2. Making of Architectural Heritage

While many historic sites are managed and maintained, many are integrated into the lives of the community they inhabit. This integration not only prohibits intervention but also warps its cultural significance at times. Significant structures thus are sidelined and lost to time and function. Architectural heritage may be a product of time and culture but it also relies on its image for consideration. 

Mapping such lost heritage raises the question of what constitutes architectural heritage. Is it governed by our perception or the amount of significance we allot to it?

3. Heritage Legislation | Heritage Conservation

Heritage sites are often governed by a strict set of conservation laws to regulate construction methods on or around the site. The laws allow for a standardised approach to conservation practices in a region. However, different governing bodies may have different approaches to conservation. 

A comparative study of conservation laws and legislation in different countries can be done to understand how different approaches are reflected in the process of identification, analysis, and intervention. The laws can also be scrutinised and analysed by studying sites with differing contexts.

4. Economic Valuation of Heritage

Though heritage conservation adds a social value to the community, an economic point of view is also required. The economic feasibility of a conservation project plays a significant role in the maintenance of architectural heritage. The value of a cultural heritage asset can be determined by the benefits that can be derived from its use. 

The contributors can be both tangible like tourism, business, and training, or intangible like social regeneration, quality of life, sense of belonging. Qualitative analysis can be conducted to identify and understand all the factors involved. 

5. Balancing Tourism and Conservation at Heritage Sites

Tourism is a key driver of growth for many communities and has proved itself instrumental in the economic development of a region. However, unmonitored tourism growth can have a negative impact on the destination . Human involvement has caused the deterioration of many sites forcing the authorities to close off sites to preserve the asset. 

It is thus prudent to analyse how tourism development can be enhanced to maintain the quality of environment and culture of the site while offering the highest level of visitor satisfaction through careful planning and execution. 

6. Conservation of Sacred Sites | Heritage Conservation

Religion and faith have played crucial roles in shaping the world we live in today. Sacred sites and places of worship are important social and political symbols in most communities. Thus intervention in such areas requires a unique sensitivity and understanding of these spaces. 

These sites can range from open fields to cluster structures and may perform different functions. These physical manifestations of faith and spirit can be studied and interpreted to create solutions for conservation practices of these locations.

7. Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery

In the aftermath of the death and destruction caused by war, the immediate human needs of shelter , food, and health have top priority. A concern for cultural heritage during such a time may appear inconsequential. Though, an argument can be made that the role of culture may be crucial in the early recovery phase. 

Documentation of the evident role that cultural heritage plays in postwar situations can be done for better preparation to confront such situations of conflict.  

8. Social Heritage Conservation

While heritage conservation is usually linked to physical buildings, sites, and objects, cultural heritage involves many intangible components as well. It includes traditions or inherited forms of expressions, like performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, and craft skills. These components have a major impact on our built environment and must be studied for better public spaces tailored to celebrate these traditions. 

9. Public Engagement in Heritage Conservation

Although conservation plays an important role in enhancing the cultural heritage of a community , public engagement in conservation practices is a much recent change. Local ownership and leadership of heritage conservation projects is an important aspect of contemporary heritage practices. 

Such involvement may be pivotal in sites that have integrated built environments. Thus a layout can be created where the conservation methods are formulated by and for the community. 

10. Urban Heritagization | Heritage conservation

A common theme in cities like New York, heritagization of neighbourhoods helps turn neglected and stigmatised historic areas into ‘ aesthetic ’ desirable places with a new value and higher rents. While this process aligns itself with conservation practices, the intention is to capitalise on heritage rather than preserving it for the community. Such practices also have racial and social implications that sideline minorities.  

11. Ecological Heritage

From sacred forests to native agricultural methods, ecological heritage forms an important part of our history and our interaction with our natural environment. With climate change looming over the planet, preservation and revitalisation of our natural heritage may be a way to combat the capitalist development spread around the globe. Understanding the intersection of nature and culture may inform our future architectural practices.

12. Contemporary Derivatives of Historic Structures

The need to preserve architectural heritage is significant but it is also important to develop our built environment to maintain life activities. Hence, a revitalization method with the purpose of reinterpreting and reimagining historically significant elements in the present context to adjust historical buildings to modern requirements needs to be developed. 

13. Restoration Practices

After the infamous fire at Notre Dame, many designers presented their opinions on how the damage should be fixed. While some suggested traditional restoration methods, others designed modern facades with symbolic metal flames to whimsical pools . A conversation was created on how to confront such situations; whether to restore the buildings to their former self or to acknowledge the fading past and adding a contemporary layer.

14. Sustainability and Conservation

There is a synergistic relationship between conservation and sustainability but due to a lack of initiative, both these efforts have not been fully integrated. In some instances, this has led to conflict between heritage conservation efforts and environmental regulations. A comprehensive understanding of both concepts is required to formulate a fully integrated module that addresses both issues.

15. Archiving for the Future | Heritage conservation

One contributor to heritage is time as it defines the period of influence. Many buildings that we use and interact with may be considered an integral part of cultural heritage in the future. Thus, an archive of potential buildings may be created for future reference. This will involve identification and mapping of areas of interest, creating a timeline, understanding the current significance of the community , and tentative preservation techniques. 

Calder, M., n.d. Material Migrations: Finding a Landscape Architectural Tectonic Practice at the Former Maribyrnong Migrant Hostel . Post-Graduate. RMIT.

De Cesari, C. and Dimova, R., 2018. Heritage, gentrification, participation: remaking urban landscapes in the name of culture and historic preservation. International Journal of Heritage Studies , 25(9), pp.863-869.

Del, M., Sedghpour, B. and Tabrizi, S., 2020. The semantic conservation of architectural heritage: the missing values. Heritage Science , [online] 8(70). Available at: <https://heritagesciencejournal.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s40494-020-00416-w> [Accessed 5 April 2021].

Heritage 21. n.d. What is Heritage Conservation? . [online] Available at: <https://www.heritage21.com.au/owners-of-heritage-buildings/what-is-heritage-conservation/#:~:text=Professional%20Associations,and%20extend%20its%20physical%20life.> [Accessed 24 May 2021].

ICCROM, 2005. Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery . Rome.

Ich.unesco.org. n.d. UNESCO – What is Intangible Cultural Heritage? . [online] Available at: <https://ich.unesco.org/en/what-is-intangible-heritage-00003> [Accessed 5 April 2021].

Rogers, S., n.d. A Study in Architectural Contrasts: 12 Modern-Meets-Historic Additions . [online] Web Urbanist. Available at: <https://weburbanist.com/2016/08/08/a-study-in-architectural-contrasts-12-modern-meets-historic-additions/> [Accessed 5 April 2021].

Sen, M., n.d. Beyond the title of ‘India’s First World Heritage City’ . Post-Graduate. National University of Singapore.

Sohie, C., n.d. HERITAGE DIS-CONTINUED – Tracing cultural ecologies within a context of urban transition . Post-Graduate. University of Cape Town.

The National. 2021. Intellectual India: discovering the charms of Kolkata . [online] Available at: <https://www.thenationalnews.com/arts-culture/intellectual-india-discovering-the-charms-of-kolkata-1.48333> [Accessed 24 May 2021].

Currently pursuing his Bachelor's in Architecture, Vaibhav Gurung is a writer, conservationist, and artist. He aims to bring the worlds of sustainability, indigenous culture, and design philosophies closer together through his work. A vivacious conversationalist, he takes pride in his aesthetical and empathetic abilities to guide his designs as well as his daily life.

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• Open access
• Published: 17 March 2023

Natural world heritage conservation and tourism: a review

• Zhenzhen Zhang 1 , 2 ,
• Kangning Xiong 1 , 2 &
• Denghong Huang 1 , 2  

Heritage Science volume  11 , Article number:  55 ( 2023 ) Cite this article

6216 Accesses

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Metrics details

The trade-off and synergy between heritage conservation and tourism has become the focus of natural world heritage research. To gain a better understanding of the global researches on natural World Heritage conservation and tourism, we comprehensively reviewed relevant peer-reviewed research literature based on Web of Science (WOS) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI). We find that (1) the theoretical research of natural heritage conservation and tourism has gone through a process from emphasizing the protection of heritage value to pursuing the synergy of heritage protection and tourism development; (2) the main research methods include investigation research methods, indirect research methods and experimental research methods; (3) "3S" technology (remote sensing, geographic information system, global positioning system), three-dimensional laser scanning technology, virtual reality (VR) technology, augmented reality (AR) technology, holographic projection technology and other modern technological means are applied to the protection and tourism development of natural properties; (4) the common coordinated development models include ecological science tourism, community participation in tourism, ecological compensation model, world heritage—buffer zone—surrounding areas coordinated protection model and so on. We analyzed the research progresses through (1) the theories proposed in the literature, (2) the main methods applied to address the issues on natural heritage conservation and tourism, (3) the technologies applied in the researches and (4) the coordinated models of heritage conservation and tourism. Furthermore, we put forward the following research prospects: (1) systematically explore the conservation methods and theories based on world heritage criteria; (2) formulate corresponding conservation systems and ecological restoration standards for different types of world heritage; (3) give full play to the complementary advantages of various research methods and reveal the mutual feedback mechanism between tourism and heritage conservation; (4) develop ecological restoration technology based on biodiversity restoration, establish radial ecological corridor, and expand the benign ecological environment of the properties to wider periphery; (5) build ecological compensation development models based on the perspective of heritage tourism and value realization of world heritage.

Introduction

Natural world heritage sites are natural landscapes recognized by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee and inscribed on the World Heritage List, with Outstanding Universal Value (OUV) such as containing aesthetic importance, representing major stages of earth's history, representing significant on-going ecological and biological processes, containing the most important and significant natural habitats for in-situ conservation of biological diversity [ 1 ]. As the type of protected area with the highest and most representative OUV in the world [ 2 , 3 ], how to pass on the value of the world heritage through heritage display and solve the livelihood problem of the residents is a problem worthy of study.

For many years after the birth of Convention concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage (World Heritage Convention) in 1972, conservation was the sole goal of World Heritage, but as time passed, World Heritage gradually established its status as an important tourist destination, and UNESCO’s policy on World Heritage also no longer limited to conservation, but also sustainable tourism [ 4 ]. The purpose of heritage conservation is to preserve their OUV and pass them on intact to the next generation [ 5 ]. The ideal goal of heritage tourism is to awaken people’s attention and respect for cultural history and natural landscapes through tourism activities [ 6 ]. Therefore, heritage tourism is the best way to give full play to the functions of natural World Heritage, which can promote scientific research, social supervision and financial support for heritage conservation, and is also a sustainable way for the social and economic development of natural heritage sites [ 7 ]. However, the unreasonable utilization of tourism resources will lead to the imbalance of resource supply and demand [ 8 ]. In its World Heritage Outlook report, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) pointed out that tourism impact has always been in the top three threats [ 9 , 10 , 11 ]. How to coordinate the relationship between World Heritage conservation and tourism development has always been a hot issue of academic and government attention [ 12 , 13 ].

Currently, international organizations and scholars have carried out a series of fruitful studies, covering the impact of tourism activities on heritage conservation, community residents’ perception of heritage tourism, and changes in the landscape pattern. Among them, the community and tourists are the focus of related research. Natural World Heritage sites are often very fragile. To maintain a certain balance between social ecosystems and natural ecosystems, it is important not only to minimize human disturbance, but also to make tourists aware of the need to protect the OUV and to participate in the conservation and promotion of heritage value [ 14 ]. The sustainability of community livelihoods is the premise of World Heritage conservation, and ecotourism is an important form of enriching the livelihoods of community residents in heritage sites [ 15 ]. Locally-driven responsible and sustainable tourism management in and around World Heritage properties can complement other sources of growth, so as to promote economic diversification between tourism and non-tourism activities. This will strengthen social and economic resilience in a way that also helps protect the OUV of properties [ 16 ]. In addition, some scholars have also paid attention to the impact of tourism activities on the biodiversity [ 17 ], water [ 18 ], geology and landform [ 19 , 20 ] of natural World Heritage sites.

Meanwhile, scholars have systematically sorted out and summarized the concept, research methods, authenticity and integrity, heritage management, stakeholders, knowledge systems and development trends of heritage tourism from the theoretical level [ 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. It is worth noting that the research on tourism and conservation of natural World Heritage is a field in which natural ecosystems and social ecosystems are highly intertwined, involving tourism, aesthetics, geomorphology, ecology, geography and other disciplines. There are research bottlenecks in terms of theory, method, technology, model and so on. The existing articles indicate that the studies on the conservation and tourism of natural World Heritage start from the theoretical perspective, and most of them are macro-heritage studies, rarely distinguishing between cultural heritage and natural heritage. The research methods are mainly based on questionnaire survey and interview with tourists and community residents, lacking the application of experimental monitoring methods. The comprehensive understanding of related research has not been fully formed in the academic circles.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of natural heritage protection and tourism since the World Heritage Convention came into being half a century ago, we reviewed the relevant research progress of theories, methods, technologies and models from the perspective of the systematic chain from theoretical understanding to practical application, and proposed future research directions based on the research progress. The theory about natural World Heritage conservation and tourism is the understanding of objective things and their laws, and the related theory research will help us understand the law of this study field. The generation and development of the methods depends on our theoretical understanding of related researches. Through the analysis of the methods, it will help to promote our theoretical understanding, and also better guide us to use technical means to improve the heritage protection and tourism sustainability in natural sites. Conducting the analysis of related technologies can effectively promote us to adjust the methods of recognizing natural World Heritage conservation and tourism in practice, thus promoting the development of theory. Meanwhile, technology is a practical means to accelerate the promotion of heritage protection and sustainable tourism. The analysis of related models in this study is the summary of different development paths and practical experiences, reflecting the development models of natural sites in different scenarios. It is expected to provide references for more natural World Heritage sites in the cooperation between heritage protection and tourism.

Materials and methods

The acquisition of journal papers was conducted based on the available databases including Web of Science (WOS) ( https://www.webofscience.com ) and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) ( https://www.cnki.net/ ). To obtain higher quality and more representative articles, we restricted the databases of paper sources during retrieval. In WOS, Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI) were taken as the retrieval databases. In CNKI, Science Citation Index (SCI), the Engineering Index (EI), Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index (CSSCI), Chinese Science Citation Database (CSCD) source journals were taken as retrieval databases. Acknowledging that the literature on both heritage conservation and tourism in natural World Heritage sites is sparse and our desire to get a wider review, we also included different synonyms. The search item was “them”. The first search terms was set as “natural heritage”, the second search term was set as “tourism”, and the third terms were set as “conservation” or “protection” or “preservation”. The deadline set for our retrieval was December 31, 2022 (Fig.  1 ).

The process of the literature search and screening

Firstly, based on the search conditions above, 610 and 144 articles were found in WOS and CNKI, respectively. Then, we set two inclusion criteria: (1) the research them must include both heritage tourism and conservation; (2) the research object must be natural World Heritage site(s) or mixed site(s). Articles without heritage protection or heritage tourism are discarded. Researches about cultural World Heritage, built heritage, intangible cultural heritage, national parks, geoparks, natural reserves or other contents without natural World Heritage are also considered irrelevant and excluded. We decide whether an article meets our inclusion criteria by reading the title, abstract, keywords, and even the full text of the article. After screening based on our inclusion criteria and deduplication, 115 and 85 related articles were obtained from WOS and CNKI, respectively. In term of languages, the final obtained articles include Chinese (85 articles), Croatian (1 articles), English (101 articles), Portuguese (2 articles), Russian (1 articles), Spanish (9 articles), Ukrainian (1 articles).

It is worth noting that the number of search results and the final screening results varied greatly, especially in WOS. This may be because when subject is used as the search term in WOS, any one or more of the titles, abstracts, author keywords and keywords plus contain natural, heritage, conservation or protection or preservation and tourism articles will be retrieved. As a result, there are some documents that are not related to the research topic, such as cultural heritage, protected areas, national parks, natural resources, in the search results.

Research progress

The theoretical research on natural heritage protection and tourism has gone through a process from emphasizing heritage value protection to pursuing synergy between heritage conservation and tourism development.

The theoretical exploration of World Heritage protection started from Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of the World Heritage Convention (Operational Guidelines). It states that cultural properties must meet the conditions of authenticity, and all properties nominated for inscription on the World Heritage List shall satisfy the conditions of integrity [ 1 ]. But some scholars believe that the two principles of authenticity and integrity should not be separated and both natural properties and cultural properties should meet these two principles [ 26 ]. Since the number of natural properties is much higher than that of cultural properties, related researches on two principles are mostly focused on cultural properties, while little on natural properties. As an important tool for conservation of properties and then enhance their integrity, as well as create linkages between properties and the wider area that surrounds them [ 27 ], buffer zones are also a vital theory to analysis the relationship between heritage protection and sustainable development [ 28 ].

With the advancement of researches, scholars have gradually realized that the value display and community development are important ways for the sustainable protection and management of world heritage [ 29 ]. Heritage corridor is the product of the joint development and interaction of American greenway movement, scenic road construction and regional heritage conservation concepts [ 30 ]. This theory takes into account the balance of linear heritage protection, community economic development and natural ecosystems. It is suitable for linear heritage such as the Silk Road, but not for nonlinear heritage. To explore the synergy theory of heritage protection and tourism applicable to a wider range, scholars have carried out research from different perspectives such as natural ecosystems, tourists, and community residents. Moreover, as one of the core theories of tourism geography, tourism man-land relationship theory focuses on the interaction between human tourism activities and geographical environment[ 31 ]. It is also an important guiding ideology for the study of sustainable development of natural heritage[ 32 ]. Wen [ 33 ] proposed to use ecological theory and experience economy theory to stimulate tourists’ cognition of heritage value, thereby promoting the coordinated development of protection and tourism in karst world natural heritage sites. In addition, the introduction of symbiosis theory [ 34 ], sustainable livelihood framework [ 35 ], life cycle assessment theory [ 36 ] and other theories have further enriched researches on world heritage conservation and sustainable tourism.

Based on the data sources, the main research methods used in researches on natural world heritage conservation and tourism can be divided into three categories: investigation research methods, indirect research methods, and experimental research methods. Among them, investigation research methods refer to methods that get data from questionnaires [ 37 ], interviews [ 38 ], field observations [ 39 ] and other similar ways; indirect research methods refer to methods that get data from websites [ 40 ], articles[ 41 , 42 ], yearbooks [ 43 ], institutions [ 44 ] and other similar ways; experimental research methods refer to methods that get data through computer experiments such as remote sensing (RS) and geographic information system (GIS) [ 45 ], or ground sample monitoring like sample plot [ 46 ] and online tracer test [ 18 ], or other similar methods. As the most commonly used method for related studies, the first two types of methods are mostly used in humanities research, such as stakeholder attitudes towards heritage conservation and tourism and their influencing factors. The third type of method is mostly used in natural research, such as the impact of heritage tourism on soil, vegetation, and water ecology in heritage sites. Table 1 shows some representative specific methods, data sources, core content and references of these methods.

The vast majority of relevant studies obtain data through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders such as tourists and residents, as well as in-direct data from websites, reports, institutions and so on. Few scholars obtain data through monitoring experiments or geographic information technology in natural heritage sites. Long-term experimental monitoring research is even more blank. No studies have been found that combined experimental monitoring methods with questionnaire interviews or geographic information technology. This brings great difficulty to the collaborative research and management of natural heritage tourism and protection.

Investigation and research methods used in related researches include in-depth interviews and fieldwork, landscape sensitivity assessment, analytic hierarchy process (AHP), Delphi method, structural equation modelling (SEM), travel cost method, contingent valuation method, perception survey, open-ended interviews, principal component analysis (PCA), system dynamics model, what is not there (WINT) analysis and convergent parallel mixed method. The advantages of these methods are: (1) quantitative analysis of each element can enhance the persuasiveness of the analysis results; (2) it is helpful to find potential relationships between different variables through model analysis; (3) access to deep insights and emotional reflections. The disadvantages are: (1) bias in interpretation of results by investigators and respondents; (2) the acquired data is highly subjective, especially in questionnaires and interviews. These methods are suitable for researches on attitudes, willingness and choices of stakeholders, such as local community and visitors.

Indirect research methods used in related researches include SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, carbon footprint, literature review and expert interview, AHP, fuzzy mathematical methods, official evaluations analysis, panel data analysis, propensity score matching, static model of tourism environment capacity, grounded theory, literature review and website analysis. The advantages of these methods are: (1) simple and easy to operate; (2) easy to obtain the required data; (3) low research cost. But the data of these methods often face problems of poor data correlation, poor timeliness and low reliability. These methods are suitable for theoretical analysis researches and researches with low requirements on data timeliness and resolution.

Experimental study methods used in related researches mainly include two categories: geographic information technology and experimental monitoring. Specifically, these methods contain remote sensing, GIS, global static partial equilibrium model, landscape pattern index, high-resolution online tracer test, and investigation method of sample plot. Geographic information technology can quickly obtain spatiotemporal data of large-scale study areas, which is suitable for monitoring and research of natural heritage sites. But it needs to be combined with ground monitoring survey data to increase the precision of its analysis results. The results obtained by the ground monitoring method are the most objective and accurate among all methods, but usually require higher professional knowledge of operators, and are time-consuming and costly.

Technologies

Compared with cultural World Heritage sites, natural properties are often more difficult to display and manage, with large area and complex natural and man-made influencing factors. The introduction of 3S technology (remote sensing, geography information systems, global positioning systems), 3D laser scanning technology, virtual reality (VR) technology, augmented reality (AR) technology, holographic projection technology, computer digital technology and other modern technical means is conductive to the digital construction, post-disaster landscape restoration and ecological restoration, and efficient manage of natural World Heritage sites.

Spatial information technology with 3S technology as the core has become the main technical means of current resource and environmental investigation and analysis [ 78 ]. The conservation and tourism researches on aesthetic value (criterion vii) and geological and landform value (criterion viii) conservation and tourism of natural World Heritage sites mostly use this technology. Zhou et al. [ 79 ] revealed the relationship between the tourism development process and the landscape pattern of the natural property based on multi-period remote sensing images. Xiao et al. [ 80 ] carried out an evaluation of the impact of tourism project construction on the aesthetic value of heritage landscapes based on GIS perspective analysis. Furthermore, remote sensing images are also widely used to measure and interpret the changes of the geological hazards area and the scale of disaster[ 81 ], as well as vegetation' reconstruction [ 82 , 83 ]. The use of 3S technology can effectively monitor the changes in the ecological environment, and is an important technical means for the conservation of natural properties. Researches using this method are relatively mature, but most of them focuses on the ecological change of a single property and the impacts analysis of infrastructure construction, urbanization and other human activities. There are few coupling studies on tourism and heritage ecological changes, and the horizontal comparative study between heritage sites is still blank.

3D laser scanning technology has the characteristics of fast scanning speed, strong initiative, high precision and low cost, which provides a new technical means for cave measurement [ 84 ]. Zhou et al. [ 85 ] discussed the morphological characteristics and control factors of Miao Chamber, which was included on the World Heritage Tentative List of China in 2019, based on terrestrial laser. Using 3D laser scanning technology to carry out cave measurement and imaging, mapping and analysis can effectively promote the popularization of the scientific value of cave heritage sites and the improvement of tourism quality.

Through technical means such as VR, AR and holographic projection technology, tourism products and tourism experiences can be extended to the field of virtual tourism [ 86 ], and the interactive experience of heritage tourism can be enhanced. In addition, the application of computer digitization technology has further promoted the efficient management of heritage tourism. Shilin Karst strengthens the informatization of geological heritage conservation and tourism management through the construction of smart platforms such as video surveillance, call center system, and GIS system [ 87 ]. Chen [ 88 ] built the tourism management system of the natural World Heritage site based on ASP.NET, WWW information service site technology, Browser/Server model, and SQL database system. Digital construction and smart tourism under the premise of protecting heritage value are the general trend of heritage tourism development and an effective management model.

Based on different research perspectives, scholars have proposed the ecological popular science tourism development model, the community participation tourism model, the ecological compensation model, the World Heritage-buffer zone-peripheral area coordinated protection model and other collaborative model of natural World Heritage conservation and tourism.

Wen [ 33 ] constructed an ecological popular science tourism development model based on the landscape spatial structure and morphological characteristics of the natural World Heritage site from the perspective of tourists. This model not only emphasizes the realization and acquisition of ecological popular science tourism, but also focuses on the management of various elements of the tourism, so as to facilitate its continuous development, rather than being limited to the existing ecological popular science tourism activities. But the specific implementation paths of this model still need further study.

Yang [ 89 ] proposed the natural heritage protection model of “feeding farmers through travel” from the perspective of the community. This type of model can effectively improve the income, conservation willingness, sense of belonging and education level of community residents, and is applicable to all World Heritage sites. However, in practice, this model often has problems such as lack of participation in decision-making, economic benefit distribution that is out of sync with the economic development of heritage sites, and the lack of effective guarantees for economic participation [ 90 ].

To solve these problems, Duan and Li [ 73 ] proposed to use the ecological compensation model to coordinate the protection of heritage values and the protection of indigenous interests. Their research method is to use the global static partial equilibrium model of Costanza et al. [ 91 ] to obtain landscape change information by interpreting remote sensing images, and to assess the ecological assets and depletion of natural ecosystems. On this basis, Fu [ 92 ] proposed a multi-ecological compensation mechanism for karst natural heritage sites by combining interviews with community residents and questionnaires on tourists, taking into account the interests of all stakeholders.

The conservation of World Heritage is inextricably linked to its buffer zone and wider peripheral areas, especially in karst-type natural World Heritage Sites. Due to the special above-ground-underground dual structure and complex hydrological system of the karst areas, the coordination and protection of the buffer zone and its surrounding areas is crucial to the sustainable development of the karst sites. Xiong et al. [ 93 ] constructed the World Heritage-buffer zone-peripheral area coordinated protection model (Table 2 ). This model organically combines World Heritage conservation, the prevention and control of rocky desertification with the development of surrounding communities, and promotes the sustainable development of natural World Heritage sites in karst areas.

Future research directions

Systematically explore the conservation methods and theories based on world heritage criteria.

Aiming at the problem of fragmented analysis and problem-oriented research in the studies of World Heritage conservation, it is an urgent need to systematically explore heritage conservation methods and theories based on World Heritage criteria. The World Heritage Budapest Declaration adopted by the World Heritage Committee in 2002 pointed out that an appropriate and reasonable balance should be sought between heritage conservation, sustainability and development [ 94 ]. Scholars’ understanding of World Heritage conservation and tourism has gone through three stages: conflict theory, reconciliation theory and synergy theory [ 95 ]. However, due to the huge disparity in the number of cultural heritage sites and natural heritage sites, scholars’ research on heritage conservation mostly focuses on cultural heritage, and less on natural heritage. Most of the related studies are fragmented analysis or problem-oriented research, or regard natural properties just as a special study area like other protected areas, with little characteristics of the World Heritage. The systematic theories and methods for heritage conservation has not yet formed. With the increasing number of world heritage sites and the trend of human and natural life community, researches on the theories and methods based on World Heritage criteria and classified conservation of heritage values are imminent.

Formulate corresponding conservation systems and ecological restoration standards for different types of properties

Aiming at the problem of unclear objects of heritage protection and restoration degree of World Heritage, the protection systems and ecological restoration standards of different World Heritage types need to be discussed. Since the birth of World Heritage Convention in 1972, World Heritage has a history of fifty years. However, what exactly are the World Heritage site to protect, how to protect them, and to what extent to restore the damage that has occurred, how to restore? These problems still plague scholars and heritage managers in actual researches and conservation management practices. UNESCO World Heritage Center and scholars agree that the core element of World Heritage is OUV, which includes three aspects: satisfying World Heritage criteria, authenticity/integrity, and protection and management. We must protect the carrier that embodies the OUV of World Heritage sites. But what elements are contained in each World Heritage criterion or the OUV carrier of each type of World Heritage has become a broad issue that has not been discussed. Scholars tend to study the protection of things that can be seen and felt in the short term, such as water quality, vegetation coverage and vegetation types, species diversity, protection of buildings and rock paintings, post-earthquake recovery, cave microorganisms and so on. Little attention has been paid to things whose changes can only be perceived over a long period of geological history, such as the preservation of landform values. In addition, the extent to which OUV should be protected and restored after being destroyed are also unclear, which hinders the researches on heritage conservation and the effectiveness of practice in solving practical problems.

Give full play to the complementary advantages of various research methods and reveal the mutual feedback mechanism between tourism and heritage conservation

The main research methods used in related researches are investigation research methods, indirect research methods, and experimental study methods. Related researches mostly use the first two types of methods. The vast majority of relevant studies obtain data through questionnaires and interviews with stakeholders such as tourists and residents. However, natural World Heritage sites are protected areas dominated by natural ecosystems, and the importance of experimental study methods, such as experimental monitoring and geographic information technology, in the mutual feedback research on heritage value conservation and tourism cannot be ignored. While these methods are rarely used in current research. Long-term series of experimental monitoring studies or studies that combine these types of methods are even more blank. Each kind of method has its own advantages and disadvantages. In future researches, the three kinds of methods should be combined, together with the heritage database constructed by long-term experimental monitoring, to deeply analyze the mutual feedback mechanism between heritage conservation and tourism.

Develop ecological restoration technology based on biodiversity restoration

In response to the problem of land degradation around the natural properties, ecological corridors need to be built through species diversity restoration to expand the benign outward influence of heritage ecology. There are many land degradation phenomena around natural World Heritage sites. On the one hand, due to the requirements for protection and management attributes when applying for the title of World Heritage, areas with better natural environment are often included in the scope of World Heritage when the boundary is delimited. While the buffer zone and its surrounding ecological environment are poor or disturbed by human activities. On the other hand, due to the requirements of the World Heritage Convention on the protection and management, environmental protection in World Heritage sites is generally given great attention, while the ecological environment of the buffer zone is often neglected, weakening the buffering effect of the buffer zones. Unreasonable tourism activities, infrastructure construction and urbanization in the buffer zones have accelerated the pace of land degradation. Vegetation is the most basic part of a terrestrial ecosystem, and all other organisms depend on it [ 96 ]. Species diversity is the manifestation of biodiversity at the species level, which can represent the structural complexity of biological communities, and reflects the structure type, organization level, development stage, degree of stability and habitat level of the community [ 97 , 98 ]. It is one of the key contents for future research to develop a series of ecological restoration technologies based on biodiversity restoration. It can be realized by building the radial ecological corridor connecting the World Heritage sites, buffer zones and their periphery, and driving the restoration of species diversity through vegetation restoration, so as to expand the benign ecological environment of the properties to wider periphery.

Build ecological compensation development models based on the perspective of heritage tourism and value realization of world heritage

Most of the World Heritage sites are important tourist attractions due to their high-grade tourism resources and outstanding scientific value. However, how to achieve these outstanding values has not yet been answered. In addition, stakeholders have different impacts on the ecological environment due to different ways of participating in tourism. Different travel models and behaviors of tourists, and different ways of providing tourism-related services (such as homestays, picking, hiking, rafting) will have different contribution values to the ecological degradation of tourist destinations. Ecological compensation can enhance the conservation awareness and protection behavior of tourism stakeholders, thereby promoting ecological protection and ecological restoration. As one of the effective ways to balance social benefits, economic benefits and environmental benefits, it has been widely valued by scholars and managers since it was proposed [ 99 ]. In the past, scholars have studied the ecological compensation mechanism, impact factors, and compensation methods of forest resources, wetland resources, grassland resources and so on. Some scholars paid attention to ecological compensation from the perspective of community residents and farmers' livelihoods. However, few attentions have been paid to targeted ecological compensation studies in natural World Heritage sites [ 100 , 101 ]. Thus, aiming at the problem of ecological degradation caused by the unbalanced distribution of benefits from tourism and unclear paths to realize the heritage values, researches on ecological compensation mechanism based on tourism perspective and value realization path of World Heritage are needed.

Conclusions

This literature review summarized the research progress of natural world heritage conservation and tourism from the perspectives of theory, method, technology and model, and proposed future research directions.

Our findings indicate that the UNESCO World Heritage Center and IUCN are the main force of the theory research, and put forward important theories such as authenticity, integrity, buffer zone, and sustainable tourism of heritage sites. Scholars have also introduced heritage corridor theory, ecological theory, experience economy theory, actor network theory, symmetry theory, sustainable livelihood framework, life cycle assessment theory, carbon footprint and so on into related researches from the perspective of social science. In future researches, we should pay more attention to the particularity of world heritage, and focus on theoretical and methodological research based on different world heritage value standards.

We also found that the vast majority of current research uses social science research methods, especially questionnaires and in-depth interviews. In addition, mathematical modeling methods are also common methods in related research. Only a few scholars use experimental monitoring or geographic information technology methods to carry out research from the perspective of natural science. No studies have been found that combine these types of methods. In future research, attention should be paid to the combination of long-term experimental monitoring data of natural heritage sites with social science and geographic information technology to build a natural heritage monitoring database to promote in-depth research and scientific management of natural heritage.

In terms of technology, scholars have used modern technical means including 3S technology, 3D laser scanning technology, virtual reality technology, augmented reality technology, holographic projection technology, and computer digital technology to promote the digital construction, smart tourism and post-disaster landscape restoration and ecological restoration in heritage sites. In future researches, ecological restoration technologies based on biodiversity restoration should also be paid attention to. And radial ecological corridors should be constructed to connect properties, buffer zones and their periphery, so as to expand the benign ecological environment of the natural properties to the buffer zones and wider peripheral areas.

Regarding the coordinated model of natural world heritage conservation and tourism, scholars have proposed models such as ecological popular science tourism development, community participation in heritage tourism, ecological compensation, and coordinated protection of property, buffer zone and peripheral areas. The core starting points are stakeholders' participation in heritage tourism, distribution of heritage tourism income and heritage zoning.

Furthermore, we put forward the following research prospects: (1) systematically explore the conservation methods and theories based on world heritage criteria; (2) formulate corresponding conservation systems and ecological restoration standards for different types of world heritage; (3) give full play to the complementary advantages of various research methods and reveal the mutual feedback mechanism between tourism and heritage conservation; (4) develop ecological restoration technology based on biodiversity restoration, establish radial ecological corridor, and expand the benign ecological environment of the properties to wider periphery; (5) build ecological compensation development models based on the perspective of heritage tourism and value realization of world heritage.

However, this study still has some limitations. Firstly, the research theme of world natural heritage protection and tourism involves the interdisciplinary integration of ecology, environmental science, tourism and other disciplines. Although we used some synonyms to cover more publications in this field, the retrieval results may still be incomplete due to the complexity and limitations of literature database and search methods. The search results of related articles in this study are subject to uncertainty but have little influence on the exploration of research progress and future research directions of natural World Heritage conservation and tourism in terms of the overall direction of research development. Monographs, newspapers, patents, technical reports and other types of literature, as well as articles in other literature databases may further clarify our findings. Finally, there is a certain degree of subjectivity in articles inclusion and subject analysis.

Availability of data and materials

The data presented in this study are openly available in [China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI)] at [ https://www.cnki.net/ ] and Web of Science (WOS) at [ https://www.webofscience.com ].

Abbreviations

Web of Science

China National Knowledge Infrastructure

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Outstanding Universal Value

International Union for Conservation of Nature

Science Citation Index Expanded

Social Sciences Citation Index

Emerging Sources Citation Index

Science Citation Index

The Engineering Index

Chinese Social Sciences Citation Index

Chinese Science Citation Database

Remote Sensing

Geographic Information System

Analytic hierarchy process

Structural equation modelling

Principal component analysis

What is not there

Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats

China Entrepreneur Investment Club

National aeronautics and space administration

Remote sensing, geography information systems, global positioning systems

Three Dimensions

Virtual reality

Augmented reality

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support of Guizhou normal university. We would also like to thank the editors and anonymous reviewers for their helpful and productive comments on the manuscript.

This research was funded by the Philosophy and Social Science Planning Key Project of Guizhou Province (Grant No. 21GZZB43), the Key Project of Science and Technology Program of Guizhou Province (Grant No. 5411 2017 Qiankehe Pingtai Rencai) and the China Overseas Expertise Introduction Program for Discipline Innovation (Grant No. D17016).

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All authors are contributed to the manuscript. Conceptualization, ZZ and XK; methodology, ZZ; validation, ZZ; formal analysis, ZZ; data curation, ZZ; writing—original draft preparation, ZZ; writing—review and editing, ZZ, XK and HD; visualization, ZZ and HD; project administration, XK; funding acquisition, XK. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

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Zhang, Z., Xiong, K. & Huang, D. Natural world heritage conservation and tourism: a review. Herit Sci 11 , 55 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-023-00896-6

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Constructing heritage, shaping tourism: Festivals and local heritage governance at Hampi World Heritage Site, Karnataka, India in C.Palmer and J.Tivers (eds.) Creating Heritage for Tourism, Routledge, pp.50-64.

This chapter seeks to examine the complex and contradictory processes of local heritage creation and governance at the UNESCO Cultural World Heritage (WH) Site of Hampi in Karnataka, India, through the lens of tourism. The site itself is a well-known cultural heritage destination on both national and international tourism circuits. However the nature of tourism at the site is complex; individuals and groups are difficult to fit into neat categories as, for example, religious, cultural, adventure or leisure tourists. This is because, although the site is officially promoted by local government (various authorities which manage the site) as ‘ruins’ and ‘monuments’, in reality it is much more than that. It is a combination of monuments (ASI 2011), archaeological park, cultural landscape (UNESCO 2008), living heritage (INTACH 2004) and metaphysical (Lambha 2007) or embodied space (Low 2003), all intersecting at one location . Accordingly, international and domestic tourists do not come here seeking only ‘ruins to sketch’ or ‘landscapes to photograph’ but for the mix of nature and culture that the site offers. There are also many regional visitors, mainly pilgrims or religious tourists, who can be seen at various locations on site throughout the year participating in a regular cycle of events. However, as far as local government is concerned, such regional visitors are not tourists; the ‘ideal tourist’, or ‘tourist’ per se, is one who comes, sees the ruins, photographs them and leaves ‘without causing any mess’. Such a definition excludes the majority of the site’s visitors and the reality of most parts of the site – an agricultural landscape that encompasses ruins, monuments, temples, fields, settlements, villages, people and their day-to-day life. Since 1982, when the ICOMOS expert team visited the site to review its WH inscription, there have been unsuccessful attempts to incorporate such daily activities into the site’s official designation (by changing it from group of monuments to cultural landscape: see Thakur (2007a and b)). I argue here that this lack of success stems from the particular construction of Hampi’s heritage, which serves certain vested interests within electoral, identity and cultural politics. In this chapter I present narratives and observations of different actors around the Jathre and Utsav. The former is the chariot festival of Virupaksha temple, one of the principal ‘living’ temple complexes on site. The event could be interpreted as an expression of the site’s ‘livingness’ or ‘intangibility’, but local government bodies deem it, and its visitors (mainly regional pilgrims), a hindrance to the ‘proper’ management of the site. The Utsav is a government sponsored mega cultural festival set ‘amidst the magnificent ruins of Hampi’, where the ‘ideal tourist’ is welcomed; in fact it is an orchestrated public performance ‘govern[ing] by spectacle’ (Harvey 2006), the portrayal of Hampi that most suits such a performance being ruins and grand monuments (see Guha-Thaukrta 2004, Singh 2004). The various observations and ethnographic vignettes presented here derive from fieldwork carried out between January 2016 and April 2017; each field period was planned around a cycle of major events at the site. It is part of my doctoral work that seeks to understand the ‘heritage idea’ among different individuals/groups, especially resident communities living in a particular cultural and geographical context. I build on this understanding to examine possible intersections, including convergences and/or divergences among different notions of ‘heritage’ and how they impinge on both place and people.

Related Papers

"Anthropological Notebooks" 23: 3, p. 19-43

Natalia Bloch

The article seeks reasons behind the "spatial cleansing" that was initiated at the Hampi UNESCO World Heritage site in India in 2011, and resulted in a significant number of residents being evicted. The local authorities, supported by archaeological bodies and tourism agencies, first targeted the medieval bazaar where people lived and worked within an informal tourism sector. I argue that this was the outcome of a "taxonomic panic", caused by the fear by authorities of a "confusion of categories". I analyse how the official representations of Hampi's landscape, created by archaeologists and tourism specialists, reveal this panic. I also demonstrate how the residents of a disappearing village responded to the authorities' way of imagining and managing the site by employing different practices of making do. The article is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in Hampi as well as on secondary data.

Journal of Social Archaeology

Krupa Rajangam

In this paper I examine the ‘heritage regime’ instituted at Hampi, Karnataka, India, consequent to its inscription as World Heritage, by analysing everyday material practices of conservation-management at the site through the lens of ‘care’. I argue that the regime is undoubtedly a bureaucracy as popularly imagined but of care premised on knowledge and not of apathy. I suggest that various on-going contestations amongst social actors is over the appropriateness of care, based on a particular visual aesthetic, which results in spatio-temporal material alienation of resident communities. Confusing consequence for cause, practice seeks to ‘engage’ with people whose alienation from ‘official’ heritage they are party to, which inevitably leading to everyday ‘heartbreak’ for experts, disillusionment among residents, and conflicted position for local heritage agencies, albeit unintentionally.

Searching for a new approach to development, tourism, and local needs at the grand medieval city of Hampi

Nalini M Thakur

The model I have been developing for Responsible heritage site management for India has been articulated in this paper. It introduces the new paradigm required. First of all Heritage Site is part of Governance and not an interest of individuals s it has been. Bringing the living World heritage site within mainstream development is a very big challenge . The official system has to work in a co-ordinated way. The paper introduces some of the complex issues.

Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 56 (2013) 433-470

Kathleen Morrison

The eponymous capital of Vijayanagara was largely abandoned following the defeat of the imperial army at Talikota in 1565. The city was burned and looted and its monumental temple complexes, gateways, and images left in ruins. Despite large-scale damage to architecture in the city, however, the level and focus of destruction was strikingly variable. In this paper, we draw on the material record of late Vijayanagara temple complexes and other archaeological evidence to examine patterns of differentially distributed political violence. We suggest that these patterns may be understood, in part, in terms of the contemporary politics of sovereignty, incorporation, and reconstitution of elite authority. Drawing on these observations, we discuss the role of commemorative destruction as well as post-1565 temple rededications and abandonments in the afterlife of Vijayanagara as a social space. In particular, we examine the potential of monumental violence to act as a symbol or to index social memory through a creative and fluid process of instituting claims about the past,heritage, authenticity, and the nature of the present.

Somi Chatterjee

This paper attempts at highlighting the importance of realising the impact of changing definitions of global and local and the role of policies in protecting the interests of a ‘local’ for sustainable heritage management. Cultural resource can be defined by its nature and associational values rather than its location or its status as World Heritage. For example, sacred sites of Benaras, Haridwar or Kailash-Mansarovar although not ‘World Heritage’, are more ‘local’ to the lives of Hindus world over. The same holds good for secular sites too. In such cases, the definition of local or global becomes immaterial as the ‘everyone’ is a stakeholder with varying responses and responsibilities. The nomination of a property as ‘World Heritage’, especially in countries where a standard approach towards heritage management at a national policy level is yet to be adopted, it initiates a chain reaction, that alters the definition of stakeholders, hence their responses to the site. The nominated property becomes a magnet for interested groups with respective agendas and monetary superiority to dominate decision-making. It is in such cases, that the definition of global or local becomes indispensible as will be demonstrated through the case of Hampi, World heritage area, India.

World Heritage and Legacy Culture, Creativity, Contamination. The Vie dei Mercanti XVII International Forum

Ishita Shah

Several concerns have been raised about the representation and participation of local stakeholders in heritage projects in India. On the one hand, there are cases where local inhabitants have been evicted or displaced in the name of protecting heritage. On the other, there are initiatives where preservation of cultural heritage is treated at par with the conservation of the built structures. Even such initiatives have been posed with questions about the role of local groups in the preservation and management of historic assets beyond just the promotion of their cultural practices. In fact, there are a few initiatives which have also been planned from the bottom-up, where capacity building of community members is one of their keystones. It is envisaged that the local stakeholders will take full control and manage the heritage site, post conservation and planning. But, this handing over of responsibility has also not assured the required leadership and collective values. These never-ending binaries of "them" versus "us" have given rise to the need for defining inclusivity: what does it mean to be included? What are the roles and responsibilities of the stakeholders in an inclusive process? Does an inclusive process remain unchanged from one micro-context to another? Is inclusion limited to human participation or can it allow non-human participation as well? This paper is an attempt to address these questions and explore the role of various knowledge systems in achieving inclusivity.

Manoj Patel

International Journal on Emerging Technologies 10(1): 74-84(2019)

Shraddha Chandan

The long evolution of cultural heritage till today's wide meaning is intimately linked to France, where this concept born in the 19 th century, during the Revolution, the Empire and the Restoration to various parts of the world. It originates from its recognition as an expression of national identity and progresses through a sequence of legislative acts: initially linked to the preservation of individual monuments, later of the sites and protected areas, and then of the historic centres. The interrelation between culture, heritage, conservation and tourism is very crucial and it is imperative to create stronger links between historic sites, monuments and indigenous people in the community. In 1987, Brundtland report defined the concept of sustainability which involves "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." This paper highlights the different ideologies in the history of the conservation movement and shows a long progress of theories implied through history since it started in early classical ages until the modern globalization era, and highlights certain points as optimistic strategy to be applied in the conservation of historic city. After reviewing history of ideologies, the papers aims to validate the progress in the urban conservation approaches in India and abroad by examining its historic evolution. The evaluation of the approaches in conservation projects demonstrates the positivism of the ideologies to sustain these intensive projects.

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HERITAGE CONSERVATION POLICY IN THE AGE OF TOURISM: DEVELOPING FRAMEWORKS FOR CONSERVATION, MANAGEMENT, AND SUSTAINABILITY IN PHILIPPINE LOCAL GOVERNMENTS - THE CASE OF THE CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA

With the increased role of local authorities in creating cultural policy, gathering information on how successful and sustainable local heritage conservation programs are established will be very valuable in crafting future policies. This dissertation investigated the development of local government heritage conservation policies in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga in the Philippines in order to determine (1) predictors of community support for heritage conservation policy – why communities support heritage conservation policy and what characteristics or elements of communities lead them to support heritage conservation policies, (2) factors that lead to the adoption and implementation of heritage conservation policies or policy drivers of heritage conservation policy, and (3) given the deeper understanding of community support and policy drivers, the relationship between these predictors and drivers with heritage conservation policy management and sustainability. It did this by being cognizant of the lack of homogeneity across communities, with actors, factors, contexts, and nuances specific to each community.

Implementing two component studies, the dissertation used mixed methods, which interprets and integrates information drawn from the combined strength of both quantitative and qualitative data, following the convergent design (Creswell and Plano Clark, 2018; Harrison et al., 2020) and guided by the Rigorous Mixed Methods framework (Harrison, Reilly and Creswell, 2020). This first study used a self-administered online survey to collect data from stakeholders and ordinary residents of the City of San Fernando, Pampanga which was analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). In the second study, guided by the naturalist paradigm (Guba and Lincoln, 1982; Lincoln and Guba, 1985), transcripts of semi-structured interviews conducted by City Tourism and Investment Promotion Office (CTIPO) were coded and analyzed using the grounded theory approach. It combined several coding approaches, specifically a blended approach (Skjott Linneberg, and Korsgaard, 2006), with the the Gioia Methodology (Gioia et al., 2012) and Ünlü-Qureshi instrument (Qureshi and Ünlü, 2020)

The integration of qualitative and quantitative data and results was guided by the dimensions of the mixed methods research integration trilogy (Fetters and Molina-Azorin, 2017). The dissertation identified predictors for community support for heritage conservation policy, policy drivers of the heritage conservation policy process, and the relationship between these predictors and drivers and within the heritage conservation policy process and produced three models: (1) predictors of community support for local heritage conservation policy, (2) heritage conservation policy drivers, and (3) managerial implications for heritage conservation policy sustainability, and a framework for heritage conservation, management, and sustainability. The data suggested that in the case of San Fernando, (1) knowledge and awareness, (2) sense of belonging and attachment, (3) place image and community identity, and (4) evaluation of value are predictors of support for heritage conservation policies, with evaluation of value as a mediator for the first three. It also identified two major policy drivers: (1) good governance, and (2) heritage consciousness, and six specific policy drivers: (1) understanding the dynamics of heritage conservation, (2) addressing program sustainability, (3) stakeholder integration in the policy process, (4) appreciation of process-oriented governance, (5) manifesting pride and attachment, and (6) awareness of long-term outcomes of policies, that serve as factors leading to the adoption and implementation of heritage conservation policies. The predictors and policy drivers were incorporated into a single framework for heritage conservation policy management and sustainability.

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• Hospitality and Tourism Management

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• West Lafayette

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Additional committee member 2, additional committee member 3, additional committee member 4, usage metrics.

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The value of a strong national brand to cultural heritage and sustainable tourism (Case study: building the Thai brand image through the world expositions)

• Intaraboonsom, N.
• Chapman, W.
• Tangpoonsupsiri, T.

This paper discusses some of the research done for my PhD thesis at the faculty of architecture of Silpakorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The thesis is titled Nation Brand Strategies: National Identity, Architecture and Cultural Heritage Value: A case study of the Thai Pavilion at the World Expos. It includes the review of Thailand's history of place branding at World Expositions since 1862. This paper discusses the changes over time, the role of architecture and cultural heritage at the World Expos as well as branding strategies using national culture and the long history of sustainable goals at the World Expos. One of the main potential brand gaps identified was the choice of traditional Thai architecture instead of more contemporary architecture for the pavilions. A suggested solution is to this gap is use the symbolic elements of the traditional architecture, but use modern physical elements. An important conclusion drawn is that the World Expo is mostly a branding event to attract visitors to the country, rather than an architecture or technology show, despite its long history and origins in that area. World Expositions can help to earn respect of potential visitors for the culture, and help with preservation.

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Examining the mediating effect of the rural economic dynamization between the socio-environmental heritage and sustainability of protected areas.

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 2.1. socio-environmental heritage (seh), 2.2. sustainability of protected areas (spa), 2.3. rural economic dynamization (red), 3. materials and methods, 3.1. design, 3.2. working unit, 3.3. sample size, 3.4. instrument, 3.5. procedure, 4.1. evaluation of the first- and second-order models, 4.2. evaluation of the structural model, 4.3. importance–performance map analysis (ipma), 5. discussion, 6. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Share and Cite

Castro Ortegón, Y.A.; Acosta-Prado, J.C.; Acosta Castellanos, P.M.; Romero Correa, J.P. Examining the Mediating Effect of the Rural Economic Dynamization between the Socio-Environmental Heritage and Sustainability of Protected Areas. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 6525. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156525

Castro Ortegón YA, Acosta-Prado JC, Acosta Castellanos PM, Romero Correa JP. Examining the Mediating Effect of the Rural Economic Dynamization between the Socio-Environmental Heritage and Sustainability of Protected Areas. Sustainability . 2024; 16(15):6525. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156525

Castro Ortegón, Yuddy Alejandra, Julio César Acosta-Prado, Pedro Mauricio Acosta Castellanos, and Juan Pablo Romero Correa. 2024. "Examining the Mediating Effect of the Rural Economic Dynamization between the Socio-Environmental Heritage and Sustainability of Protected Areas" Sustainability 16, no. 15: 6525. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16156525

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Current Trends Influencing the Competitiveness of International Tourism

• Svetlana V. VERETEKHINA Russian State Social University, Moscow
• Alla V. MEDVEDEVA Russian State Social University, Moscow
• Mikhail V. VINICHENKO Russian State Social University, Moscow
• Tatiana S. DEMCHENKO Russian State Social University, Moscow
• Tatyana V. KARYAGINA Russian State Social University, Moscow
• Sergey A. MAKUSHKIN Russian State Social University, Moscow

Relevance of the research topic is conditioned by the need for scientific and methodological support of the competitiveness of international tourism. The article analyzes modern trends in international tourism. The preferences of the international tourist are determined. Favorable factors that determine the superiority of international tourism are determined. During the research, a systematic analysis was carried out, which makes it possible to comprehensively consider the problems of international tourism, analyze the advantages and disadvantages, and draw up reasoned conclusions. The article analyzes the state of competition in the market using the following indicators. The first indicator is the market concentration ratio (CR – Market Share Concentration Ratio). The second indicator is the index of the market concentration of Herfindahl-Hirschman (HHI – Herfindahl-Hirschman Index). Franchising and reengineering of processes are considered as tools for increasing the competitiveness of international tourism. Scientific novelty is the definition of new trends affecting the competitiveness of international tourism, based on calculated indicators. The materials of the article are of practical importance for increasing the competitiveness of enterprises and organizations of international tourism of various countries.

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National heritage area to host regional tourism conference

Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area invites all tourism industry professionals to the annual Highlands Creative Economy Tourism Summit Aug. 5 at the West Virginia Schools for the Deaf & the Blind in Romney.

This year’s event will emphasize the importance of addressing accessibility in the tourism and hospitality sectors.

The tourism summit will feature presentations from regional experts and offer the opportunity to learn about tools and resources for tourism organizations, and to network with peers in the industry. This event is free to attend and open to anyone interested in tourism in the region.

Register or learn more at afnha.org/news-archives/2024-tourism-summit.

Sessions will cover Accessibility, Agritourism, Hospitality, Community Development, Heritage Tourism and more.

The keynote address will highlight Eric Thompson of Access on the Go, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting accessibility and adaptive recreation opportunities throughout the Appalachian region. Thompson will discuss the need for and benefits of tourism and hospitality businesses to serve travelers with disabilities, and share the resources and tools organizations can use to make their communities more accessible.

Highlands Creative Economy (HCE) is a partnership between Appalachian Forest National Heritage Area and Eastern WV Community & Technical College.

The HCE program hosts a monthly networking meeting for tourism-related organizations, training events, workshops and the annual tourism summit. Meetings are 10 a.m. the fourth Thursday of every month on Zoom.

HCE is supported in part by the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the National Park Service. Learn more at afnha.org/creative-economy.

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The UAE days in Moscow event showcases the nation’s unique cultural heritage

The event featured performances of Emirati artists

In the thriving city of Moscow, Manezh Square, also known as the location for the Summer in Moscow event, was particularly lively for five days thanks to The UAE days in Moscow programme, organised to celebrate the UAE’s national heritage.

It was an honour for the audience to witness a traditional Emirati wedding. The beautiful bride, adorned in a spectacular dress, was accompanied by many women as she made her way to the groom’s house to perform the traditional ritual known as Ayala. It was fascinating to observe the traditions. Following this, there was a joyful collective dance and music session, which was also very pleasurable to watch. The event featured performances by the Al Otaiba and Al Mazyoud bands, a fashion show with Emirati music, multiple stalls offering national treats and popular UAE dishes, henna tattoo stands, and a photo exhibition showcasing stunning views of the UAE.

The success of the event highlighted Moscow as a prime destination for tourists interested in Russian culture, its rich history, and learning about different other cultures. Moreover, various international events held at popular tourist attractions introduced residents to the cultures of other countries.

This programme has helped Russia and the UAE strengthen their social, cultural and economical bonds. As of early February, there were around 150 flights a week from Moscow to Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.

Moscow, as a a top tourist destination, attracted over 2.3 million tourists in 2023 from all across the world. This year, a business mission to the UAE was held on February 7, and in May, a delegation from Moscow took part in the ATM exhibition in Dubai. The purpose of their participation at the event was to promote Moscow as a top tourist destination by showcasing the city’s rich history, tourist attractions and visitor safety. For more information, email [email protected]

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Maryland Heritage Areas Authority Grants fund local heritage tourism projects

The Maryland Heritage Areas Authority will award grants totaling more than $5 million across the state’s 13 certified heritage areas.

Applicants within the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area, encompassing parts of Carroll, Frederick and Washington counties, were awarded $419,217 to fund heritage tourism projects that support local economies and share the unique history of the region.

"The seven projects funded this year include critical preservation projects and support for visitor experiences that will shed light on previously forgotten or sidelined stories of our past,” said Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area Executive Director Elizabeth Shatto. “Ultimately, these projects will serve new and expanding audiences who seek and draw inspiration from our authentic history and culture."

Projects in the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area receiving funds:

• American Battlefield Trust — $100,000 for acquisition of the Hagerstown Pike I Tract at Antietam Battlefield
• Catoctin Furnace Historical Society Inc. — $100,000 for restoring and reopening the Historic F.W. Fraley Store
• Community Foundation of Carroll County Incorporated — $7,000 for Ellsworth Cemetery signage
• Historical Society of Carroll County — $15,000 for Mary Shellman Civil War to Suffrage exhibit
• National Museum of Civil War Medicine Incorporated — $50,000 for museum upgrade (schematic and design planning)
• Town of Sharpsburg — $13,550 for Big Spring Masonry restoration
• Washington County Historical Trust Inc. — $8,667 for Saylor House in Kiwanis Park (restoration and reuse, phase 6 main level flooring repairs)

In addition to the project grants listed above, the Heart of the Civil War Heritage Area was awarded grants of $100,000 for management of the Heritage Area and $25,000 to be distributed as mini-grants to stakeholders in the region.

For more information, contact Elizabeth Scott Shatto, executive director, by sending an email to [email protected] or by calling 240-285-6727.

Rotary Club of Hagerstown Foundation awards local grants