Heritage Tourism

Abstract:

Macau has developed its tourism sector when there was a rapid growth on the gaming industry since the 70s. However, there is no longer a comprehensive tourism planning at that time. It was until 1980s, the Portuguese government has tried to preserve the cultural influence over Macau after 1999. By preserving the mixture of Eastern and Western cultures in Macau, it paved the way for the development of cultural tourism in Macau. Nowadays, the development of cultural heritage tourism is significantly successful. The culture of Macau is not merely gaming but the East-West cultural pluralism. Its successfulness in preserving the cultural heritage can be clearly shown when Macao’s Heritage (“The Historic Centre of Macao”) has features on World Heritage List in 2005. This highly facilitated the development of Macau’s Cultural Heritage Tourism. In this report, the development and management of Macau’s cultural heritage tourism will be examined.

1. Introduction

Cultural tourism is type of tourism which is one of the largest and fastest growing segments of global tourism. People usually travel with special interest in order to gain a deep understand about the culture of the destinations. Under the purview of cultural tourism, heritage tourism is one of the most widespread and notable types of tourism. Every year, there are around hundreds of million of people to involve in the heritage tourism. (Dallen and Stephen, 2006, pp. 2) In the destination which has joined the World Heritage List, it is particularly attractive for the urban heritage tourist to visit.

In July 2005, Macau’s Historic Centre World Heritage Site has joined the World Heritage List. As a Special Administrative Region (SAR) within China, Macao is a good example to examine the successfulness of its development on heritage tourism in China and whether it is well-managed. In this report, successfulness of developing heritage tourism in Macao will be discussed. In-field investigations and interviews have been conducted in the report. Academic studies including books and journals will be used as references. Finally, a conclusion will be made and the directions of the future development will be suggested.

1.1 Brief Definition of Cultural and Heritage Tourism

Cultural tourism is a form of special interest tourism and enables people to explore or experience the different way of life of other people. According to Greg Richards, Cultural tourism has been defined as “All movements of persons to specific cultural attractions, such as museum, heritage sites, artistic performances and festivals outside their normal place of residence.”(Richards, 1996, pp. 24) Cultural tourists are thus interested in more experiential aspects of culture. Cultural tourism is not merely consuming cultural products from the past, but also the contemporary culture. It implies that cultural tourism is based on “both the history and heritage of a place and its people, as well as on their contemporary lives”. ( Melanie, 2003, pp.30) In short, cultural tourism is an umbrella term which has included different types of tourism and diverse activities which have a cultural focus. It is often difficult to establish a universally valid definition of cultural tourism. However, most of the definitions include “people”, “places”, and cultural heritage” as the basis for cultural and heritage tourism. (Ap & Mak, 2000, pp.3)

Under the purview of cultural tourism, heritage tourism is increasingly popular in the tourism market. There are various interpretations and descriptions of �heritage’, and perhaps the most commonly accepted definition is �the present day use of the past’. (Ashworth, 2003, pp. 90) This definition is broad and includes both tangible and intangible features of the cultural landscape. Heritage tourism did offer opportunities to portray the past in the present. It provides an infinite time and space in which the past can be experienced through the prism of the endless possibilities of interpretation. (Wiendu, 1996, pp. 250) Moreover, the products of the heritage tourism did help to assert cultural identity in the region. Heritage sites which represent a nation’s past, are an important element in the construction of a national identity (Johnson, 1996, pp. 57).As a result, heritage tourism often appears in a context of cultural and social values. Instead of a supplement to the overall experience, heritage tourism performs a crucial and decisive role in successful urban tourism today. (Middleton, 2007, pp. 7)

Objectives and Methodology

In this report, it is attempt to examine one of the World Heritage Site in China, Macau’s Historic Centre World Heritage Site, as a case study to understand the relationship between heritage and tourism. Then, a research is conducted on whether the Macau government has successfully developed Macau into a famous heritage tourism destination which ensures the balance between conservation and tourism development of the heritage sites with active management. Finally, discussion is made on the issue from the tourists’ point of view to determine how they perceive Macau as a World Heritage centre in