1.0
Introduction
Tourism to sites of cultural heritage
has long existed since the time of Greek antiquity and it has been considered
as the world’s largest and fastest growing industry in our current modern
business world. In addition, tourism has also became one the world’s major
international trades and also acts as a major income for a country plus it
provides many jobs to revitalize and improve local economies. In tourism,
heritage tourism is currently the fastest growing segment in the tourism industry.
The historical and cultural traits of a heritage site are always linked with its
community, giving it a sense of identity and significance plus showing the world their own
uniqueness.
Heritage tourism brings positive impacts
to the local community such as preserving the local culture for the future
generations, increasing a community’s pride and awareness plus visitor
expenditures. However, like any other forms of development, heritage tourism
can also has its own share of problems and negativity which includes social
dislocation, economic dependence, ecological and cultural degradation. Through
the negative impacts of tourism, it has led many people to seek more liable and
competent way which includes many forms of alternative sustainable tourism. While
sustainable tourism is becoming popular, it is no more an ‘alternative’ but now
the ‘mainstream’ in a country’s tourism development.
The purpose of this dissertation is to
explore how unmanaged tourism development affects the local heritage building sites
and solutions to overcome this situation. The site chosen for research in this
dissertation is Malacca. Although it is one of the smallest states in Malaysia,
it is a place that is full of rich history and heritage which dates back to
1400AD and it also attracts millions of tourists each year. Due to Malacca city being an UNESCO World
Heritage site, the building I have chosen is St. Christ Church in the heart of
the city because it is a good place to do research and gain useful information
for this dissertation project with its high human traffic flow and mass amount
of historical buildings.
2.0 What is heritage tourism
-The
National Trust for Historic Preservation defines heritage tourism as “traveling
to experience the places, artifacts and activities that authentically represent
the stories and people of the past and present.”
-quote:
tourism is like fire, it can either cook u a great meal or it can burn down a
house.
-Heritage
has always been a major object of travel and it plays an important role in
tourism at all levels.
-has
been rediscovered as an important marketing tool
-global
highlights of world culture to attractions that underpin local identities
-involves
visiting historical or industrial sites that includes old canals, railways,
battlegrounds
-attract
travelers with special interests in heritage and arts
-trend
for travelers who seeks adventure, culture, history, archaeology and
interaction with local communities.
3.0 The affects of unmanaged tourism on
heritage sites
3.1 Over commercialization
- commercialization
occurs because the rapid growth in tourist industry
- Heritage
site is too publicly commercialized locally and internationally in the form of
media
- Attracts
more casual tourists causing a disaster of too much human contact with the
heritage building on daily basis.
- Inappropriate
tourists behaviors cases overcrowding and congestion
- Too
many number of tourists causes physical and social impacts
- Rapid
increased use of building causes wear and deterioration of heritage sites which
including the building materials- original / after conservation(Christ church)
- Too
high traffic flow causes the soil degradation of the heritage building’s site
- Brings
in building pollutions-sound, air, land
- Increasing
the needs and cost of maintenance and conservation
- Increases
funding as well for repair but only on the main façade because it is the main
factor that generates income and provide services (Christ church)
- Back
area of heritage buildings are neglected due to low attraction and attention
- Local
government tries to make the sites more comfortable for visitors by
standardizing the tourist experience.
- Heritage
buildings loses their own sense of spirituality and authenticity, shifting from
being a special and sacred place to another secular place
3.2 Over exposure
- Heritage
buildings over exposed in terms of privacy
- All
day opened and catered to the needs of tourists to venture in the building
- No
more uniqueness in the building for people to explore
- Too
many visitors causes the degradation of site quality
- Lack
of safety in the heritage building
- No
laws, rules and regulation for heritage buildings’ privacy
- The
items exhibited in the building are not safe due to high traffic flow
- May
be damaged, lost, or stolen due to improper tourist’s attitude causing the lost
of an important piece of history in our country.
- When
is place has no rules and overexposed, it
attracts small vendors (Christ church)
- Surrounds
the heritage buildings, causing a lost of respect and appreciatation of
building’s importance
- Change
of attraction and attention of tourists from building to vendors.
- Destroys
the local customs and cultures due to new development to suit foreigners
causing the lost of privacy of local communities
- Land
value of the heritage building’s site
and the area around it to rise
- Well
known place, more visitors, things around it increases price rapidly.
- Local
community is not able to afford a high cost living, driving out the community
and affecting the heritage site and building.
- No
more human interaction locally, lost of site’s significance.
- Community
around the heritage building becomes economic dependant.
- When
there are no more business opportunity, there are no more community and there won’t be any tourists
- Lack
of funding for building’s conservation
4.0 Sustainable Heritage Tourism
- 4.1
Responsible Planning
- recognizing
the importance of our local heritage building
- looking after the heritage building
- market
and promoting the heritage sites responsibly
- providing
quality employment in the heritage site
- Specific circulation routes is to be prepared to minimize impacts on the integrity and physical fabric of a place
-
4.2 Beneficial
partnership
-
Developing
mutual beneficial partnerships with local community
-
Incorporate
heritage issues into business planning
-
Invest
in people and place
-
Should
be initiated with the help of broad based community
-
Getting
community help to maintain control of tourism development
-
Establish
linkage between local business and tourism responsibly
-
Government and private sector participation
- 4.3 Proper Education and Facilities
- Providing
high quality visitor experiences
- Provide
proper education and training programs on improving and maintaining heritage
building
- Optimize
the visitor’s understand of the building’s significance
- Emphasize
on the visitor’s need for their protection and appropriate manner.
- Visitors
are to be encouraged to behave as welcome guests, respecting the values and
lifestyles of the host community
- Rejecting
possible theft or illicit trade in cultural property
- Provide
standard quality facilities for a comfortable and safe for the wellbeing of the
visitor, enhancing the enjoyment of the visit but do not adversely impact on
the building’s significance.
- Encourage
the training programs and employment of guides and site interpreters from host
community
- Promotes
a knowledge and respect for their heritage, encouraging the community and
visitors to take interests in the heritage building’s care and conservation.
5.0 Conclusion
