Demand for cultural tourism is increasing
By Rita A. Widiadana
JAKARTA (JP): Cultural and heritage-related tourism is a major pillar of the world tourism industry and will continue to be in great demand in the 21st century.
This new trend in tourism was revealed at the recent International Conference on Tourism and Heritage Management in Yogyakarta.
Attended by tourism and cultural experts of international reputation, including American futurologist Alvin Toffler, the conference recommended new strategies that countries will need to manage their tourism industries, which are becoming more competitive as the 21st century nears.
The first strategy is to learn the market's real demand. Research and studies by the European Commission show that developed countries' appetite for the traditional beach vacation will likely cease.
R.W. Buttler, a professor at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, said that between the l960s and l980s, the growth in international tourism was characterized by a seemingly insatiable demand for sun, sand, sea and relaxation, for the lowest possible prices, which boosted mass tourism industry.
But in the l990s, travelers are searching for unique experiences. They want to learn about the cultural, historical and political life of the country they visit rather than just lie on its tropical beaches, Buttler said.
Heritage-based travel packages appear to be capable of satisfying the new demand, Buttler said. Cultural travel opportunities satisfy the visitors' curiosity, and their search for knowledge, understanding, interpretation and insight, which are now an essential part of both domestic and international tourism.
"A country that offers diversity of cultural and traditional treasures will likely get the biggest piece of pie in the tourism industry of the future," he said.
The tourism industry is a significant part of the economy. According to a report by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the travel and tourism is the world's largest industry, generating an estimated gross output of US$3.4 trillion in 1995. Tourism is responsible for the employment of more than 211 million people, and produces 10.9 percent of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).
The tourism industry is investing $693.9 billion in new facilities and equipment, and contributes more than $637 billion to global tax revenue, according to the report. WTTC expects that industry revenues will skyrocket by 2005.
If this report's predictions are accurate, countries must restructure their tourism development to meet the rapidly growing demand of cultural tourism, he said.
But creating new tourism strategies is difficult because what constitutes 'cultural and heritage' travel is still ambiguous.
Definition
During the four-day conference, participants struggled with the definition of cultural and heritage tourism.
They concluded that heritage is an inheritance or a legacy -- things of value which have been passed from one generation to the next.
UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, defines heritage as "cultural property", which includes both visible and non-visible cultural heritage. The non-visible properties are language, religion and customs, while the visible aspects are distinctive natural and archaeological sites.
For tourism purposes, heritage has come to mean any product that can be the subject of tourist promotion. Good prospects for heritage tourism include landscape, natural history, cultural traditions, archaeological sites, artifacts, architecture and artistic buildings -- in short, all of what deserves protection as a national, regional or local treasure.
As the meaning of heritage tourism becomes more clear, tourism promoters believe that any country which can identify heritages can develop and promote them as potential tourist attractions.
The University of London's Richard Prentice, however, cautions that heavy tourist traffic will have a negative impact on heritage sites.
Other serious effect will be the environmental degradation of building of infrastructure such as hotels, parking lots and other utilities, he said.
"Proper heritage management is needed to ensure that the heritage sites are well protected and preserved. Once they are destroyed or lost, they can never be replaced," Prentice noted.
Skill
Heritage management is the skill or practice of controlling the heritage sites. It includes the restoration, conservation and preservation of monuments, artifacts and historical sites.
Management of heritage sites such as Jordan's Petra and various places of archeological significance in Malaysia have brought in millions of dollars in foreign exchange every year to host countries.
Tourism in Jordan relies mostly on cultural and archaeological heritage. It now represents more than 50 percent of Jordan's domestic exports and is the second largest earner of foreign exchange.
Mohammad Al Najjar of Jordan's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said the Jordanian government encourages community involvement in its tourism development.
"The government also conducts a series of public awareness campaigns to help communities to appreciate more and to protect their cultural heritage. We are actively informing visitors about the local society, religious codes and behavior so that they respect our culture," said Al Najjar.
Currently, Petra National Park in southwest Jordan, is nation's premier tourist site. Listed as a World Heritage Site, Petra is preserved and managed with great care by the Jordanian government.
The main source of income in this area was traditionally agriculture and animal husbandry, but with tourism development over the last ten years, more local people are earning money from tourism-related activities, he said.
Community involvement is a significant feature of heritage tourism. Developers must include local residents in their projects as either employees or shareholders. Now there are 11 star hotels, and 40 new motels employing more than 1,000 local workers.
A World Bank study predicts that with proper management of its cultural heritage, tourism will become Jordan's top income earner and job provider.
Malaysia is another success story. This year it has already spent RM213.5 million ($84.6 million) on various tourism and conservation projects.
One of the country's tourism strategies has been to protect and preserve archaeological and historical sites. Plans have been drawn up to ensure that conservation works are done in line with international standards.
Some of its major conservation projects are the Kampung Laut Mosque, the oldest wooden mosque in Malaysia, and Kota Johor Lama. Several archeological sites such as Bujang Valley has also been conserved through reconstruction and restoration, which has now become Malaysia's main tourist site.
Salah Wahab, of the University of Alexandria in Egypt, said that there is no contradiction between heritage conservation and tourism development as long as the carrying capacity of each site is maintained.
"But, governments around the world should see their heritage preservation projects as their efforts to promote their national pride and identity and not solely for tourism purposes," Wahab said.