Cross-cultural interpretations of heritage tourism: Whose heritage? Whose values?

Abstract

In this paper we analyse the growth in heritage tourism from the point of view of the people who live in places which are marketed and sold as heritage sites. The question asked is whether the heritage portrayed for tourists is one with which local people can identify or whether two interlinked forms of heritage are emerging - tourism heritage and local heritage. If the latter is the case, and local people do not identify completely with the heritage presented to tourists how do they negotiate and create their own heritage and what consequences does this have for tourist heritage? The results of our research show that what is of importance to one cultural group may not be of importance to another, which has consequences for the presentation of heritage to tourists and the preservation of heritage for local people. Effective management of heritage at a local level therefore requires the acknowledgment of cross-cultural differences in interpretations of heritage.

The research was conducted in two case study areas: Levuka, the first colonial capital of Fiji, and the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Both places have experienced economic decline and tourism has been seen as a means by which this decline can be halted. They also have many built relics of the past, which are marketed to attract tourists. Again, in both cases, many local people are ambivalent, if not hostile, to heritage preservation for tourism as they do not acknowledge what is being preserved as being their heritage.