Heritage Tourism in Southeast Asia

edited by Michael Hitchcock, Victor T. King and Michael Parnwell

  • Published:
  • Pages: 320 pp.
  • illustrated
  • Series number:
Available from NIAS Press worldwide except North America

About the book

With material that is new and topical, this book makes an important contribution to the fields of tourism studies, cultural studies, development and planning studies, and beyond.

            Set against a backdrop of the demands, motivations and impacts of heritage tourism, the volume focuses on disputes and conflicts over what heritage is, what it means, and how it has been presented, re-presented, developed and protected. Among the questions touched upon are the ownership of heritage, its appropriate use, access to it versus conservation needs, and heritage as a commodity, as entertainment and as an educational medium.

            With conclusions based on credible methodologies and data, this is a key resource for both academic researchers and governmental agencies.

 

Key points

* First book to examine heritage tourism across the Southeast Asian region and from different disciplinary perspectives.
* E
xplores both cultural and natural heritage management pressures and responses.
Emphasizes how local people perceive national and world heritage sites, and how they are affected by heritage management.

This is the first book to examine heritage tourism across the Southeast Asian region and from different disciplinary perspectives. With material that is new and topical, it makes an important contribution to the fields of tourism studies, cultural studies, development and planning studies, and beyond.

Set against a backdrop of the demands, motivations and impacts of heritage tourism, the volume focuses on disputes and conflicts over what heritage is, what it means, and how it has been presented, re-presented, developed and protected. It examines the different actors involved in encounters and contestation, drawing in issues of identity construction and negotiation, and requiring the contextualization of heritage in national and global processes of identity formation and transformation. Among the questions touched upon are the ownership of heritage, its appropriate use, access to it versus conservation needs, heritage as a commodity, as entertainment and as an educational medium, and the interpretation and representation of heritage forms.

The volume is more than a tourism study and of interest beyond the immediate field of tourism studies, however. It also provides ample data about the various governmental institutions and international agencies, and about how their decisions are made. Moreover, with conclusions based on credible methodologies and data, this is a key resource for both academic researchers and governmental agencies.

 

Buying options

About the author

author image not supplied

Michael Hitchcock is Academic Director and Dean of Faculty at the IMI University Centre, Luzern in Switzerland. Until recently, he was Deputy Dean for Research and External Relations at the University of Chichester. Previously, he founded and was Director of the International Institute for Culture, Tourism and Development at London Metropolitan University.

Michael Hitchcock is Academic Director and Dean of Faculty at the IMI University Centre, Luzern in Switzerland. Until recently, he was Deputy Dean for Research and External Relations at the University of Chichester. Previously, he founded and was Director of the International Institute for Culture, Tourism and Development at London Metropolitan University. Professor Hitchcock has long been involved in tourism studies and is a prolific writer on tourism, heritage and culture in Southeast Asia.

Go to author page

Reviews

by Heinz Gödde
From journal:
ASIEN, the German Journal of Contemporary Asia, No. 125, October 2012

"Der Band offenbart eine Vielzahl von Fragen und regt an zu interessanten weiteren Forschungen zum Heritage-Tourismus in Südostasien, zeigt anstehende Konfliktfelder bei dem Interessen verschiedener Akteure, im Bereich des Weltkulturerbes, wie des Weltnaturerbes gleichermassen, wenn auch in vorliegenden Band Stätten des Kulturerben stark überwiegen.

"Der Band offenbart eine Vielzahl von Fragen und regt an zu interessanten weiteren Forschungen zum Heritage-Tourismus in Südostasien, zeigt anstehende Konfliktfelder bei dem Interessen verschiedener Akteure, im Bereich des Weltkulturerbes, wie des Weltnaturerbes gleichermassen, wenn auch in vorliegenden Band Stätten des Kulturerben stark überwiegen.

Das umfangreiche Literaturverzeichnis zeigt ein vielfältiges Bild bisher schon geleisteter Forschung in verschiedensten Regionen, von verschiendenster fachlicher Seite sowie über den generellen Diskurs sum Heritage-Tourismus."