Perceptions and Opinions of the Host Community Regarding Overtourism in the Tourist-Historic City

Social Carrying Capacity ◽

Historic Centre ◽

Touristic Development ◽

The City ◽

Historic Cities

In the last few years, the number of visitors in historic cities has grown, resulting in a situation labeled ‘overtourism'. In these tourist-historic cities, tourism is one of the main local economic foundations. This chapter asks whether the social carrying capacity of the host community has been exceeded, through a case study in Toledo, Spain, a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1986. The methodology employed is a survey to residents in the city. The main findings show that the residents do not perceive the overtourism situation in the city as something serious. However, some impacts such as the historic centre becoming a museum for tourists, or the traffic congestion derived from overcrowding in both the traffic and pedestrian flow are clearly perceived by the host community. It is the residents in the historic centre those who manifest a more negative opinion of touristic development. This chapter may be of interest to academics, decision makers, and those responsible for tourism in historic cities.

AN INTERACTIVE 3D APPLICATION OF A HOUSE FROM THE XVI CENTURY IN SAN CRISTÓBAL DE LAGUNA AS A CASE STUDY FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE

10.4995/arqueologica9.2021.12061 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Fernando Pérez Nava ◽

Isabel Sánchez Berriel ◽

Alejandro González González ◽

Cecile Meier ◽

Jesús Pérez Morera ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cultural Heritage ◽

3D Modelling ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Spanish Colonial ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Historic Centre ◽

Interactive 3D ◽

At the end of the XVI century, the historic centre of San Cristóbal de La Laguna was definitively configured as we know it today, as can be seen in the first preserved map of the city, drawn in 1588 by the engineer Leonardo Torriani. It is the first non-fortified Spanish colonial city and its plan has provided a model for the colonial cities of America, making it a UNESCO World Heritage site. The dissemination of this legacy is a task of great importance. A tool of increasing importance for the dissemination and preservation of history and cultural heritage are reconstructions and virtual recreations in 3D. This paper presents a case of the use of these tools for the dissemination of the city's heritage. The 3D modelling of one of the most characteristic types of housing in San Cristóbal de La Laguna in the 16th century is carried out along with the 3D modelling of human virtual characters all based on the historical documentation of that time. With these elements a WebGL application has been implemented in which a user can visit the virtually reconstructed house and receive information on the construction systems and architecture in the city on the XVI century.

Pilgrimage Circuit of Osun Osogbo Sacred Grove and Shrine, Osun State, Nigeria

Journal of Tourism and Heritage Studies ◽

10.33281/jths20129.2017.2.2 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 13-28

Author(s):

Emeka Okonkwo ◽

Afamefuna Eyisi

Keyword(s):

Host Community ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Living Standard ◽

Sacred Grove ◽

Southwestern Nigeria ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Job Opportunities ◽

The Government ◽

One religious tourism destination site of note in Southwestern Nigeria is the Osun Osogbo sacred grove and shrine located along the banks of the Osun River within the city of Oshogbo, Osun State, Nigeria. The sacred grove and shrine were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2005. This paper examines the routes and trails people take to get to Osun Osogbo sacred grove and shrine to ascertain the mode of transportation to the destination site as well as the factors mitigating against the sacred grove. The study uses ethnographic methods to elicit information from respondents and data collected were analyzed descriptively. The paper argues that Osun Osogbo sacred grove and shrine can improve the living standard of the host community and create job opportunities if its access routes and trails are improved upon by the government.

The story of the merchant as a component of the tourism brand of the historic town (on the example of Yaroslavl)

Services in Russia and abroad ◽

10.12737/19721 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 54-66

Author(s):

Нина Обнорская ◽

Nina Obnorskaya

Keyword(s):

World Heritage Site ◽

Opinion Poll ◽

Business Skills ◽

Religious Architecture ◽

Tourism Product ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Tourist Center ◽

Urban Complex ◽

Yaroslavl is an important tourist center. It possess completely formed brand on the domestic tourism market. According opinion poll findings the majority of tourism product consumers in Yaroslavl associate it with the historical city. For the guests of Yaroslavl the brand of the historical city is disclosed through status of its center as the UNESCO World Heritage site, an outstanding complex of religious architecture of the XVII century, a preserved architectural and urban complex of the XIX-early XX centuries. However, the construction of new buildings or radical rebuilding of historic houses continues even in the UNESCO area. It destroys the uniqueness and complexity of the housing development in the city center, which are the main distinctive features of Yaroslavl as a historical city. The loss of historicity of environment is irretrievable. It leads to the loss of the competitive advantages of Yaroslavl. The city owes the merchants values making it attractive for tourists. The merchants determined the social economic and spiritual life of the city for several centuries. Business skills of Yaroslavl merchants, their everyday life, tastes and relationship with the Church had formed a unique historical image of the city. Yaroslavl needs a strategy of the brand development that will take into account the existing image of the city and include the development of the most advantageous positions both in the present and in the past. Merchants with their history should become an important component of the brand of Yaroslavl.

CHALLENGES IN THE PRESERVATION OF RIGA’S ARCHITECTURAL CULTURAL HERITAGE / IŠŠŪKIAI, SU KURIAIS SUSIDURIA RYGOS ARCHITEKTŪRINIO KULTŪROS PAVELDO APSAUGA

Mokslas - Lietuvos ateitis ◽

10.3846/mla.2015.779 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 55-68

Author(s):

Sarmite Barvika ◽

Sandra Treija ◽

Egons Berzins

Keyword(s):

Cultural Heritage ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Cultural Value ◽

Historical Buildings ◽

Architectural Heritage ◽

Unesco World Heritage ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Visible Part ◽

Historic Centre

Historical buildings are the most visible part of cultural heritage. They make up Latvia’s historical landscape that has been centuries in the making. In the vast majority of cases these buildings are included in the historical cultural heritage of Latvia. However, the practical mechanisms of their preservation (ownership preservation, maintenance, renewal opportunities) and, consequently, their economic potential, still have not yet been fully evaluated. Does cultural value interact with market value? What factors affect urban planning in the Historic Centre of Riga and its PZ – a UNESCO World Heritage site? Answers to these questions, as well as the main challenges in the preservation of values of Riga’s architectural heritage will be discussed in the paper. Istoriniai pastatai – matomiausia kultūrinio paveldo dalis. Jie išryškina šimtmečiais kurtą Latvijos istorinį kraštovaizdį. Dauguma tokių pastatų įrašyta į Latvijos istorinio kultūros paveldo sąrašus. Vis tik praktiniai jų apsaugos mechanizmai (nuosavybės apsauga, priežiūra, atnaujinimo galimybės), o kartu ir ekonominis potencialas dar nėra visapusiškai įvertinta. Ar yra kultūrinės vertės ir rinkos vertės tarpusavio sąveika? Kokie veiksniai turi įtakos Rygos istorinio centro urbanistiniam planavimui – ar tai, pavyzdžiui, buvimas UNESCO pasaulio paveldo sąraše? Bandoma atsakyti į šiuos klausimus, aptariami Rygos architektūrinio paveldo vertybių apsaugos srityje kylantys iššūkiai.

ISPRS - International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences ◽

THE REUSE OF INDUSTRIAL TANNERIES. ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE IN GUIMARÂES, PORTUGAL

10.5194/isprs-archives-xliv-m-1-2020-847-2020 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol XLIV-M-1-2020 ◽

pp. 847-853

Author(s):

K. González Vargas

Keyword(s):

19Th Century ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

The Past ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Environmental Space ◽

Before And After ◽

Traditional Construction ◽

The 19Th Century ◽

Abstract. The city of Guimarâes (Portugal) was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001 and European Capital of Culture in 2012. From the 14th to the 19th century it was characterized by its Portuguese architecture using traditional construction techniques and materials, and known for its leather, metallurgical and cutlery industry. This study examines two former tannery factories dating from the 19th century, and occupying a sizeable portion of the historic centre of the city. They are located close to the Couros river, their main source of water, but also where the tannery waste produced by the tanks where the skins were tanned, is deposited. This text focuses on three main concepts - rehabilitation, reuse and sustainability - through the analysis of two historical moments. The first of these, the past, is viewed through a timeline of events recorded in plans, photographs, documents, and historical facts. A formal spatial comparison of these records and the present buildings shows how the present use of these spaces and their respective functionalities can be observed in parallel with the past. This before and after comparison shows a progression from industrial activities to a cultural valorization of an architectural, urban and environmental space, as well as the development of the industry in a new context evoking the collective memory of the place.

Foreign Tourists in World Heritage Sites: A Motivation-Based Segmentation

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12083263 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (8) ◽

pp. 3263 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Antonio Menor-Campos ◽

Jesús Claudio Pérez-Gálvez ◽

Amalia Hidalgo-Fernández ◽

Tomás López-Guzmán

Keyword(s):

World Heritage ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Public And Private ◽

World Heritage Sites ◽

Heritage Sites ◽

Visitor Satisfaction ◽

Heritage Site ◽

The inclusion on the lists published by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)—World Heritage Site (WHS), Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), and World Heritage Sites in Danger—suggests, first of all, the acknowledgement of something worth protecting and, secondly, an increase in the strength of tourist attraction to the affected destination, especially among specific visitors. The identification and classification of tourists that are seen to be more interested in heritage is the stated aim of this work, based on models already proposed in the scientific literature. For this purpose, a survey was conducted that interviewed a representative sample of international tourists visiting the city of Córdoba. A multi-variant technique of case-cluster was applied. In addition, a discriminant analysis was used to validate the clusters of the cases obtained. For analyzing the differences between the different groups obtained, some non-parametrical statistical procedures were applied. The results obtained allowed for the visualization of a model that shows the empirical evidence regarding the presence of four types of foreign tourists that are considered valid for segmentation in the city of Córdoba as a WHS tourist destination: the alternative tourist, emotional tourist, cultural tourist, and heritage tourist. These results allow public and private managers to design specific strategies to increase visitor satisfaction.

Preliminary study for the adaptation of the »Heaven's Cave« for tourist purposes (Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park, Vietnam)

Acta Carsologica ◽

10.3986/ac.v41i1.52 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Bogdan Debevec ◽

Martin Knez ◽

Andrej Kranjc ◽

Marko Pahor ◽

Mitja Prelovšek ◽

...

Keyword(s):

National Park ◽

Point Of View ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Central Vietnam ◽

Show Cave ◽

Heaven’s Cave is located in the centre of the Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park, about 500 km southern from the Vietnamese capital and 40 km from the city of Dong Hoi. Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park is protected also as a UNESCO world heritage site. Due to weak economic situation in this region as a result of lack of natural resources, karst tourism represents an important opportunity for raising the quality of live in the province. A proposal to adapt non-touristic Heaven’s Cave for tourism was presented to Karst Research Institute ZRC SAZU in 2006. Because the caves are sensitive ecosystems and all activities in them should be carefully implemented, our task was to make basic survey and map the cave, to perform a speleological and touristic research, to propose possible interventions for adapting the cave for tourism and to prepare a strategy for tourism development in this area. The latter should also show us if some interest is present among tourists for new show cave in this region. From this point of view this study does not represent systematic long-term approach for adapting a cave for tourism but rather a short study of a cave with potential to be show cave in remote area of Central Vietnam. Approach used in this study should be used in similar environments as a first step to estimate if weakly known cave is environmentally and economically suitable for development for touristic purposes.Keywords: Heaven’s Cave, Thien Duong Cave, Phong Nha-Ke Bang, Vietnam, show cave.

Damaged and Healthy Ignimbrites from the Surroundings of Morelia, Mexico; Uses for Restoration of the Colonial Inheritance

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.889-890.1431 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 889-890 ◽

pp. 1431-1437

Author(s):

Wilfrido Martínez-Molina ◽

Elia Mercedes Alonso-Guzmán ◽

Hugo Luis Chávez-García ◽

Juan Carlos Arteaga-Arcos ◽

Andrés Antonio Torres-Acosta ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Geographical Location ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Local Conditions ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Time To Build ◽

Historical Archives ◽

The Matrix ◽

Heritage Buildings ◽

Historic Centre ◽

The historic centre of Morelia, Mexico has over a thousand architectonic monuments catalogued. This allowed the city to become part of the list of world heritage site by UNESCO in the 90s of 20th century. The location of Michoacan, the State in which Morelia is the capital, allowed it to have an abundance of acidic extrusive igneous rocks such as the ignimbrite quarry stones. The ignimbrites were carved into blocks to build vertical elements such as the walls and the foundations. Cases of carved and sculpted blocks were not designed to be coated with mortars, non sculpted ignimbrites were used in the case of buildings that were designed to carry coatings mortars and/or paintings; constructions in which the time to build was small, the money was scarce or the destination was not particularly important. These monuments are colonial ones, the European brought building techniques in vogue in Europe; books written by Vitruvius, Palladio and Alberti were adapted to local conditions as ethnic and regional materials and costumes. Ignimbrites, after exposed to the environment have begun to damage on the blocks posted as facades. In cases of severe exfoliation or acute devitrifying of the matrix in the ignimbrites, it is necessary to replace the damaged blocks by healthy rocks earned from the quarry stones of the surrounding places but it has not been able to find full match between rocks; sometimes do not match the resistance, porosity, durability, color or geographical location in the historical archives. Results to date show matches and the discrepancies between the different quarry stones and uses that are targeting in heritage buildings.

El valor social como factor estratégico en la gestión patrimonial y turística: el caso del sitio patrimonio de la humanidad Cueva de Altamira (España)

PASOS Revista de Turismo y Patrimonio Cultural ◽

10.25145/j.pasos.2021.19.044 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (4) ◽

pp. 675-693

Author(s):

Evas Parga Dan ◽

◽

Pablo Alonso González ◽

Raimundo Otero Enríquez ◽

David Barreiro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Heritage Management ◽

Host Community ◽

Social Value ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Social Dimension ◽

National Image ◽

Heritage Site ◽

The Face ◽

Uncertain Future

The social dimension of value has become a cornerstone of the debate about tourism conservation, management and sustainability in relation to cultural heritage. This article examines the role of social value in heritage management and tourism promotion through the case of the Altamira Cave as a UNESCO World Heritage site by analysing the perspectives of non‑expert actors in heritage management. To do this, two surveys were conducted, one aimed at visitors (1047 valid questionnaires) and the other at the Spanish population at large as the host community (1000 valid questionnaires). The results show how these agents interpret the existence, aesthetic, economic and legacy value in ways that differ from those of the experts, deepening the complex relationship between heritage promotion and preservation, and broadening the debate on how social value can contribute to strengthen the international and national image of heritage destinations in the face of the uncertain future of the global tourism market.

Bats in the Florentine Renaissance: from darkness to enlightenment (Chiroptera)

Lynx, new series ◽

10.2478/lynx-2017-0010 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 165-182

Author(s):

Marco Riccucci ◽

Jens Rydell

Keyword(s):

Medieval Literature ◽

World Heritage ◽

World Heritage Site ◽

Michelangelo Buonarroti ◽

Renaissance Art ◽

Unesco World Heritage ◽

Heritage Site ◽

Historic Centre ◽

The Devil

We highlight the use of the bat (Chiroptera) in the Florentine Renaissance art. Michelangelo Buonarroti, Bernardo Buontalenti, Albrecht Dürer and several others used images of bats in their sketches, sculptures and decorations and many bat images are still to be seen on the palaces and monuments in the Historic Centre of Florence, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The bats can usually be identified as such by the large ears or the characteristic wing membranes, although they constitute highly stylized artwork, often grotesque and certainly not intended to be morphologically correct. Furthermore, during the Renaissance it was not yet realized that bats are mammals, and some of the images could actually be interpreted as either birds or bats. The bat image was somehow tied to the Medici Noble Family, the undisputed rulers of Florence throughout the Renaissance, where it may have symbolized cultural darkness or ignorance. We speculate that the bat images could also have meant happiness and prosperity, with connections to China, and protected the buildings on which they appeared. In any case, the Renaissance bat had evolved far, artistically as well as conceptually, from the bat images that personified demons or the Devil in the European medieval literature and contemporary religious artwork.