HTT530 TOPIC 8

• Visitors in some way own the heritage
• The existence of natural and cultural conservation depends on how visitors feel about them
• Heritage managers need to pay attention to the quandaries of tourists and their impacts
• The goals of sustainable heritage management should be twofold:

  • Maximize visitors' appreciation and enjoyment of heritage places
  • Minimize the negative effects
• Specific visitor management tools and techniques:

  • Controlling traffic, visitor flows and congestion
  • Limiting physical contact between visitors and artefacts
  • Fees and pricing
  • Providing a way for visitors to leave their mark
  • Providing high-quality experiences
  • Marketing/promotion
  • Hardening the resource
  • Interpretation
  • Creating mindful visitors
• Controlling traffic, visitor flows and congestion:

  • Seasonal closures
  • Restricting the sizes of certain groups at certain times
  • Quota systems
  • Zoning and good land use planning (e.g. pedestrianization)
  • Principle of dispersion
• Gunung Mulu National Park:

  • Access restricted to four "show caves"
  • Over 90% of the park and 95% of caves are closed to visitors
  • Exception for access to areas for research purposes
  • Reduced access to some sensitive caves
  • Camp 5 for pinnacles trekking - only 30 users at one time
• Crocker Range National Park - Community Use Zone:

  • Area where existing cultivation and forest resource collection occur inside a park
  • Traditional human activities allowed to continue under the supervision of Parks Authority
  • Balance existing local communities' needs and conservation
  • Encourage participation and collaboration of local communities in park management
  • Preserve cultures and traditional knowledge of local communities
• Sipadan Island - Quota System and Need for Dispersion:

  • 120 permits/day divided among 12 dive resorts
  • Barracuda Point - the heaviest dive spot
• Kinabalu Park:

  • 180 permits a day (as of May 2023)
  • KP Headquarters heavily visited
• Limiting physical contact between visitors and artefacts:

  • Roping off sensitive areas
  • Covering artefacts with plastic or glass
  • Using video cameras to deter people from touching or vandalizing artefacts
  • Overshoes or remove shoes
• User fees and pricing:

  • Initiating user fees (e.g., entrance/admission fee, license/permit)
  • Seasonal user fees
  • Anti-payment vs. pro-payment debate
• Arguments for anti-payment:

  • Pricing of access associated with commercialization
  • Price often contradicts with the wider mission of heritage operations
  • User fees tend to make managers preoccupied with commercial management matters
  • Paying fees may decrease impulse attendance
• Arguments for pro-payment:

  • Entrance earnings can be used for funding conservation
  • Fees can help control visitor traffic flows
  • Fees can be used to improve site quality
  • Visitors tend to be less destructive and more respectful when required to pay a fee
• Providing a way for visitors to leave their mark:

  • Visitors less likely to scribble graffiti on or vandalize heritage sites
  • Guest books and merchandising
• Providing high-quality experiences:

  • Provide good service
  • Be receptive, helpful, accurate, and informed
  • Keep facilities clean and tidy
  • Special considerations for certain groups of visitors such as people with disabilities and families with small children
• Creating mindful visitors:

  • Mindful heritage visitors have a greater understanding and appreciation for the past
  • Factors influencing visitors' mindfulness: communication and visitor factors
  • Encouraging mindfulness in visitors:
  • Help visitors find their way around
  • Make connections to visitors and involve them
  • Offer variety
  • Tell a good story that makes sense
  • Know and respect visitors