Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Waikato, 2009. / Title from PDF cover (viewed December 16, 2009). Includes bibliographical references (p. 291-314)

Thesis (M.A.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Anthropology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

This thesis examines the social, political, and economic underpinnings of creating a place for Basque immigrant descendants by the use of the Basque Block in downtown Boise, Idaho. In the past, unlike other immigrant groups in the United States, Basques lacked the desire to assimilate into the US and remained relatively invisible. Simultaneously, they created subtle ethnic communities and maintained transnational sociospatial ties with Basque Provinces in Europe. Today, these transnational ties are stronger, which has profoundly influenced the creation of the Basque Block. The Basques strive to maintain their heritage landscapes to retain their cultural identity and educate present and future generations about their unique legacy. Furthermore, the local community in Boise has recently marketed their heritage landscapes to attract tourists and bring attention to this "invisible" ethnic group. This thesis explores the challenges and opportunities brought on by the production and commodification of an ethnic heritage site.

This dissertation project examines the Ghanaian state's role in developing a heritage tourism industry that actively manipulates commemorative practices surrounding the legacy of the slave trade to redefine and institutionalize the ambiguous relationship Ghana holds with communities of African descent abroad. Developed in response to the renewed interest in African ancestry following the 1976 release of Alex Haley's novel Roots and its popular television adaptation, Ghana and other states in the region have since sought to incorporate African-Americans into their economic planning by providing them with opportunities to recover their lost heritage through tourism experiences. Not limited to the creation of heritage sites, monuments and museums dedicated to the legacy of slavery and dispersal from Africa, these states have also tailored investment opportunities to reflect a renewed spirit of Pan-Africanism and validate African-Americans' membership within a re-envisioned diasporic African community.

This thesis deals with the potential of the Czech Republic selected sites inscribed on the World Heritage List. The aim of this work is to confirm the hypothesis that inclusion of the Czech immovable cultural monuments on World Heritage List has an impact on the number of domestic and foreign visitors. In this regard, we will try to outline the positive and negative aspects arising from the inscription of monuments on the World Heritage List. Content of work is the analysis of selected factors that may affect attendance at selected sites. Using sociological research oriented to visitors of selected World Heritage Sites will focus on the perception of visitors of World Heritage Sites, because they are the ones who make the demand for tourism services. In conclusion, the results of research evaluate and propose possible solutions to more closely involved World Heritage Site in the development of tourism in the region.

A persistent trend in the tourism field is the emergence of different types of niche markets. One niche form of heritage tourism that has gained popularity in Scotland since the Millennium, is ancestral tourism. Ancestral tourism is defined as choosing to travel to a host country based on one’s ancestral origins and genealogical interest. This paper traces the nature and importance of ancestral tourism for Canadian Scottish descendents in Ontario, Canada. Based on a social constructivist and multiple methods approach, the ancestral tourism initiative was reviewed within the perspectives of both the demand and supply side. The demand side findings revealed that Canadian Scottish descendents identified with and participated more in their social heritage at the local level, than in their personal heritage in the homeland. The degree to which the descendents were involved in Scottish heritage and ancestry was dependent on a variety of factors such as the emigration date of the respective ancestor, life-changing circumstances, and external stimulants. The majority of Canadian Scottish descendents were characterized as supplementary ancestral tourists and revealed that traveling to Scotland, for an ancestral tourism experience, would be one of many motivations for traveling to the homeland. Supply side findings characterized ancestral tourism as being “embryonic and full of potential”. A few challenges for those involved in the facilitation and marketing of the ancestral tourism experience were also highlighted. Characteristics associated with the ancestral tourism product were diverse and the changing nature of the genealogical resources utilized by descendents was reviewed. A shortfall of marketing the ancestral tourism initiative to only international visitors was examined, despite healthy promotional efforts such as the “Ancestral Tourism Welcome Scheme”. Key recommendations for parties interested in the ancestral tourism initiative included increased coordination among stakeholders at a regional level, increased funding and functioning capacities for the volunteer sector, re-examining current marketing strategies to include the domestic level, expanding marketing activity in the Canadian context, and maintaining ancestral tourism as a modest and “intimate” trend.

The purpose of my dissertation is to bring cultural geographic theory, including the ideas of representation, power, cultural and religious identity, and the contested and negotiated nature of places and identities, into discussions about the broader field of religious tourism. I use Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, the spiritual centre of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon or Latter-day Saint Church), as a case study to discuss and contest three theories related to religious tourism and sacred space that are prevalent in the academic literature. These include the contested space theory, where I argue that discussions about contested space must be set in the historical context and conditions under which conflict or contestation is first developed, and the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy, the utility of which I question in light of management strategies Latter-day Saint Church leaders use to destabilise identities at Temple Square. I also critique the view that religious sites lack sufficient managerial expertise to be run effectively by religious site managers. In doing this I argue that scholars and tourism industry officials need to take religious culture and history more seriously when attempting to understand how leaders of various religious faiths view tourism and how those views influence the management of their sacred sites.

A persistent trend in the tourism field is the emergence of different types of niche markets. One niche form of heritage tourism that has gained popularity in Scotland since the Millennium, is ancestral tourism. Ancestral tourism is defined as choosing to travel to a host country based on one’s ancestral origins and genealogical interest. This paper traces the nature and importance of ancestral tourism for Canadian Scottish descendents in Ontario, Canada. Based on a social constructivist and multiple methods approach, the ancestral tourism initiative was reviewed within the perspectives of both the demand and supply side. The demand side findings revealed that Canadian Scottish descendents identified with and participated more in their social heritage at the local level, than in their personal heritage in the homeland. The degree to which the descendents were involved in Scottish heritage and ancestry was dependent on a variety of factors such as the emigration date of the respective ancestor, life-changing circumstances, and external stimulants. The majority of Canadian Scottish descendents were characterized as supplementary ancestral tourists and revealed that traveling to Scotland, for an ancestral tourism experience, would be one of many motivations for traveling to the homeland. Supply side findings characterized ancestral tourism as being “embryonic and full of potential”. A few challenges for those involved in the facilitation and marketing of the ancestral tourism experience were also highlighted. Characteristics associated with the ancestral tourism product were diverse and the changing nature of the genealogical resources utilized by descendents was reviewed. A shortfall of marketing the ancestral tourism initiative to only international visitors was examined, despite healthy promotional efforts such as the “Ancestral Tourism Welcome Scheme”. Key recommendations for parties interested in the ancestral tourism initiative included increased coordination among stakeholders at a regional level, increased funding and functioning capacities for the volunteer sector, re-examining current marketing strategies to include the domestic level, expanding marketing activity in the Canadian context, and maintaining ancestral tourism as a modest and “intimate” trend.

The purpose of my dissertation is to bring cultural geographic theory, including the ideas of representation, power, cultural and religious identity, and the contested and negotiated nature of places and identities, into discussions about the broader field of religious tourism. I use Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, the spiritual centre of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon or Latter-day Saint Church), as a case study to discuss and contest three theories related to religious tourism and sacred space that are prevalent in the academic literature. These include the contested space theory, where I argue that discussions about contested space must be set in the historical context and conditions under which conflict or contestation is first developed, and the pilgrim-tourist dichotomy, the utility of which I question in light of management strategies Latter-day Saint Church leaders use to destabilise identities at Temple Square. I also critique the view that religious sites lack sufficient managerial expertise to be run effectively by religious site managers. In doing this I argue that scholars and tourism industry officials need to take religious culture and history more seriously when attempting to understand how leaders of various religious faiths view tourism and how those views influence the management of their sacred sites.

Cultural clusters with an agglomeration of heritage and historic assets represent national or local history, culture and tradition. Hence, they often become distinctive urban tourism resources supplying multifunctional places for tourists to visit and enjoy. However, the designation of a cultural district by government is not merely a strategy for the preservation of cultural assets and tourism development because a variety of stakeholders, with divergent goals and objectives, are usually involved in the process of converting cultural resources into marketable products. The number of tourists to Insadong, a representative traditional cultural district in Seoul, Korea, has increased rapidly in the last decades with many issues and problems. Insadong is a place where Koreans and foreigners alike experience Korean tradition and it is a unique area where the atmosphere combines both the historical and modern in the centre of the city. The area is also multi-functional, offering a mix of history, entertainment, cuisine, shopping etc. for a mixed clientele. This area has a long history as a cultural business district which was organically generated, but numerous issues and changes have occurred in relation to the commercial development and policy of government. Since this area gained fame as a tourism destination after it was designated as a cultural district, it also encountered problems like rising rental fees, change of space use, modifications in the items for sale, and destruction of small traditional art-related shops, which created the traditional atmosphere. This study examined the policies of the public sector and the role of the private sector in the development of Insadong through examining the government’s assessment and perspectives, the NGO’s perspectives and the entrepreneurs’ situation and expectations for business. Through analyzing crucial events, NGO’s activity, and the initiation of government policies, my research reveals dramatic change under the impact of tourism and government policies, as well as recent problems that have occurred at the cultural district. This study also examined aspects of heritage tourism in an evolving culture cluster in a major city. To the author’s knowledge, this type of research has not been undertaken previously in Korea and is rare in Asia. However, it is difficult to generalize from a case study. Thus, there is a need to undertake similar studies elsewhere to determine if what has been observed in Insadong is unique or if it is an example of a phenomenon that can be observed in other places.