Answer :

HERITAGE AND CULTURAL TOURISM MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Tourism is the act of travelling from one place to another due to leisure or business purposes more than one day but less than a year. There are different types of tourist considering their need and motivation and their love for the destination. However, heritage tourism is highly controversial as some people consider that tourism led to the destruction of the tourist destination due to pollution and vandalism. Moreover, there are issues related to the proper management of the tourism sites, which can create an impact on the attraction of the customers to the site. The present assignment would shed light on the different aspects of cultural and heritage tourism that focuses on historical, artistic and ancient heritage. It enables the tourists to experience environment, traditions, ancient art, culture and lifestyle. 

The present report would explore how cultural and heritage sites can be protected with the help of tourism management as is seen in case of Lhasa. The report would further elaborate different management strategies of heritage sites for attracting customers and utilizing different forms of media to communicate with the customers and help them to explore sites. The learner being a research assistant for heritage and cultural tourism consultant firm would explore different features and facets of heritage tourism in four different tasks in relation to the given case study.    

Task 1 (LO1)

1.1 Analysing the growth and development heritage and cultural industry (Poster)

In recent days, heritage and cultural tourism have increased due to its importance and growing interest of the tourist. Heritage has several importances that arouse the interest of the tourist. The heritage sites express the aesthetic value of the culture and region and thereby highlight the historical value. The heritage sites preserve information about the past. Heritage sites also help in creating intrinsic and attributed value (Robinson et al. 2011).   

The concept of heritage and cultural tourism has begun since the early period. The growth and the development of cultural and heritage tourism began with the rise of the sustainability. The rise of heritage tourism in the UK has contributed £5billion dollar to the GDP and more than 250,000 jobs in the UK. The timeline illustrated below highlights the development process of heritage tourism. 

The heritage and thee cultural tourism are of different types. 

The Natural heritage sites include the landscape, coastline, forest, wildlife and other habitats.People visits this site for enjoying the natural beauty. Dome of the famous sites in UK include Lake District, Henrhyd Waterfall and Pembrokeshire coast, which are visited by large number of people every year. This sites are affected by the travel and the tourism sector in terms of conservation and sustainability. 

The constructed sites include built heritage environment such as the museums, historic buildings and archaeological sites. The London Eye and the British Museum, Tower of London, Stonehenge are some of the constructed heritage. Theme sites and sport related sites also fall in this category. 

The cultural heritage industry play a vital role in shaping the cultural identity of a place. The ancient British culture is evident in the legends, music, folklore, language and food. This ancient heritage culture attract visitors from all around the world ad help in spreading of culture.  

1.2 Discussion on conflicts in conservation of heritage and cultural resources with special references to the case study of Lhasa, Tibet

Tibet has the richness and the depth of tradition, which is embedded in its cultural heritage. Rich customs, tradition, and spirituality of minds have contributed this place with holy charisma. Tibet is a well-known tourist destination provides instances of unique tangible culture. The Chinese government has identified Lhasa as an effective tourist destination and has focused on the development of the area. Renovation plans have been made for Barkhor, which is an old town in Lhasa. Theme parks and hotels would also be constructed on the outskirts of the city to increase the number of tourists (Radio Free Asia, 2017). 

However, some conflicts are encountered in the renovation procedure that the Chinese government should focus on making Lhasa the most suitable tourist spot.

1. Barriers form Proponents of Conservation: The London-based Free Tibet group has formed a campaign to fight against these developments. They are concerned with the impact of the visitors on the site and their immediate environment. The main argument provided by this campaign is that it can relegate the significance of heritage within Tibet. They are of the opinion the intervention of the Chinese government and the renovation and development of theme hotels would bring in the Chinese culture thereby destroying the ancient Tibetan Heritage. This serious conflict needs to be addressed as soon as possible (Harrison, 2013). 

2. Political Breakdown: The political breakdown can result from the presentation of the heritage and culture to the visitors. Considering the current situation at Lhasa, another conflict of interest that can arise is the breakdown of political scenario. The Chinese government has supported the new plan of renovation while the interest groups and detractors are against it. The situation can be even grimmer if not addressed immediately. Apart from boycotts there can be other harmful action taken by the critics. 

3. The conflict between accesses versus conservation: Lhasa upholds stunning Tibetan culture in through their hills, monasteries and other artefacts. Improper planning and land use can create significant impact on the conservation of the areas.  Hence, it is essential to curate them so that it remains protected. Often, allowing tourist in such places can adversely affect the interest of the conservation as it can create conservation threats. Increased access can create a negative impact on the visitors on sites resulting in wear and tear of the designs, motifs and carvings. 

4. Vandalism: Timothy (2011) commented that vandalism is yet another issue that can arise with further growth of tourism on the site. People can deliberately harm the sites by graffiti or remove the items from the heritage. Laws have been implemented to prevent vandalism in tourist destination or places significant to culture and heritage but still, damages are done which needs to be addressed effectively.       

5. Brownfield sites vs Greenfield Sites: Brownfield refers to the place that has been built before while Greenfield refers to the rural areas that has not been built before. Development of Brownfield is sustainable as it increases pressure on the Greenfield. The development of tourism in Lhasa would encourage development of Brownfield sites that would that would create new employment opportunities. Again creating Greenfield would improve infrastructure. Hence, the decision maker of tourism development encounters issues related to site development in Lhasa 

Task 2 (LO2) (Report)

2.1 Evaluating the needs of heritage and cultural attraction in meeting the needs of different customers

Protecting the culture and heritage of a place is often a difficult task. These places have to be preserved and maintained in their original condition for future. People visit these places to experience the grandeur and magnificence of ancient culture and heritage. The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum are the two famous places in England that act as a storehouse of ancient artefacts of different ancient culture. The main purpose of the British Museum is to preserve as well as exhibit human history, art and culture. It does not want to marginalise itself within Britain but recast itself to the entire world. The main purpose of the Victoria and Albert Museum preserve the art and design of millions of objects developed about 5000 years ago (Timothy, 2011). 

Both the two museums have been successfully able to meet the needs and requirements of different visitors. It is for this reason the British Museum (BM) occupies the first position among the top visited museum in England with 6,420,395 visitors in 2016. Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) occupied the sixth position with 3,022, 086 visitors. There are different types of tourist based on needs and motivation who loves to visits this museum. The students are the education tourists who visit museum for their studies and projects. The scientist also forms another group of visitors who come to explore the ancient culture that would be beneficial for their research. Families with children from another group of tourist visit these places for leisure or gather knowledge. Media also visits museums to evaluate the types of artefacts stored here (Timothy, 2011). 

The different customers have different needs, which are satisfied by both the British Museum the Victoria and Albert Museum as seen here. 

1. Education: Education is used for communicating the value of heritage. Several students visit the BM and V&A for this purpose. The World Conservation and the Exhibition Centre hosts different kinds of exhibitions that can help the students in increasing their knowledge. BM also has a library and reading rooms that enable the students to obtain all the useful information that they want to. Programs are organised by BM for school visits to help students learn in front of objects (British Museum, 2017).  V&A allows different ways to learn and about the collection. There are events and programs that offer courses for the primary and secondary schools and college students. Moreover, the Learning Academy provides adult courses for educating (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2017). 
2. Research: Several students and scientist visit museums to conduct research. BM and V&A attract a large number of researchers including the PhD candidates. BM has 10 curatorial and research departments that allow research and scientist to view a collection of different civilisation from different parts of the world. The libraries and the research centres to allow to access information related to the ethnographic collection (Robinson et al. 2011). The Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan in BM provides training program and research scholarships for the students, researchers and archaeology. V&A also has a research department that enables researchers to work collaboratively. The research department is also connected with other universities and research department institutions for allowing the research to gain a scholarship and complete their studies (Victoria and Albert Museum, 2017).     
3. Recreation and Entertainment: Heritage sites for recreation and entertainment purposes. Families with children visit museum for recreation and entertainment. Several museums offer corporate and private events to fulfil this purpose. In V&A, families can enjoy activities and events. The management of V&A offers play and learning programme through the temporary exhibition. BM offers family learning through games and exhibition for entertainment, recreation as well as learning. Theatres in BM offer plays and music for entertainment to the families visiting the Museum (British Museum, 2017).   

Task 3 (LO3)

3.1 Impact of different types of ownership on management of heritage and cultural sites (Leaflet)

Palumbo et al. (2009) commented that the heritage sites are liked after by the government, however, there are some sites that are under the ownership and management of the private business. The commercial heritage and cultural organisation primarily focus on providing effective advice related to the maintenance of architecture and culture.  

3.2 Roles and responsibilities of organisation in the heritage and cultural industry

National Trust is the largest membership organisation in the UK. This is a charity, which runs independently for preserving and protecting the historical places and sites. This trust was established in the year 1895. The trust is developed for presenting the English Country houses.  The main roles and responsibilities of National Trust are: 

• To develop strategies for funding so that they can be invested for the preservation of the different historic sites in England (National Trust, 2017). 
• The reasonability of National Trust is to safeguard the historic buildings in England through the application of traditional conservation techniques
• National Trust focuses on rescuing Knole and its collection from decay. The members of the organisation have been working in Kent for centuries to save the known from damp and decay.   
• The ancient garden is also protected by this trust. The experts for the long-term preservation of the special places provide special conservation skills.
•  The Trust also works for the conservation of childhood houses of different famous personalities in England (National Trust, 2017). 
• The trust also possesses the responsibility for developing new technologies and techniques that would help in saving the ancient places and monuments.  

Woodland Trust is another significant Conservation Trust in the UK. This trust is concerned with the development, protection and restoration of native woodland heritage. The trust possesses the ownership of nearly 1000 sites that covers an area of 22,500 hectares. The prime roles and the responsibilities of this organisation are listed in this section:

1. Woodland Trust plays an essential role in ancient forests. The ancient forests include the forestlands that are rarely unique and irreplaceable. The trusts possess the responsibilities to develop strategies that would help in protecting these areas so that the future generation can also experience the same.
2. Another significant responsibility of the Woodland Trust is to identify the ancient woodlands that are being destroyed. The identification is done for restoring them. This is done to protect the ancient forests (Woodlandtrust.org.uk, 2017).    
3. Woodland Trust possesses the responsibility of planting native trees and woods. The reason for which these types of trees are planted because it helps in creating a resilient landscape for the common people as well as for wildlife. This increases greenery of an area and safeguards different plants and the animal species.
4. The environment encounters different challenges, which are identified by this trust. Based on these findings new spaces are created for wildlife to overcome the challenges and this also helps income generation and attraction of tourists.  

Task 4 (Management Report)

To: The Management of Heritage and Tourism Cultural Organization   

From: Research Assistant 

Date: 30/6/2017

Subject: Different Methods and Media used in the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum for Interpretation

4.1 Methods and media used for interpretation within heritage and cultural industry of tourists

The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum stores different artefacts of ancient culture and heritage. The museums employ different provisions that attract different visitors with varied purpose from all astound the world. To help the visitors understands the different artefacts stored in the museum, different methods and media are used for interpretation. Proper interpretation is significant for enhancing the experience of the visitors. The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum have focused on technological development and innovation and hence they utilised modern interpretive tools that are aimed at attracting the customers and improving the experience of the visitors.    

The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museummake use of personal media such as a guide. All the rooms have a guide who is willing to help the visitors with all the information that they require. The exhibitions that are held in V&A also act a guide andattendants for the visitors who visit there. To help the children and common people understand about the ancient culture and history theatres are organised. Plays are organised to help the process of learning easier. The live characters are allowed to ask questions after the play is over by the visitors.  Music festival of a different culture is also organised. The main motive of all these activities is to interpret the heritage and the culture of different aspects that are stored in this museum. The use of interpretation for visitor experience in the exhibition in BM has increased the visitors by 13 % (Independent blogs, 2017).  

Non-personal media also form significant tools for communicating the visitors.  These include the supply of the printed materials. In BM and V&A, brochures, as well as guidebooks, are provided. These are supplied to the visitors when they purchase the ticket.  Besides all the artefacts that are stored in BM and V&A, placards are provided to help the visitors obtain adequate knowledge about the displayed items.  Scale models are also used in both of these museums to convey the historical significances of these cities.

Technological innovation has played an essential role in the development of the museum and this has helped them to attract people from all over the world. In the era of digitalization, different modern systems are used. British Museum is always focused on inventing ways to attract visitors. The museum has an audio description guides in 11 languages.  It was meant for the visitors who do not understand English, for the visually impaired people. The new Multimedia guide provides audio and visual experience to the victors with touch screen device. The Children's Guide offer micro-tours that focus on different parts of the world and these are accompanied by small interactive games (Britishmuseum.org, 2017).  

It is quite disappointing to mention that V&A Museum does not provide any audio guide to the visitors. There are personal guides and assistants who are ready to provide all the information to the visitors. The guides and the attendants dress as per the costume of the period and share short stories with the visitors. There are real life actors within the museum who take their position with different artefacts and these actors are allowed to ask questions by the visitors.  

Conclusion

The present assignment discussed elaborately the different aspects of heritage and cultural tourism. The rise of new technology and passage of time has brought several changes in the life of the common people. Modernism has affected the people and they are now coming out an ancient plethora of culture. Heritage tourism began since the ancient times when people used to go for pilgrimage. This is because tourism management organization ensure proper maintenance of the heritage sites. 

The heritage sites express the aesthetic value of the culture and region. The heritage sites preserve information about the past such as the British Museums and V&A Museum. They focus in catering the needs of different customers like students, teachers, researcher and families and thereby help in creating intrinsic and attributed value. There are different public and private trust that looks after the protection of heritage sites like National Trust, Woodland Trust Association for Cultural Enterprise (ACE) Historic England. The different management sites possess roles and responsibilities. Usage of different media to communicate with the customers also evaluate the success of museum. It can be concluded that proper management of the heritage sites is essential for the maintenance of the sites.