Local conservation and perceptions of heritage in Old Rauma World Heritage Site

Gone in a Flash: COVID-19 and Social Sustainability Impacts at Melaka World Heritage City

“…Gone in a Flash: COVID-19 and Social Sustainability Impacts at Melaka World Heritage City. https://doi.org/10.58345/AUPA5622 | 5 and carrying capacity, (5) stakeholder power relations and politics, (6) destination branding and equity, and (7) advantages and disadvantages of inscription, including stakeholder motives (Bideau & Kilani, 2012;Haanpää et al, 2019;Poria et al, 2011;Ryan & Silvanto, 2010;Williams, 2010;Zhao et al, 2018). Therefore, as similarly considered in this study, such themes are central to safeguarding the sustainable development of WHSs.…”

“…Figure 1 Thus, whilst achieving WHS inscription may initially be celebrated by policy makers, industry and society, this euphoria may subsequently give way to antipathetic sentiments from local residents and community stakeholders, if threats to social sustainability are not adequately addressed. Narratives from this study indicate that social sustainability implications and concerns arising from tourism development are multidimensional, values-driven, and divergent, depending on the concerns of stakeholder groups, giving rise to tensions (Haanpää et al, 2019;Higgins-Desbiolles et al, 2019;Muler Gonzalez et al, 2017). Since these tensions may be intensified during times of crisis events such as COVID-19, we would argue that social sustainability is very important.…”

“…However, despite the seemingly positive benefits of WHS status on destination branding, competitiveness and appeal, there have been criticisms about its contradicting impacts (Haanpää et al, 2019;Landorf, 2009). Whilst the key purpose of the UNESCO inscription is to preserve and protect, these WHS may experience a substantial increase in visitor numbers (Alvarez-Sousa & Paniza Prados, 2020;Santa-Cruz & López-Guzmán, 2017).…”

“…To ensure sustained change, social integration, and economic revitalisation at the grassroot level, the identification and legitimisation of local stakeholder voices and their collective vision of heritage value must be addressed against sustainable conservation practices and policies (Haanpää et al, 2019). However, Ryan and Silvanto (2010) also suggest that there are significant implications of political influences on how WHS inscription is utilised and promoted within the destination.…”

“…Within this context, whilst there has been a myriad of studies exploring the demand-side and customer-driven perspectives of tourism, the discourse focusing on supply-side perspectives is lacking (Aqueveque & Bianchi, 2017;Landorf, 2009). When exploring destination development, it is important to consider the differences in perspectives and inputs from destination supply-side stakeholders, since they play a key role as the main drivers and inhibitors towards the achievement of destination management goals (Aqueveque & Bianchi, 2017;Haanpää et al, 2019). Thus, by adopting a destinationsupply perspective, this work debates the inherent tensions in destination stakeholder relationships, as a consequence of WHL and tourism development.…”