Recalling the Past: Maintaining continuity in urban heritage tourism

Abstract

What did the past inherit to a place? It left a track of continuity that builds the identity of the place. This study aims to observed continuity aspect to develop heritage tourism in a historic corridor of Medan City. Using a mixed method of quantitative as well as qualitative, it focused on three indicators in the study area namely values, nostalgia, and familiarity. The findings have shown that the largest contribution in building the area identity came from the heritage buildings and historical stories while the familiarity was proven to be weak.

Linking identity and heritage with image and a reputation for competition

“…Place identity is characterised by four principles, i.e., distinctiveness, continuity, self-esteem, and self-efficacy (Ginting and Rahman, 2016). The enduring competitiveness of a place indicates continuity in its identity, identified by perceived distinctiveness, uniqueness and diversity from other places, based on the self-esteem instilled in the assessor from being in that location (Ginting and Wahid, 2016). Self-esteem refers to a self-assessment with which one identifies, generated by positive perceptions in terms of smugness about a place.…”

“…In doing so, new conceptual model frameworks have been developed (e.g. 2018;Ginting and Wahid, 2016;Hakala et al, 2011;. Such a model has not been investigated previously in tourism, travel, marketing and management literature.…”

“…Consequently, we have addressed the gaps in current knowledge and responded to prior calls for investigation from the perspective of marketers (Cooper et al, 2015;2018;Ginting and Wahid, 2016;Hakala et al, 2011;. This study identified these gaps From a theoretical perspective, this study integrates social identity theory (Ashforth and Mael, 1989) and the resource based view into place branding studies, based on the consideration that place can be considered as a social category that provides identity (Twigger-Ross et al, 2003) and is able to confer a participatory experience between the physical setting and people.…”

Geotourism Development Through the Public Facilities in Geotrail Bakkara, Toba Caldera Geopark

“…Tourism is to improve the economy and the locals' prosperity and is necessary for the sustainability of custom, tradition, and culture (Lutfianti, 2017). Historical heritage is the attractiveness of a tourist destination (Ginting and Wahid, 2016). As a tourist destination, Bakkara has a great geodiversity, biodiversity, and cultural diversity.…”

Perceptions of Infrastructure in the World Heritage Historic Town Based on an Example, This Case From Thailand

“…There was evidence to show positive perceptions of the walkways amongst tourists in the WHSs in Malaysia. Malacca Heritage Town provided much-valued continuous, comfortable walking around heritage objects which supported the value of heritage buildings (Ginting and Wahid, 2016). The physical quality of pedestrian interaction is essential for heritage tourism places to create positive perceptions through the characteristic forming elements (Ginting and Wahid, 2016).…”