Tourists perceptions of World Heritage Site and its designation

Sustainable Urban Tourism: Reflections on the Need for Building-Related Indicators

“…The introduction of instruments conceived for preservation purposes, such as, above all, the inscription of cultural resources and specifically tangible assets (buildings, monuments, or ancient town centers) in the UNESCO World Heritage List (WHL) are currently stimulating the international debate. Many articles have questioned whether the designation in fact represents a real advantage or is rather, a burden for destinations, what its concrete effects are in terms of tourism increases, and whether that increase is consistent or compatible with the general sustainability goals of the destinations and their local communities [62][63][64][65][66][67][68]. Based on the limitations of current WHL role formulation (undermined credibility due to unbalance in the assets' geographical distribution, an excessive number of designations, difficult management of serial and transboundary resources, the limited control and sanction powers of UNESCO, poor financial resources for the protection of too many sites), and the lack of quantification regarding changes in actual tourist numbers, it is concluded that it is at least a mixed blessing, or in simple terms, a double-edged sword.…”

World heritage site management: a case study of sacred sites and pilgrimage routes in the Kii mountain range, Japan

“…As the findings above imply, such positive changes appear to have occurred in Kii WHS. As noted previously, WHS status may function as an indicator of objective authenticity for tourists (Poria et al, 2013;Smith, 2002) and create a marketable brand for the destination (Bryce et al, 2015). WHS status seems to have worked on Kii as a marker of authenticity and quality for foreign tourists and may be a reason why Kii has seen an evident increase in the number of overseas tourists since its WHS inscription.…”

“…WHS 5 status may also be an ostensible marker of authenticity and a measure of quality (Bianchi, 2002;Poria, Reichel & Cohen, 2013;Smith, 2002). In short, acquiring WHS status can mean external validation and 'branding' by an international authenticating organisation such as UNESCO (Bryce, Curran, O'Gorman, & Taheri, 2015).…”

“…However, no consensus has been established among researchers, because each site is unique in terms of reputation, accessibility and other influential and place-specific characteristics. A study by Poria et al (2013) suggests that WHS listing does not affect tourist demand in Israel, and several other studies illustrate that WHS inscription does not necessarily guarantee an increase in visitor arrivals (Cellini, 2011;Hall & Piggin, 2003;Huang, Tsaur & Yang, 2012). Buckley (2004) asserts that WHS designation should be treated as just one possible reason for an increase 6 in overall visitor numbers at Australia's national parks with WHS status, although he believes it can be influential in increasing overseas visitation.…”

Intangible Cultural Heritage and Sustainable Tourism in Córdoba, Spain

“…This signifies that, on occasion, the designation of a certain site as WHS is perceived as "branding" [18] or "labelling" [20] and that the recognition by the UNESCO, in addition to reinforcing the protection of the heritage, has a strong attraction for the tourist, signifying a global recommendation so that a certain type of tourists visit that destination [21], especially for those that travel seeking authentic experiences and genuine places [22]. For this reason, heritage is seen as one of the most significant and fastest growing aspects of tourism [13].…”