Michael Hitchcock

Discourses with the past: Tourism and heritage in South-East Asia

This special issue is intended to explore in some empirical detail the relationships between culture (including ethnicity) nature, tourism, development, and political action, and in this connection to focus specifically on what is widely called ‘heritage’ and its conceptualization and representation in South-East Asia. Heritage is both a narrow concept, literally ‘what is or may be inherited’ (Little Oxford English Dictionary, 1996: 294), and a broader one pertaining to notions of ethnicity and nationalism, and even global identity. Heritage has become something which the state and its agents, as well as tourists and local communities appropriate and create as an object worthy of touristic attention, though only certain items are selected for this purpose and others are discarded. It has been remarked upon frequently that the concept of heritage is difficult to define and that, in popular discourse, its meaning is very wide and flexible. A useful starting point is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which designates World Heritage Sites as of either ‘cultural’ or ‘natural’ or ‘mixed’ (both cultural and natural) importance. According to the World Heritage Convention, 1 which was adopted by UNESCO in 1972, ‘cultural heritage’ embraces a group of buildings or a site of historical, aesthetic, archaeological, scientific, ethnological or anthropological value’. In contrast UNESCO defines ‘natural heritage’ in terms of outstanding physical, biological, and geological features; habitats of threatened plants or animal species and areas of value on scientific and aesthetic grounds or from the perspective of conservation. We are using the term heritage here to refer primarily to tangible and concrete elements of the past which are presented and re-presented in the present: archaeological finds, historical sites, monuments and buildings, urban and rural landscapes, and material artefacts (usually housed and displayed in museums). What is more ‘the sites selected to represent the country’s heritage will also have strong implications for both collective and individual identity and hence the creation of social realities’ (Black and Wall, 2001: 123). We also recognize that the term is used in a wider sense to refer not just to ‘traditional’ material objects but also to ‘traditional’ ways of life (often such overt, sensory and ‘aesthetic’ cultural forms as dance, drama, music, and the visual and plastic arts), which are usually brought into association with the material evidence of the past. The importance of these cultural forms as heritage is enhanced precisely because governments in promoting tourism tend to focus on those which are immediate, accessible, colourful, and visible to the ‘tourist gaze’, and which can be more easily shaped and constructed (Wood, 1997: 10). The concept of heritage therefore shades into the more general concepts of culture and tradition, and it is bound up with issues of national and local identities. However, as we shall see, even the natural environment can be defined and sanctioned as heritage and moulded in particular ways for the tourist market, although it is usually presented and given meaning, as is cultural heritage, as ISSN 1363-9811 print/ISSN 1469-8382 online/03/890003-13  2003 Editors, Indonesia and the Malay World

Local reactions to mass tourism and community tourism development in Macau

ABSTRACT By 2014, it became apparent that a popular debate was emerging in many destinations about the “annoyances” felt by local residents in the face of an upsurge in inbound tourism. This study investigates residents’ attitudes toward mass tourism and tourism development in Macau. It comprises an examination of three emotional solidarity factors of residents’ perceptions of the contribution of tourism to the community and the communitys experiences of so-called “annoyances” from tourists that may ultimately influence residents’ attitudes toward community tourism development. The results of this study reveal that three emotional solidarity factors play different roles in influencing residents’ attitudes about community tourism and community tourism development. The theoretical contributions, as well as implications, are discussed and future research opportunities are proposed.

A consideration of normality in importance-performance analysis.

It is widely believed that results of research are only valid when the distribution of data is relatively normal. However, most previous importance–performance analysis (IPA) studies have not considered the assessment of data normality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the importance of the normality assumption in IPA studies. Four data sets obtained from four experimental questionnaire surveys were used to demonstrate the changes in outcomes from non-normally distributed data sets to relatively normally distributed data sets by removing abnormal data. The results indicate that the distributions of attributes in four quadrants in importance–performance mapping for non-normally distributed data sets and relatively normally distributed data sets are similar when using direct IPA measurement method; however, they show differences when performing indirect IPA measurement methods. It is concluded that in order to ensure high-quality research outcomes, researchers should justify data normality in their IPA studies.

Mental mapping and heritage visitors’ spatial perceptions

ABSTRACT Visitors’ activities tend to be spatially oriented in destinations. Mental mapping is a useful method for revealing how visitors spatially perceive tourism destinations. However, studies of this kind are under-researched in the tourism field. Therefore, this study investigates the ways in which visitors spatially perceive the World Heritage Sites (WHSs) of Macau through the use of mental maps drawn by a sample of 400 respondents. Comparisons of the mental maps revealed that respondents possessed a relatively limited spatial knowledge of the WHSs, and this recognition varied according to the gender, place of origin, travel mode, type of trip, social interaction with local people and length of stay. While the real-life world of visitors was identified by the mental mapping approach, some suggestions for formulating strategies are provided.

Examining the Relationships among Motivation, Service Quality and Loyalty: The case of the National Museum of Natural Science

This study explores causal relationships between push and pull motivations, perceptions of service quality and loyalty intention, and examines the moderating role of membership status in the National Museum of Natural Science, the largest museum in Taiwan. Data were collected from 405 paid admission visitors, with a quota and systematic sampling, from two stages of pre- and post-visit corresponding with two questionnaires. The results demonstrate that push and pull motivations impact on service quality perceptions, which in turn influence museum loyalty; the effect of pull motivation on service quality perceptions in the nonmember group was stronger than in the member group; the effect of service quality perceptions on loyalty in the member group was stronger than in the nonmember group. Museum managers could tailor and advertise existing museum products and services to different types of visitors; assuring the museums continued operation and success.

Taiwan's ambiguous South-East Asian Heritage

Introduction There has been a substantial increase in outdoor ethnographic representation in the last two decades, particularly in South-East Asia. The new creators of such exhibitions do not simply rely on an established format, but often synthesize different, and sometimes antithetic approaches. The world fair or exposition style, which emerged in the nineteenth century and continues today in international trade fairs and festivals, often provides a basis for open-air exhibitions. The ethnographic sections of such displays, however, usually refer to a variety of other models, notably the Skansen-style folk museums of Europe and the Disney-style world showcase displays (Hitchcock, Stanley, and Siu, 1997). A recurring theme in the South-East Asian ethnographic displays is the role played by nationalism, often of the Herderian kind, in binding together amalgams of diverse peoples. Taiwan has its own government and currency, but its sovereign status is ambiguous. The major powers acknowledge China’s claims to Taiwan, and only a handful of countries officially recognize its existence as a nation-state. Taiwan leans towards ASEAN, but is prevented from membership because of Chinese claims over the island’s sovereignty. The politically dominant ‘mainlanders’ and their descendants comprise 11 per cent of the population and are associated with China’s defeated Nationalists. The majority, the Taiwanese, are descendants of earlier Han Chinese migrants and there is a history of resentment of the political dominance by ‘mainlanders’. There are also so-called ‘aboriginals’ who speak languages belonging to the Austronesian family and have close cultural affinities with maritime South-East Asia. Almost everybody in Taiwan subscribes to a fourfold division of the island’s population–’Taiwanese’ (tai wan sheng), ‘Mainlanders’ (wai sheng jen), ‘hakka’ (k’o chia jen), and aborigines (shan ti jen)–though this provides at best a rough and ready guide to the country’s cultural complexities. The indigenous people are divided by Taiwanese anthropologists into nine ethnic groups bearing the following ethnonyms: Atayal, Ami, Saisat, Bunun, Tsou, Rukei, Paiwan, Puyuma, and Yami. A tenth group may also be added if the Thoa are separated from the Tsou or from the assimilated p’ing p’u or ‘plains aborigines’ (Hsieh, 1994: 185). The experience of the aboriginals may in broad terms be likened to other indigenous peoples in the way they have suffered prejudice and exclusion at the hands of colonists. Some measure of the way Taiwan has tried to redress these issues may be inferred from various policy changes, such as the dropping of widely used but pejorative Chinese terms for the indigenous people in official publications. Taiwan’s ambiguous status is reflected in its museum provision. The National Palace Museum displays treasures salvaged by the retreating Nationalists, the heritage of mainland China. This approach contrasts sharply with conservation schemes devoted to

Literature review on service quality in hospitality and tourism (1984-2014): future directions and trends

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the development of service quality research in hospitality and tourism from 1984 to 2014, to identify research gaps, and to suggest directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach This review comprised three steps with the first being the generation of a structural map by using the online pathfinder network (PFNET) to identify potential research themes. The second research step involved an online literature search covering 2,211 academic journal articles to obtain basic information for planning an additional content investigation concerning the research themes. The final step was to investigate the content of the articles published in top-tier journals or frequently cited ones in three different stages (1984-1993, 1994-2003, and 2004-2014) in order to explore potential research topics. Findings The study identifies 17 research themes that comprise two main research themes, seven sub-stems, six outer-leaves, and two little-leaves. The developments...

Old Tourists and New Tourists: Management Challenges for Bali's Tourism Industry

Tourism in Asia is growing faster than anywhere else in the world. Despite the significance of the tourism industry in this area it is under researched. This book addresses this imbalance by providing an edited collection of chapters which explore the domestic and intraregional tourism in Asia. [Summary from WorldCat]