Yaniv Poria

The core of heritage tourism

Abstract The paper challenges the idea that heritage tourism is simply represented by tourists at heritage attractions and suggests rather that perceptions more properly lie at its core. Relationships among four groups of variables (personal characteristics, site attributes, awareness, perceptions) and behavior (before, during, and after) are investigated. The results indicate that the perception of a place as part of personal heritage is associated with the visitation patterns. In particular those who view a place as bound up with their own heritage are likely to behave significantly differently from others. Understanding this is useful for the study of tourists’ behavior and for the management of sites.

Links between Tourists, Heritage, and Reasons for Visiting Heritage Sites

This article clarifies heritage tourism by identifying and segmenting reasons for visiting heritage sites. In doing so, it shows that the links between a site’s attributes and the tourists themselves are essential to understanding tourists’ motivations to visit heritage places. The sample was composed of English-speaking international tourists leaving Israel through Ben-Gurion airport. The research was implemented by the use of structured questionnaires using face-to-face interviews. Responses were grouped using an interpretability approach to exploratory factor analysis. Reasons for visiting heritage sites were classified into three groups: “heritage experience,” “learning experience,” and “recreational experience.” Reasons for visiting heritage sites were linked to the tourists’ perception of the site in relation to their own heritage and their willingness to be exposed to an emotional experience. The results lead to a better understanding of reasons for visiting heritage places and provide further insight into heritage tourism in general. The findings are relevant to the operational management of spaces presenting history-related artifacts and to the marketing of these sites.

Heritage Site Perceptions and Motivations to Visit

The present study has two main objectives: (1) to further explore the motivations of potential visitors to a heritage site, and (2) to explore whether the relationships among the tourists’ perceptions of the site relative to their own heritage are related to their motivations for the visit. The sample is composed of potential visitors to Anne Frank House in Amsterdam. The results reveal the existence of motives often ignored in previous studies, including emotional involvement and bequeathal of the sites narrative. The findings also indicate a distinct relationship between tourists’ perceptions of a site relative to their own heritage and the motivations for visiting the site. The study contributes to the understanding of tourist behaviors relative to heritage settings along with implications for the marketing of heritage settings.

Visitors' Preferences for Interpretation at Heritage Sites

Research on interpretation at heritage settings commonly centers on the display. The current study highlights visitor preferences for on-site interpretation, an essential element in the management of heritage tourist attractions. This research focuses on the Wailing Wall, a religious “must-see” attraction in Jerusalem. The role of interpretation as a facilitator of emotional experience rather than a means to gain knowledge is explored. Results indicate the need to customize the interpretation to meet visitor preferences and motives. Furthermore, the study reveals the need to capture heritage tourism not only as a search for naïve nostalgia or a simplified romantic version of the past but also as a more complex phenomenon. Implications for marketers and heritage site operators are suggested, highlighting the need to adopt innovative approaches to the management of heritage tourist attractions and provide different interpretations for different visitors.

World Heritage Site—Is It an Effective Brand Name?: A Case Study of a Religious Heritage Site

Is the designation World Heritage Site (WHS) effective? Does it yield high net brand equity? The five research objectives in the present study seek to explore awareness of the designation/logo, the meanings attached to the designation, the effects of the designation on tourists’ intended future behaviors, the relationship between number of WHSs and a country’s image, and the relationship between perception of a site as part of the world heritage and tourist behaviors. The postpositivistic research began with an exploratory stage followed by structured questionnaires focusing on a Christian heritage site in Israel. The findings indicate only moderate awareness of the designation/logo barely affecting behaviors. However, the cumulative effect of WHS designations is positively related to willingness to revisit a particular country. In addition, the findings highlight the significance of the experientially based approach to the management of heritage sites.

The Flight Experiences of People with Disabilities: An Exploratory Study

Using in-depth interviews, this study explores the flight experiences of people with disabilities through their own perspective, revealing the physical and social hurdles facing blind people and those who use wheelchairs and crutches. Accessibly difficulties in boarding the plane, disembarkation, and on board are reported. The findings suggest that participants are confronted with physical and social difficulties, which, for wheelchair users, result in humiliation and physical suffering. Moreover, crew members’ behavior toward people with disabilities indicates the need to train and educate airline employees. The article concludes with implications for researchers and practitioners.

Dimensions of hotel experience of people with disabilities: an exploratory study

Purpose – This exploratory study aims to focus on the challenges arising from the interactions between wheelchair users, individuals using crutches and blind people with the hotel environment as well as on the efforts to overcome these challenges.Design/methodology/approach – The sample was gathered through a snowballing technique. The study utilizes in‐depth semi‐structured interviews of 45 participants: 20 used wheelchairs; ten were dependent on crutches; and 15 were blind. The data were subject to thematic content analysis.Findings – Interpreted by the social model of disability, the results suggest that the challenges participants confront derive from the physical design of the environment as well as staff behaviors. Differences were found between the hotel experiences of people with various types of disabilities.Research limitation/implications – The sample was limited to Israeli participants.Practical implications – The paper offers recommendations for hotel management with regard to specific physic...

Tourist perceptions of heritage exhibits: a comparative study from Israel

It is common in tourism and leisure literature to define and approach tourism subgroups in terms of the presence of the tourists in certain spaces. This approach is challenged in the present paper. It is argued that the understanding of heritage tourism should be based on the link between the individual and the space, namely tourist perceptions of a site relative to their own heritage. Based on a study dealing with visitation patterns to places where historic artefacts are presented, it is suggested that tourist perception is key to the understanding of visitation patterns. It is not so much the artefacts the tourists see or observe, but the meaning they ascribe to them. The theoretical implications of this argument are discussed in terms of tourism in general and heritage tourism in particular, as well as the practical applications to cultural heritage management.

Assessing Gay Men and Lesbian Women's Hotel Experiences: An Exploratory Study of Sexual Orientation in the Travel Industry

This study examines the hotel experiences of gay men and lesbians, using qualitative interviews of 54 self-identified lesbians and gay men in the United Kingdom and Israel. The findings show that participants are highly affected by the symbolic meanings they assign to specific elements of the hotel experience. Results indicate that it is important for gay men and lesbians to feel accepted and welcome when their sexual orientation is known. Specifically, they wish to be treated in the same way they believe heterosexuals are treated. Critical elements of the hotel experience focus on the behavior of hotel staff, hotel attributes, and the environment of the hotel. The findings may assist in shaping service provision for, and service delivery to, lesbians and gay men.

People with disabilities visit art museums: an exploratory study of obstacles and difficulties

Visits to art museums are a major component of culture and heritage tourism. This study focuses on the obstacles that Israelis with disabilities – 30 people who use wheelchairs or crutches and 15 visually impaired people – face while visiting art museums. The in-depth interviews revealed that people with disabilities are not able to experience the museum as they wish, despite museum efforts toward becoming accessible to all. Participants emphasize the non-physical elements of the museum environment (e.g. staff attitudes and interaction with other visitors), as being major difficulties in achieving a full museum experience. The study shows that visitors often turn the barriers they confront into a difficulty, nevertheless the struggle itself has a negative effect on the visit experience.