Tourists’ experiences and references of cultural heritage landscapes: a study of Galle world heritage site

Abstract

Cultural Heritage Landscapes resulting from the conservation of the unique physical characteristics and the place identity, have become major tourist attractions all over the world. The consumption of a landscape by visitors alter and disturb the significant features of such landscapes. The objective of this paper is to present the importance of cultural heritage landscapes in experiencing places by tourists. The paper is based on the Galle world heritage site, Sri Lanka; a landscape initially consumed by tourists due to its natural components which creates a product of tourist consumption landscape at present. The theoretical frameworks of information processing theory, tourists’ authenticity & gaze and performativity were applied to comprehend the process of experiencing and the altering the cultural landscape in reference to tourist-host social relationships. A study was conducted through the investigation, of experiences based on questionnaires with a sample of randomly selected foreign and local tourists (30 nos. each), who have visited Galle in 2019. Data was classified under three variables; tangible, social intangible and symbolic intangible components. The analysis reveals that cultural heritage components create positive attributes in destination branding and on visitor satisfaction. The tourist activity creates both positive and negative attributes in altering the cultural heritage characteristics and the pattern of living of the community. This paper argues for the host communities to be engaged in place making while preserving the identity of the cultural heritage for the development of tourism and destination branding.