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Wang, Bolin (2007) SELLING OR SAVING: SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN WORLD HERITAGE SITES. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

The proposed paper will present an exploratory study of World Heritage Sites (WHS) for tourism use. The concept of world heritage was born of the 1972 World Heritage convention. The inscribed sites list is growing rapidly every year, and most World Heritage sites become well-known tourist destinations. This has led to an interest to understand the contemporary use of such sites for tourism purposes, and to examine to what extent they are sustainable in the long term

This paper began with a questionnaire survey with the aim to discover the ways in which WHS are seen and used. The result shows that managing visitor experience is the key to achieve a sustainable future for WHSs. Issues relating to entry fees, crowdedness, use of ICT and so forth need to be dealt with tactfully in order to achieve a balance between conservation and exploitation of heritage assets. The case study of the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Sites was followed to examine sustainable tourism practices based on the survey findings, the interaction and collaboration among stakeholders were also explored using primary data obtained from interviews and participant observation. it was found that Ironbridge Gorge WHS as one of the renowned industrial heritage tourist attraction in the UK, is being promoted and managed on a sustainable basis.

A critical review of the findings will be presented after each result sections. Based on the findings and personal experience, the contribution of this paper is twofold: Firstly, it discusses some preliminary ideas aimed at understanding the contemporary use of WHS for tourism through statistical means. Secondly, it provides empirical results concerning stakeholder interaction in developing sustainable tourism at Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage site.

Keyword: Tourism, World Heritage Sites (WHS), Conservation, Sustainability, Promotion, Ironbridge Gorge, Stakeholders

Item Type:	Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)
Depositing User:	EP, Services
Date Deposited:	10 Mar 2008
Last Modified:	23 Dec 2017 00:18
URI:	https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/20909

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