success in heritage tourism
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8/8/2019 Success in Heritage Tourism
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PROCEEDINGS OF THEUS/ICOMOSINTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
MANAGING CONFLICT &CONSERVATION IN HISTORIC CITIESINTEGRATING CONSERVATION WITH TOURISM,DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICS
ANNAPOLIS,MARYLAND,USA 24-27APRIL 2003
UNITED STATES NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MONUMENTS AND SITES
COMIT NATIONAL DES ETATS UNIS DU CONSEIL INTERNATIONAL DES MONUMENTS ET DES SITES
Success in Heritage Tourism
James W. Rhodes, FAIA
Historic patrimony, like holy matrimony is best savored when it is shared graciously. Hereby the fabric
of history is embraced by the present and sustained for future generations. Where certain historic
treasures are endangered from exposure they wisely must be conserved in isolation. Archaeological
remains are often left buried, or reburied; cave paintings, manuscripts and early photographs must be
experienced in their surrogate form. And much fine art resides in private quarters. But most of the built
and natural environment must truly be experienced in situ. This brings visitors into contact, and all tooften into conflict, with locals. I experienced the conflict of the rational with the seemingly irrational
in my own home town.
Not all communities welcome heritage tourism. Reasons can be rational and informed, as for those
communities of individuals who dont want street congestion, dont want their privacy invaded, dont
want their secret places revealed or run down, etc. etc. etc. Some reasons are not so rational, more
emotional, but just as compelling. About ten years ago, my suburban New York village of Croton-on-
Hudson was considering an ordinance for historic preservation. The Mayor asked me, with a small
board of experts, to write a law that would provide protections for the special historic resources of this
community of approximately 7,000 persons. After several months of analysis of other laws, and
consultation with local, state and national advisors, we drafted what I thought was a model law,
providing concise and parallel language addressing buildings, districts, objects and archaeological sites.
The draft law was generally well appreciated, except for two sentences containing the words
mandatory compliance rather than merely advisory in nature. I felt that the then current advisory
Visual Environment Board on which I served did not receive the respect and impact it needed, and that
the benefits of a new Landmarks Board with regulatory powers was appropriate. Wellalong came a
new Mayor, a fired-up church-lead opposition and a critical public hearing where I was shocked by the
following impassioned protest: We dont want historic preservation in Croton. We want Croton to stay
the way it is! Result: no ordnance, no Board, no protections. Even the VEB withered. In later years
when the subject of tourism was raised, similar opposition halted most efforts at its accommodation.
As an Architect engaged in preservation of historic sites I consider myself an interpreter of the story of
the resource as well as the story of my own time---striving to engage and to reveal the life-givingessence of the site and stories it embodies . My personal success is measured in how well I understand
and relate those stories.
I regard five factors critical to the overall success of cultural heritage tourism. Real success is found
where these five factors are kept in balance. Miss any one factor, and success may be weakened,
fleeting or totally unachievable. Think of it as five fully overlapping rings of influence. You want to be in
the middle where all five rings overlap.
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8/8/2019 Success in Heritage Tourism
2/2
PROCEEDINGS OF THEUS/ICOMOSINTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM
MANAGING CONFLICT &CONSERVATION IN HISTORIC CITIESINTEGRATING CONSERVATION WITH TOURISM,DEVELOPMENT AND POLITICS
ANNAPOLIS,MARYLAND,USA 24-27APRIL 2003
UNITED STATES NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON MONUMENTS AND SITES
COMIT NATIONAL DES ETATS UNIS DU CONSEIL INTERNATIONAL DES MONUMENTS ET DES SITES
1. Heritage tourism is founded on: Quality, Authenticity and Integrity. Keyword: Resource
Foundations come first. Its the stuff on which the structure of Heritage Tourism is built. For goodreason, this is the factor that often receives the most attention. It is immediate, visceral and rewarding
to engage oneself with the resource. Quality: the good stuff. Authenticity: the real thing. Integrity: it
speaks! But the reach for success does not end here.
2. Heritage tourism is advanced by: Planning, both physical and economic. Keywords: Design and
Development.
Development is not the enemy of preservation! Planning anticipates, supports, and with design,
satisfies the essential needs of both the resource and of tourism. The resource is shared, and the means
to preservation is assured.
3. Heritage tourism is enabled through: Collaboration and Commitment. Keywords: Community and
Politics
Preservation is a team effort. Consensus and commitment to shared goals are won through acts of
inclusion and organization. I have seen an angry community transformed into eager enthusiasts through
a single evenings session of education and accommodation. Listen well and respond directly.
4. Heritage tourism is preserved and protected by: Conservation. Keyword: Sustainability
What we sustain sustains us in return, and sustains generations to come. We are stewards and
spokespersons for our generation. Dr. James Marston Fitch would call us curators of the built world.
We are not the first nor the last to intervene in the life of the resource. The artifacts of our heritage are
effectively works-in-progress, not to be consumed or even servile to a single episode of
enlightenment. Rather, with conservation, we can indeed have our cake and eat it too. What
pleasure I have known to sit in a place I have conserved knowing that it will still be there and enjoyed
fifty years later largely because of my efforts.
5. Heritage Tourism is assured and maintained by: Marketing and Management. Keywords: Program
and People
Marketing: getting the word out, networking, sharing the story beyond its boundaries, establishing
linkages, appealing to the audience. Giving them what they are looking for: a reason to come, and to
come back again. A reward every time. Management: opening the doors and keeping them open,guarding the integrity, good maintenance, making it work in perpetuity.
Making it work in perpetuity. In achieving success in Heritage Tourism, the process is not so much linear
as it is cyclical; realized through continual reapplication and reinvention. Visitation works when the
experience is mutually rewarding, adapting to the times. Resource, people, and story do indeed evolve.
That is how our heritage is sustained. We dont just want historic preservation herewe want things to
stay the way they are. We dont want to interfere with a good thingwe want this place and our lives to
continue to flourish.