What is a Smart Destination in Practice? The Interpretation of DMO Managers from Spanish World Heritage Cities

This work intends to identify how Spanish World Heritage Cities (SWHC) are interpreting and implementing the Smart Destination Spanish Model (SD). The model has been created as a new paradigm of tourist management, and it is being sponsored by the Spanish public administration in different destinations, including Spanish World Heritage Cities. SWHC are historic, major tourist destinations with a large number of visitors. A sequence of qualitative methods has been used, consisting of documentary analysis with semi-structured interviews. The destination managers from each of the 15 cities that take part of the World Heritage Cities Spanish Group have been interviewed. In addition, an executive of the government-owned Tourism Innovation and Technologies company (SEGITTUR) has been also interviewed. The results do highlight the momentum that the model has reached, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, and serve to identify what kind of strategies have been put in practice.

When theory meets praxis – enhancing heritage management through practice-led research at Great Zimbabwe World Heritage property

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to outline and reflect on the new research agenda for the Great Zimbabwe World Heritage property. This research agenda was jointly developed by academics and practitioners from Great Zimbabwe University (GZU) and the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) respectively. This Research-Practice Team was put together for the Heritage Place Lab (HPL), a pilot project of the ICCROM-IUCN World Heritage Leadership programme. Design/methodology/approach: A series of steps were undertaken to come up with research priorities and a new research agenda that are presented in this paper. The HPL project involved online workshops, due to the COVID-19 travel restrictions, that were held between September 2021 and April 2022. The HPL methodology involved six assignments that were based on the Enhancing Our Heritage Toolkit 2.0 (EOH) which was being designed by UNESCO and its Advisory Bodies. This toolkit encouraged the team to establish site-specific management issues and research needs. The toolkit helped the team to have a detailed appreciation of the site's Outstanding Universal Value as well as other heritage values of national and local importance. The toolkit also involved the mapping of site attributes and multiple actors as well as the analysis of governance and legal frameworks. The toolkit also required the team to identify factors affecting the heritage property. Findings: The Research-Practice Team highlighted challenges that resulted from the legacy of ill-informed research activities and conservation efforts at the World Heritage property. It became more apparent that the site managers were prioritizing the physical fabric of the site at the expense of the spiritual aspects. Lack of coordination among the actors was also undermining the governance structure. Four thematic strands which included local values and intangible cultural heritage elements;heritage governance;climate change and environmental sustainability and incorporation of local knowledge systems were identified for further research. Originality/value: The paper is an outcome of collaborative efforts that were done by academics and practitioners. Researchers and site managers at Great Zimbabwe had hitherto worked in silos. The majority of previous and ongoing research on the World Heritage property falls short of addressing the dire management challenges. The paper is an attempt to broaden the scope in terms of the management of the site. In the past focus has been on the monumental aspects of the site with specific reference to the dry-stone walled structures. However, in this instance, the Research-Practice Team has integrated new interests such as the intangible aspects of Great Zimbabwe, spirituality and community beneficiation. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Factors prompting augmented reality adoption in sacred places

There is evidence that sacred places across the world are launching augmented reality (AR) applications. This application of AR is somehow prompted by the most recent Covid-19 pandemic where in-person experiences are altered by the virtual. AR, as an innovative technology, augments the physical environment with digitally generated imagery that can generate privileges for tourists in sacred places and become the reason to trigger cultural conflicts and religious controversy. This in-depth interview-based research aims to explore the tourists' views and ideas of applying AR in the Mosque City of Bagerhat of Bangladesh, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in terms of possibilities, cultural conflicts, and religious controversy. Findings show that the application of AR in a sacred place can support tourists in many useful ways, can offer them positive experiences, and help in sustainability concerns of the site. However, the application of AR in a sacred place can be an element of conflicting interests between the religious and general tourists. Adequate attention is thus required from the parties involved in terms of applying AR in the Mosque City of Bagerhat of Bangladesh, a sacred religious site.

Small Business and Livelihood: A Study of Pashupatinath UNESCO Heritage Site of Nepal

Small businesses in world heritage sites provide services to visitors and livelihood for residents. Besides the cultural and religious values promoted by these businesses, they also provide socioeconomic support to their owners. The Pashupatinath temple is known as Hindu's major religious and pilgrimage destination in South Asia. Hundreds of businesses around the temple provide services to visitors. This study evaluates the socioeconomic impacts of these small businesses around Pashupatinath temple. Using a survey of 110 businesses, binary logistic regression models find that the owners of larger businesses selling religious supplies in this area are more likely to own houses in Kathmandu and to be more satisfied with their businesses. The study also finds that businesses without permanent stalls faced severe hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study assessed the socioeconomic status of a business owner through house ownership in Kathmandu, and finds that small businesses operating in the premises of the religious heritage site of Pashupatinath temple have a positive relation to the livelihood of the business owners and their families. It concludes that small-scale business in world heritage sites directly contributes to local livelihoods and economies. © 2022 by the authors.

The impact of COVID-19 closures on the Megalithic Temples of Malta UNESCO world heritage site

Purpose: This study will determine the impact COVID-19 closures had on the Megalithic Temples of Malta. The physical, economic, social and conservation impacts will be discussed. Design/methodology/approach: This study relies mainly on field observations of the effects managerial and state decisions had on the sites. A timeline from February to July 2020 will outline all major events and changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic happening in Malta and specifically within Heritage Malta sites. Findings: The pandemic impacted the sites under study economically, and socially, whilst the impact on the sites attributed to visitors and other agents of deterioration were variable. These findings affected the way sites reopened to the public with restrictions and additional safety measures. Originality/value: This article highlights the effect the pandemic had on archaeological sites in Central Mediterranean islands which are heavily reliant on tourism. It also highlights the important role such open-air sites have within the local community. © 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.

A post-pandemic look at short-term tourist accommodations and World Heritage Site management

Overtourism is a novel and complicated phenomenon that has hastened the rapid expansion of short-term tourist accommodations (STTA) in many European art cities. This study aims to establish a link between the rapid growth of the STTA and the likely dissemination of novel COVID-19 variations in World Heritage Sites (WHS). Using a comparative case study method, we assert that the atypical evolution of STTA renders WHS more vulnerable to novel COVID-19 variations. The findings highlight that until there are no feasible multi-sectoral and multi-level approaches to management, policy agreements on what overtourism means, and measuring tools for the proper number of visitors, the STTA issue persists, which makes WHS more vulnerable to novel COVID-19 variations in the post-pandemic time.

What does caring HRD look like in practice? A case study of two social enterprises in Brazil

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, combined with an array of other severe threats to societal well-being (e.g. inequality, systemic racism, and environmental degradation), have shed light on the importance of ethics of care as a guiding normative for HRD. However, the current understanding of care as HRD practice is limited and primarily studied in the context of leaders' behaviours towards employees. This study addresses this shortcoming by conducting a case study of social enterprises located in impoverished communities surrounding the UNESCO World Heritage Site Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil, to examine what caring HRD looks like and how it can be operationalised in organisations. We conducted a qualitative study based on interviews and documentation analysis to map the flow of care practices implemented by these social enterprises. Our findings suggest that caring HRD entails a reciprocal and systemic approach highly relevant to organisations operating in collaborative and complex social contexts. We observed that moral values are critical requirements for a caring approach and must be embedded in the organisation's mission, culture, and processes. Our work expands the range of care interventions proposed in HRD literature by offering strategies that target the whole organisational system, including the surrounding environment and community.

Crisis-resilience of small-scale tourism businesses in the pandemic era: the case of Yazd World Heritage Site, Iran

Resilience to severe crises like COVID-19 is critical for small businesses. However, little empirical research has been conducted to examine the crisis resilience of small businesses to the pandemic from the perspective of business operators. This research note aims at exploring the resilience of small tourism businesses to the COVID-19 crisis in a world heritage city. In-depth interviews with 25 operators were conducted and the results showed that the operators considered the pandemic crisis as a flame to the previous political and economic crises. Different resilience strategies such as business closure, survival, adaption and innovation were applied by different business operators. The results also confirmed that integration and togetherness helped businesses find better resilience when they share pains. The study further found that despite negative impacts, the pandemic created positive social impacts such as cohesion and solidarity among small businesses. In addition, the government supportive policies were not healing, and their plans in dealing with the crisis were not transparent and professional.

Life Between Monuments, Local Identity, and Global Tourism in the Neighborhood of San Lorenzo in Florence

The paper reflects on how the identity and authenticity of art cities, with special regard to those that are considered as best practices in the field of heritage protection, can be undermined by processes of tourist gentrification stimulated by the global interest they exercise because of their recognized universal value. The neighborhood of San Lorenzo within the World Heritage Site of Florence (Italy) is presented as a case study of a historic community whose socio-economic fabric has deeply changed over the years due to increasing overtourism. The paper focuses on the action research “San Lorenzo Laboratory”, coordinated by the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence, which aims to define, on a participatory basis, a shared strategy for the socially sustainable regeneration of the neighborhood, leveraging the redesign of public space and the reuse of an abandoned historical complex—the former monastery of Sant'Orsola. The results of the Laboratory, which took the form of requests and design concepts derived from discussions between experts, citizens, and stakeholders, have been delivered to the public institutions concerned and are intended to pave the way for a development and management model for the entire historic center, alternative to the tourist monoculture. The paper concludes by highlighting how the first effects of the initiative can be seen today in some policies and measures implemented by the City Council in response to the social and economic crisis triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Perceptions of the resident of Santiago de Compostela regarding tourism: effects on hospitality

Santiago de Compostela is one of the best-known pilgrimage routes globally, and it connects many countries in Europe. Its historic center was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. This article aims to assess the types and quality of social interaction among residents and visitors (city users) of this particular World Heritage City. Many studies were conducted prior to this one about Santiago. However, most of them have missed some recent approaches to the overtourism phase. The "overtourism" is a phase, which was notorious until 2019. The primary sourcing was assessed by a quantitative study accompanied by a questionnaire responded by 588 residents. The results confirmed that those more exposed to tourism were the most critical of their relationship with the visitor. Thus, we confirm a direct relationship between the intensity of contact with the visitor and the negative perception of tourism. The results are helpful for local and regional planners to implement more collaborative and democratic planning in the tourism sector. This is more relevant to destinations recognized as UNESCO and revealed an overtourism scenario. This new approach is urgent and must be prepared in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and a short and long-term perspective.

Assessment of vulnerability and site adaptive capacity to the risk of climate change: the case of Tchogha Zanbil World Heritage earthen site in Iran

Purpose>The aim of this research is to evaluate the vulnerability of earthen heritage when facing climate change, by focusing on Tchogha Zanbil site as a case study – an outstanding example of an earthen site that recurrently faces extreme climatic events. Moreover, the adaptive capacity of traditional knowledge and ancient systems is also evaluated, in order to contribute for future climate change adaptation planning.Design/methodology/approach>The vulnerability of cultural heritage to climate change was considered as the degree to which an identified cultural heritage value was susceptible to, or would be adversely affected by, the effects of climate change, including climate variability and extreme temperatures. In order to establish a vulnerability assessment, this paper will assess different definitions regarding vulnerability, exposure and sensitivity, crossing it with indicators of physical parameters, in order to propose an adaptive capacity for the site, based on ancient traditional knowledge.Findings>Nonetheless, the entailed research helped establish a framework that contributes to outline the vulnerability and the potential for adaptive capacity of World Heritage properties, especially earthen sites located in regions exposed to rising climate change impact.Research limitations/implications>The research faced some limitations regarding access to data and to site visits, due to COVID-19 restrictions that were in place.Originality/value>This research presents a methodological assessment of climate change risk in Tchogha Zanbil, a World Heritage earthen site in Iran, representative of a property highly exposed to risk and vulnerability.

Investigating Change in the Willingness to Pay for a More Sustainable Tourist Destination in a World Heritage City

The willingness to pay for sustainable tourism products and services has been widely discussed in the scientific literature. However, change in the willingness to pay over time has rarely been analysed. Such studies are important for understanding the impact that the increasing debate on sustainability, including environmental, economic, and social aspects, may have had on the willingness of tourists to pay more in order to ensure the sustainability of destinations. The aim of this article is to assess how the willingness of tourists to pay for sustainable tourism services has developed in the Spanish city of Cáceres, declared a World Heritage Site in 1986. Data from surveys conducted in 2012 and 2016 were used for this purpose. Logistic regression was applied to determine whether sociodemographic characteristics of tourists who visit the city influenced their willingness to pay in each year. A Chow test was applied to elucidate whether the differences between the years were statistically significant. The results obtained indicate that only the level of education determined willingness to pay, while origin, gender and age showed no effect. No significant change in the willingness to pay for sustainability was found among tourists in Cáceres between 2012 and 2016. These findings indicate that the willingness to pay for more sustainable tourism services did not increase during the period studied. We propose some measures such as a ‘municipal observatory of sustainable tourism’ in order to increase willingness to pay in this type of destination.