FEATURES NEWS THE RISING NEPAL (DAILY)

By Rebati Raman Paudel

IN the past, the study of tourism was commonly thought to be a superficial activity. Tourism was simply defined as an activity dependent on three operative elements: discretionary income leisure time and social sanctions permissive of travel. However, at present the research has touched upon these elements and their possible impact on host communities has been given importance. With the advent of the new millenium, tourist activity and its impact have become of great importance to a changing world, where more and more people have the opportunity of becoming tourists, and/or of having contact with a tourist in some way.

To perceive tourism as a cultural industry is to acknowledge the natural environment and destinations as part of the cultural package. As tourism develops into a major international, as well as a national industry, questions and debates about sustainability, authenticity, social impacts, indigenous cultures, and so on reflect the cultural dimension of tourism. The planners need to identify and address the accepted and unaccepted forms and limits to tourism. They also need to answer whether these new forms of tourism especially rural tourism or indigenous/ethnic tourism, ecotourism and even adventure tourism are instructive upon the destination community.

Tourism and preservation may appear to be strange bed fellows but with proper management they are a winning combination. Sustainable tourism can bring improved income and living standards for local people. It can revitalise local culture, especially traditional crafts and customs. It can stimulate the rural economy by creating demand for agricultural produce and inject capital in the rural areas.

With consumers becoming increasingly attracted to environmentally sound holidays, the adoption of sustainable practices enhances the corporate image. But most important for world heritage, sustainable tourism contributes to the conservation and protection of natural and cultural features generates additional finance and fosters greater public and local awareness of protected areas and the environment. The simple fact is that sharing heritage with visitors means reaping the economic benefit of tourism.

Technically, heritage tourism is defined as the phenomenon in which the cultural, historical and ethnic components of a society of place are harnessed as resources to attract tourists, as well as develop a leisure and tourism Industry. However, this has often been criticised in many parts of the globe for converting local cultures and lifestyle into commodities for sale to foreign audiences. It is also argued that making culture a commodity contributes to loss of social customs, the alienation of residents and the creation of homogeneity between places. Sometimes many planners warn that the economic allure of tourism and the need to cater to tourism is a key reason for the ‘mythic reconstruction’ of places and the falsification of histories and identities.

A number of important points have been raised throwing light on the wider context of commodification of heritage.

Firstly, communal assertion of identity, local appreciation of heritage and civic awareness have continued to the new urban renaissance. Changes in the urban cultural landscapes are best understood, as the outcome of the multiple factors interacting with one another. So it would be an oversight to consider local cultures passive and proclaim tourism as the most important agent of social change.

Secondly, heritage has not been considered a relic but a dynamic and multi purpose resources or a form of capital that has been molded and transformed for diverse audience. The commodification process has helped to balance between visitors and local community by fulfilling the needs of residents that could have been either in a marginalised or totally neglected form. It has become possible for the heritage entrepreneur to serve multiple goals at one time without alienation any particular group of people.

Heritage tourism products are geared towards global audience as well as home communities and it is imperative to explore the heritage development process as traversing the tourist local divide. Heritage development takes varied forms in different places depending on the success of the planning authority or entrepreneur in bridging the tourist local rift.

The number of world heritage sites within Nepal’s small limited area has earmarked the importance and authentic nature of its culture, tradition and ethnicity. These heritage sites have become an indisputable resource for the development and promotion of tourism in the urban sector of country. However, some of the important sites have already disappeared, and many are under threat. In this crucial state if necessary action or well organised programmes for conservation is not initiated, much of our heritage may disappear within a very short period of time. Though some international organisations and national heritage conservation programmes seem active on conserving our heritage, still some of them are in the list of endangered sites.

The 1972 convention concerning the protection of the world culture and natural heritage was adopted by UNESCO in response to increasing threats to sites of cultural and natural heritage, especially in countries that have neither the financial nor the technical and scientific resources they need to mitigate the dangers. The convention underscores the fact that physical cultural heritage and in many cases, natural heritage are non renewable, irreplaceable resources. More and more sites are at risk of degradation as a direct or indirect result of urbanisation, natural resources exploitation, population growth, pollution and through modern industrial civilisation. A site’s physical and cultural integrity also faces an array of indirect threats: atmosphere pollution, traffic vibration, encroachment and instructive commercial development.

For this reason, site management must take into account local and national plans, forcasts of demographic growth or decline, economic factors, traffic projections and industrial zoning and preventing measures to mitigate various type of man made and natural disasters. Successful protection and maintenance of world heritage requires continuous assessment, inventory and information management research and administration. It is the process that guarantees a world heritage site’s survival as a sustainable resource.

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