ABSTRACT
At the outset, we want to clarify the definition of heritage tourism. According to Zeppel and Hall (1992:47), heritage tourism is based on “nostalgia for the past.” It is centered on “what we have inherited, which can mean anything from historic buildings, to art works, to beautiful scenery” (Yale 1991:21). Linking heritage and nostalgia, Kibby (2000:140) argues that heritage tourism represents “a way of recuperating the past for contemporary tourists, and is part of a wider nostalgia for traditional social values, and an appreciation of the way things were, or at least are perceived to have been.” In many cases, these transitional social values and cultures are disappearing and heritage tourism provides a reason to rejuvenate them: sometimes for economic gain, other times simply for strengthening political/cultural fortitude. Thus, Alsayyad (2001:14) concludes, “all heritage is socially manufactured, and […] all transitions have the potential to be consumed.”
