Literature On The Socio-Economic Impact Of Heritage Tourism

2.1 INTRODUCTION

This chapter deals with the literature on the socio-economic impacts of heritage tourism in order to give the reader a clear picture of the problem. According to Weaver and Lawton (2002), the main purposed of tourism management at a destination is to maximise the economic, social and environmental benefits while trying to minimising the associated costs. Regarding the impacts of tourism, most literature will describes economic and social impacts in both positive and negative (Lickorish & Jenkins, 1997; Narayan, 2004; Page, 2007; Timothy & Boyd, 2003; Tsartas, 1992).

2.2 OVERVIEW OF WORLD HERITAGE SITE (WHS)

According to TheSunDaily newspaper (2015), Malaysia Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak in his speech says

As stated by World Heritage Convention, for a destination to be included on the World Heritage List, they must be of outstanding universal value and meet at least one out of ten selection criteria. Ismail, N. et al (2014) suggest that heritage tourism has a positive impact to both social and economic impact because it helps to preserve the heritage sites and also raise the awareness about the importance of preserving heritage sites around the world. According to Ashworth, G. (2009), heritage sites and artefacts being often old may be particularly fragile and vulnerable to damage. Tourists unavoidably cause damage in three main ways. First they physically damage the structures and artefacts they visit through their feet, hands, breath, sweat, digestive and microbiological systems. Secondly, their physical presence in large numbers destroys the ambience of the site. Thirdly, tourists require and attract ancillary services facilities. In the WMF 2008 list of the most endangered 100 monuments in the world approximately one-third were diagnosed as being ‘in danger’ mainly from the

As published in CNN website (2015), there are 20 of the world's most beautiful World Heritage Sites; two of it is Goreme National Park and the Rock Sites of Cappadocia, Turkey and Great Barrier Reef (Australia). Turkey has 15 properties inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. As stated by Turkish Cultural Foundation (2016), there are 60 nominated sites in the Tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage. This site aims to promote the sites inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List and raise awareness in transferring Turkey’s cultural heritage to future generations. The other country listed under the World Heritage List is Australia. According to Australia official website, Australia has a total of 19 UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites, which include some of the oldest rainforests on earth and around one-third of the world's protected marine areas. Many of Australia's iconic destinations are World Heritage-listed sites such as the Great Barrier Reefand the Wet Tropics of Queensland, which includes the Daintree Rainforest; the Greater Blue Mountainsin New South Wales; the Northern Territory's Kakaduand Uluru/Kata Tjuta National Parks; and Western Australia's Purnululu National Park in the Kimberley as stated by Australia official