Heritage Tourism free essay sample

Bali Island, being one of the international tourist destinations of Indonesia has shown evidence of remarkable growth in heritage tourism, due to their dynamic offer of culture and arts. Tourism in Bali started in 1928, when the KPM opened the Bali Hotel in Denpasar, built on the very site of the death (puputan) of the Rajas on 1906. Now, Bali is the most popular spot for leisure activities and cultural heritage exploration. Despite its beautiful natural and built environment, the beauty of Bali is also enriched by the sincerity of its people (Bandem, 2011). Apart from that, as the centre of arts and culture, Bali becomes the magnet that attracts worldwide visitors. Therefore, tourism has radically influence the government of Indonesia to put greater prominence in developing the tourism economy in Bali. However, over expansion will cause the lost of authenticity. Among the significant drawbacks include globalization, as the influence of Western culture will cause revolutionize towards the Balinese heritage and culture. We will write a custom essay sample on Heritage Tourism or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Besides, unbalanced and uncontrolled development will too cause negative impact to the tourism industry of Bali. Therefore, this research will determine and analyze the strength and threats of Bali in order to gain an understanding of the situation and eventually search for solutions to be undertaken to sustain the heritage of Bali. Main question What are the strengths of heritage tourism in Bali Island? 1. 2. 2 Subsidiary questions 1. What are the elements and characteristics of cultural arts of heritage tourism? 2. How can arts and culture affects the people and tourists and how can it be measured? 3. What impacts does development of heritage tourism caused to the Balinese? . The purpose of this research is to determine the strength and challenges of the cultural elements of heritage tourism, focusing on the heavenly island of Bali. 1. 3. 1 Objective i) To gain understanding of the framework of heritage tourism focused on the cultural arts elements, including ‘performing arts;, ‘visual arts’, and ‘arts and heritage festivals’. ii) To evaluate the significance of arts and culture towards the Balinese and non-Balinese people. iii) To discuss the problems faced by the Balinese throughout the vastly growth of tourism industry. Â  Heritage tourism can be divided into Cultural, Natural and Built Environment. In this study, we will only focus on three main elements of Cultural, which are performing arts, visual arts and cultural festivals. Secondly, we will also discuss on the impacts and challenges of development in Heritage Tourism. Â  Heritage Heritage is a very broad concept, where many people often misunderstood heritage and heritage as the same term. Basically, both cultural tourism and heritage tourism are two different kinds of tourism that overlap with each other. In this context, we will only focus on heritage. Heritage express the past in the present (Nuryanti, 1996). According to Oxford English Dictionary, heritage is defined as ‘valued objects and qualities such as historic buildings and cultural traditions that have been passed down from previous generations’. Gaffar (1996) explains that heritage cannot be merely considered as a tourist product as it represents the legacy and symbol of our ancestry. 1. 5. 2 Heritage tourism National trust’s definition of heritage tourism is ‘travelling to experience the places and activities that authentically represent the stories and eople of the past and present. It includes historic, cultural and natural resources’. This can be explain that it is a purposeful travel that enables the traveler to learn about history, heritage and lifestyles while contributing to the conservation and restoration of cultural resources and the economic well-being of the community. Heritage tourism can also be characterized as ‘a group of tourism in which the main motivation for visiting a site is based on the place’ heritage characteristics according to the tourists’ perception of their own heritage’(Poria, Butler and Airey, 2001). Heritage tourism can be categorizes into three broad types: ‘cultural’, ‘natural’, and ‘built environment’ (Herbert, 1989). Meanwhile, living culture of heritage tourism can be narrow down to five main segments which are performing arts, visual arts, museums, heritage sites and built environment, arts and cultural festivals, and wine and culinary. 1. 5. 3 Strength Strength is a segment of the SWOT analysis, which is a strategic planning method used to evaluate business or other industry’s venture. According to Recreation Tourism Research Institute, SWOT analysis is a useful resource which may be incorporated into an organizations strategic planning model, which includes Strength, Weakness, Opportunity and Threat. In this context, strength is an internal attributes that are helpful and give advantage to the organization to achieve its objective. According to Management Study Guide, strengths are the qualities that enable organizations to accomplish their mission. These are the basis on which continued success can be made and sustained. Thus, we can say that strengths are the beneficial aspects of the company or the capabilities of an organization. 1. 5. 4 Challenge Challenges are barriers, constraint, or threats, that may cause problems, damage or lost. According to the Institute for Manufacturing, challenge can also be explained as the unfavorable situation in the organization’s environment that is potentially damaging its strategy (Rowe, Mason, Dickel, Mann, Mockler, 1994). It is too the characteristics that prevent or keep away the organization from succeeding their mission and gain full potential. Besides, it also stakes the stability and survival of the organization. 1. 5. 5 Arts Artworks have existed for almost as long as humankind: from early pre-historic to contemporary art. During the Romantic period, art came to be seen as ‘a special faculty of the human mind to be classified with religion and science’ (Gombrich, 2005). Referring to Oxford English Dictionary, art is a concept that explains a diverse range of human activities and the products of those activities, but is often understood to refer to painting, film, photography, sculpture, and other visual media. Music, theatre, dance, literature, and interactive media are included in a broader definition of the arts. Artworks engage an unstable, lower part of the soul, art should be subservient to moral realities, which, along with truth, are more metaphysically fundamental and hence more humanly important than beauty. In the Critique of Judgment, Kant defines art as ‘a kind of representation that is purposive in itself and, though without an end, nevertheless promotes the cultivation of the mental powers for sociable communication. 1. 5. Island and the Balinese Bali is a small diamond shaped island located in the westernmost end of the Lesser Sunda Islands, nestled between Java to the West and Lombok to the East (Bandem, 2011). The island covers a small area of only 5,632 square kilometers where vast chains of volcanic mountains between 1,350 meters and 3,000 meters high stretch across from West to East end. With a population recorded as 3,891,000 in the 2010 census, the island is hom e to most Indonesia’s small Hindu minorities, which are the Balinese Hinduism. The island’s largest city and administrative centre is the fast growing Denpasar with population of over 530,000. Among some other rapidly growing tourism area includes Kuta, Sanur, and Ubud (Bandem, 2011). Despite its beautiful white sand beaches in the North and exotic black volcanic sand in the West (Sandem, 2011), the island is also surrounded by coral reefs. Bali is also the largest tourist destination in the country, and is renowned for its highly developed arts, including traditional and modern dance, sculpture, painting, leather, metalworking and music.