This book examines the pervading influence of medieval culture, through an exploration of the intersections between tourism, heritage, and imaginaries of the medieval in the media. Drawing on examples from tourist destinations, heritage sites, fictional literature, television and cinema, the book illustrates how the medieval period has consistently captured the imagination of audiences and has been reinvented for contemporary tastes. Chapters present a range of international examples, from nineteenth century Victorian notions of chivalry, knights in shining armour exemplified by King Arthur, and damsels in distress, to the imagining of the Japanese samurai as medieval knights. Other topics explored include the changing representations of medieval women, the Crusades and the Vikings, and the challenges faced by medieval cathedrals to survive economically and socially. This book offers multidisciplinary perspectives and will appeal to scholars and students across a variety of disciplines such as cultural studies, history, tourism, heritage studies, historical geography and sociology.

This volume considers world-making as the intersection of the fan pilgrimage experience and the responses of destinations. It critically examines the emerging field of popular culture tourism and its close connection with fan studies and placemaking. The chapters illustrate how different destinations capitalise on expressive cultural practices to attract fan tourists, the processes involved in their tourismification, and the outcomes for both visitors and local communities. The book establishes a common ground for the comprehensive and critical study of popular culture tourism development and fandom. It integrates theory and practice and provides evidence-based recommendations for popular culture destinations. It is a useful resource for researchers in tourism management, fandom, pop culture and media studies, as well as for those working in the tourism industry.

This book examines the authentication of authenticity in heritage tourism by using a resilient smart systems approach. It discusses the emerging trends in cultural tourism and outlines, in a detailed manner, their significance in negotiating authenticity in tourism experience. Authentication of authenticity is an evolving, less-researched field of inquiry in heritage tourism. This book advances research on this subject by exploring different authentication processes and scrutinizes their resilience in building transformative heritage tourism pathways. It offers a kaleidoscopic view of the manner authenticity has evolved over the last several decades by observing a broad spectrum of cultural expressions. The evolution and meaningfulness of negotiated authenticity is identified and discussed in the context of pre-, intra- and post-pandemic times. This book focuses on the moral and existentialist trajectories or authenticity and the notion of self-authentication. It proposes a smart resilient authentication model to delicately negotiate the objective and self-dimensions of authenticity in transformative times. Furthermore, by sharing examples of best practices, it offers unique insights on how authenticity is authenticated and mediated via digital platforms and artificial intelligence. This book offers novel perspectives on negotiated authenticity and its authentication in heritage tourism and will appeal to both practitioners and students/scholars in Heritage studies; Design and Innovation; Tourism Studies; Geography and Planning across North America, Europe, and East-Asian countries.

This book offers a comprehensive understanding of cultural heritage in Japan and its relationship with both domestic and international tourism. Japan has witnessed an increase in tourism, with rising visitor numbers to both established destinations and lesser known sites. This has generated greater attention towards various aspects of Japanese culture, heritage and society. This book explores these diverse aspects of everyday life in Japan and their interconnections with tourism. It begins with a conceptual framework of key theories related to heritage and tourism, serving as a useful apparatus for further discussions in the following chapters. Each chapter studies a specific aspect of Japan’s cultural heritage, from the history of Japan, the development of war sites, such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, to tourist destinations, indigenous communities and their places of residence, festivals such as matsuri, to popular culture and media. Each chapter discusses a certain type of cultural heritage first in a global context and then examines it in a Japanese context, aiming to demonstrate the relation between these two different contexts. In each chapter, furthermore, how a particular kind of Japan’s cultural heritage is utilised as tourism resources and how it is perceived and consumed by international and domestic tourists are discussed. Finally, the book revisits the conceptual framework to suggest future directions for cultural heritage and tourism in Japan. Written in an informative and accessible style, this book will be of interest to scholars, students and practitioners in the fields of tourism, cultural studies and heritage studies.

Cultural Heritage and Tourism in Africa examines the multiple and diverse manifestations of cultural heritage-based tourism in Africa from a regional, social science, and sustainability perspective. This book delivers a comprehensive treatise on the interdependent concepts of cultural heritage and tourism. Heritage is one of the most pervasive tourism assets worldwide and lies at the foundations of tourism in many localities, including Africa. However, despite its salience, there has not been a systematic examination of Africa’s heritage resources, markets, policies, practices, successes, and challenges in a tourism framework, despite the continent’s immense heritage value. This book reviews the different types of heritages that pervade the cultural environment of Africa and comprises its vast heritagescapes. It also examines the increasing potential for the growth of heritage tourism throughout the entire continent. The contributions in this volume delve into current thinking about space and place and their effects on heritage, mobilities, globalization, colonialism and indigeneity, conflict, identity and nation-building, connections with other regions through migration and the slave trade, and a greater emphasis on the ordinary heritage of Africa, which has long been ignored by tourism scholars and industry representatives. The chapters herein are authored by Africa specialists, most being from Africa, offering a truly African perspective. The chapters are conceptually rigorous and empirically rich with examples from all regions of the African continent. This unparalleled interdisciplinary glimpse at cultural heritage and tourism in Africa delivers strong value and is a vital resource for all students and researchers of tourism, cultural studies, heritage studies, geography, anthropology, sociology, history, and global studies.

This book is the first its kind to offer an innovative examination of the intersecting influences, contexts, and challenges within the field of children’s dark tourism. It also outlines novel conceptualizations and methods for scholarship in this overlooked field. Presently, tourism research, and in dark tourism specifically, relies primarily on adult-centered theories and data collection methods. However, these approaches are inadequate for understanding and developing children’s experiences and perspectives. This book seeks to inform and inspire research on children’s experiences of dark tourism. Designed to appeal to students and scholars, it brings together insights from leading experts. The book focuses on five themes, to explore the conceptual and historic origins of children’s dark tourism, developmental contexts, child perspectives, specific contexts relevant to children’s encounters, and methodological approaches. This book is aimed at an international array of scholars and students with inherent research interests in the contemporary commodification of death and ‘difficult heritage’ within the visitor economy. Thus, the book will provide a multi-disciplinary scope within the fields of history, heritage studies, childhood studies, psychology, education, sociology, human geography, and tourism studies. The volume is primarily intended for undergraduate and postgraduate study, as well as scholars and tourism professionals.

Cultural tourism is an experiential tourism based on searching for and participating in new and deep cultural experiences. This book enhances the tourism literature by testing the tourist attitude toward related issues of Cantonese Opera as a cultural product of the Greater Bay Area. This book starts with a general introduction to the background of Cantonese Opera. Chapter 2 is a historical review of Cantonese Opera development in the GBA. Chapter 3 introduces the concept of the Cantonese Opera as a cultural product. Chapter 4 discusses the related Cantonese Opera on tourism development in the GBA. Chapter 5 describes the trends of modernisation and integration of Cantonese Opera in the GBA. Lastly, Chapter 6 is a case study in Macau. This book focuses on Cantonese Opera and cultural tourism. This means tourism practitioners and arts administrators should be the primary source of market and while people in the rest of the world who are interested in Cantonese Opera and cultural tourism should find this book useful. This book is a valuable resource not only for social science researchers, but also for those in related fields, for example, arts administrators and tourism officers, among many others. This book could serve as a text for an advanced level undergraduate course for students in many of the arts administration and tourism fields. Additionally, this book is a valuable resource for teaching graduate students not only in tourism, but also in related fields. Furthermore, government or practitioners can improve the management of city and tourism service using this book.

This book examines the unique characteristics of the Himalaya that mark them as a special region among other orographic regions of the world. The Himalayan range is an important global asset for ecological, climatic, cultural, spiritual, and economic reasons. Its diversity of landscapes, climates, and biotic systems makes the Himalaya an extremely attractive region for tourism. The book examines tourism and development in the Himalaya region, exploring its sociocultural, environmental, and economic dimensions. The contributors address Himalayan issues from a holistic perspective, emphasizing the uniqueness of the region, together with concerns it shares with other montane, developing parts of the world. With a framework of sustainable development, this book elucidates interdisciplinary perspectives on nature, society, economic development, poverty, justice, health, social and environmental vulnerability, faith and culture, Indigenous rights, women, conflict, heritage and living culture, and many other concepts that broaden our understanding of tourism and development in mountain areas. Many contributors are from the Himalaya region, or have worked there extensively, lending strength through native and insider perspectives. This work will be useful for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, research and teaching scholars, policy makers, practitioners, and anyone interested in the Himalaya and their distinctive tourism and development-related potential and challenges.

Zoos are important and popular tourist attractions. Spread around the world, they are typically located in major cities, with visitation levels comparable to other major attractions. Nature-based attractions constructed in artificial settings, they face the challenge of trying to balance potentially conflicting aims of conservation, education and entertainment. The best are continually developing fresh and effective techniques on visitor interpretation and management, the worst highlight the manipulation of animals for human gratification. Taking a global approach, this book examines the problems and paradoxes of zoos as they try to balance their roles as visitor attractions while repositioning themselves as leading conservation agencies. "This book provides a detailed and critical examination of the conflicting roles and identities of the modern zoo from a tourism perspective and as such reminds us that zoos are as much about the people who visit them as about the animals that they display. At a time when they are under continual critical scrutiny, this book delivers a fresh approach to our understanding and appreciation of zoos and of the challenges and opportunities that they face as they strive to remain relevant within modern society." Andrew Tribe, University of Queensland, Australia

It is hard to imagine tourism without the creative use of seductive, as well as restrictive, imaginaries about peoples and places. These socially shared assemblages are collaboratively produced and consumed by a diverse range of actors around the globe. As a nexus of social practices through which individuals and groups establish places and peoples as credible objects of tourism, “tourism imaginaries” have yet to be fully explored. Presenting innovative conceptual approaches, this volume advances ethnographic research methods and critical scholarship regarding tourism and the imaginaries that drive it. The various authors contribute methodologically as well as conceptually to anthropology’s grasp of the images, forces, and encounters of the contemporary world.