Heritage tourism - The city Bath - Essay Example

Table of content Table of content 2 Introduction 3 Theories/concept 5 Discussion 7 Increasing Heritage Tourism of the Of Bath 7 Social Impacts of Tourism in the City of Bath 9 Plans of Government And Other Tourism Organisations 10 Recent Statistics of Heritage Tourism of the City of Bath 11 Future Challenges 12 Conclusion 12 Recommendations 13 Appendices 14 Bibliography 16 HERITAGE TOURISM – THE BATH CITY Abstract The city of Bath has become one of the major tourists’ destinations in the world. The aim of this study is to identify and examine the factors, which are contributing to the increasing heritage tourism of the city. Through publicly available data, it evaluates the social impacts of heritage tourism of the city, factors which are contributing towards its increasing tourism and future challenges faced by heritage tourism. It has found that the City of Bath is playing a major role in the tourism industry of the UK because of its World Heritage properties. As the potential of heritage tourism of the city has proved therefore, tourism authorities and government is paying more focus towards the management of heritage sites of the city. Since, the city has been transformed from a medieval city to a modern city; therefore, still it is facing major challenges of infrastructure development. Introduction Urban tourism has been always considered as a neglected area of study and Law, (1993) as cited in Haley, et al., (2005) suggests that it lacks research base or developing understanding. Apart from that, the uniqueness of the urban cities makes most of the studies centred towards the individual cities. Therefore, this research study reliably investigates the heritage tourism in the city of Bath. It is a qualitative research and it would really contribute to understand the concepts of urban tourism and challenges faced by it in the city of Bath. Hence, the purpose of this research is to study the heritage tourism of the city of Bath and its contributions towards the tourism development in the UK. It is also anticipated that future challenges faced by heritage tourism of the Bath city and recommendations could assist the policy makers and tourism authorities to develop specific policies to boost tourism in the city. Tourism industry is one of the principal industries of Bath City.1 The total population of the city is over 90,000.2 It is a popular winter resort and famous for its natural hot springs.3 The tourists’ visits can be classified into two categories including heritage tourism and cultural tourism. The heritage tourism in the city of Bath is increasing because it is recognised as a place of landscape, archaeological remains, social history and beautiful architecture. Christopher (2002, pp.57-58) states that ‘with an ageing population, the cultural holidays will increase and the cities will get an advantage’. He argues that although some tourists take a long holiday trip in the capital cities such as London however, day trips are made to the cities such as Bath city, Oxford and Blenheim and Windsor etc.4 The city of Bath has been renowned as a World Heritage Site since 1987; therefore, it attracts million of tourists every year. Since the city of Bath is producing a major chunk of revenues from its tourism industry therefore, a great focus has been given towards the active management of its World Heritage properties. The government of UK is devoted to ensure that management plans are developed for all World Heritage Sites in UK.5 This research study talks about urban tourism by specifically considering the heritage tourism in the Bath City. The theories and concepts section discusses the different urban tourism concepts and their implications to the city of Bath. The next section explains the social impacts of tourism in the city of Bath, factors based on which the city of Bath has been categorized as one of the World Heritage Sites, policies that have been adopted by government and tourism authorities to boost tourism in the Bath city and challenges faced by heritage tourism of Bath. Based on the conclusion of the discussion, recommendations have been presented that may assist the tourism boards of Bath City to make such policies that may increase heritage tourism in the city. In short, this research study is very useful to study the heritage tourism of one of the beautiful cities of Europe. Theories/concept Urban areas are becoming important tourists’ destinations because they offer a great range of cultural and social activities. The process of urbanisation is one of the important processes of the twentieth century. Large cities of the world are giving great focus towards urban tourism because it is an important source of money, employment and investment opportunities. Garrett (1999, pp.68-70) states, “urban areas are gateways for tourist entry to the rest of the country, centres of accommodation, bases of excursions and destinations in their own right.”6 Boniface and Fowler, (1993) as cited in Martin, (2005) highlight the importance of urban tourism and heritage for articulating the local differences and creating the identity in the backdrop of globalisation. The authors including Jansen (1989), Jacobs (1993) and Jansen Verbeke (1990) as cited in Martin, (2005) have also identified the social practices that have become alive through urban tourism and recreation.7 Garrett has mentioned the names of top urban tourism destinations of the world such as capital cities of Paris, New York; industrial centres of 19th century Bradford; walled historic cities of Canterbury and specialist tourist service centres like spas and pilgrimage spots of the Bath City etc. Apart from that, Garrett has also explained the central place theory that classifies the settlements based on their number and range of services provided. The four levels of model include international tourist cities, national and international tourist cities, regional leisure and tourist cities and local leisure towns and cities. The city of Bath has been placed at the second level of hierarchy, which is national and international tourist cities. With the international appeal, the city of Bath is one of the top cities in urban tourism (Garrett, 1999, pp.68-70). It is usually argued that urban heritage tourism is at its developing stage. Praveen (1999, pp.3-5) argues, “Tourism based on history and culture is not new, although it was often the preserve of small elite sections of the society. In the time of the Romans there was a relatively well developed pattern of travel for culture and pleasure.”8 Therefore, the urban tourism is not a new field, it has emerged as an existing area, and it has drawn more attention than previously. The urban heritage tourism of a city is developed through the complete participation of the local actors. The interviews that were conducted during 1997-1998 in Tilburg, Bilbao and Leicester showed the importance of the role of local city in the development of urban heritage tourism. These interviews were conducted across the municipal and provisional authorities, museum associations and tourism promotion agencies (Greg, 1999, pp.173). Urban tourism has also introduced new trends in the tourism industry. Previously, the individual firms in the private sector were responsible to promote the industry such as a number of German cities such as Cologne and Britain. The trends have changed now and today, the form of public and private partnership is created to promote the tourism of the city (Christopher, 2002, pp.68-69). Discussion The heritage tourism of the city of Bath is a very huge topic therefore; this section will discuss the reasons of increasing heritage tourism of the city of Bath, its social impacts, government and agencies policies, recent trends in the industry and future challenges faced by the tourism industry of the city. Increasing Heritage Tourism of the City Of Bath First, the reasons of increasing heritage tourism of the city will be discussed. There are various reasons because of which the city of Bath has become one of the best heritage tourism sites. The reasons that make the city of Bath a beautiful tourist destination were presented in the 11th session of the World Heritage Committee in 1987, at UNESCO Headquarters.9 The skills and the originality of the architects of 18th and 19th century are evident from the urban design and architecture of the city. The opportunities offered by Spa town and other beautiful natural resources of the city such as the hot springs and local Bath Oolitic limestone led the architects to apply and develop Palladianism. In fact, the spread of Bath’s Neo-classical Palladian terraces and crescents over the beautiful and green valleys is a manifestation of the assimilation of architecture, landscape setting and urban design of the Bath city. The public and private buildings of the city such as Assembly Rooms and Pump Room also reflect the combination of Palladianism and pictorial aestheticism. A number of tourists come to the city to explore its history. Bath’s history as a spa town is marked by the Roman remains. For example, the baths complex and Sulis Minerva are the most popular Roman remains. The individual Georgian buildings, their style and the spaces between buildings reflect the influence of Palladio and really inspire the tourists. Moreover, the picturesque landscape aestheticism gives it a feeling of strong garden city as compared to the 17th century Renaissance cities. The transformation of the Bath city from the 18th century Renaissance cities with inward looking uniform streets layouts to the beautiful cities of Europe is another major reason of its World Heritage value. It was dominated as a Renaissance city during the 15th and 17th century however, the idea of planting buildings and setting the landscape of the city made it dominated during the 19th century. Today, it is one of the most popular garden cities of the world, which have been developed the town planners of the 19th century. The World Heritage value of the city is also brought by its history because it reflects the two most significant eras of human history including Roman and Georgian. The history of Romans in Bath City is evident from the remains of the city of Aquae Suils. The redevelopment of the city during the 18th century resulted in the integration of landscape and towns and pictorial setting for visitors. It is important to note that the city of Bath gained huge importance during Roman and Georgian eras however; it never reflected incessant advancement over two millennia. The other reasons, which have been presented in the 11th session of World Heritage Committee in 1987, at UNESCO Headquarters include 4,900 classified or listed monuments, the historical phases of 18th and 19th centuries and its overall topography and landscape.10 Therefore, the primary reason of increasing heritage tourism in the city of Bath is its recognition as a World Heritage Site. The other factors, which have been contributing to boost heritage tourism in the Bath City includes the high level of education in the city, media representations, wishes of the holidaymakers to learn more during their trips, and creation of heritage tourism products in the city. Social Impacts of Tourism in the City of Bath During the Roman Times, the city of Bath was considered as a thriving centre of the spa business. Its popularity as a tourism centre increased during the 17th and 18th centuries. During these centuries, Bath was popular as a medieval town however, during the late 18th century it became the classical city in England. “Three men – architect John Wood Senior, entrepreneur and quarry owner Ralph Allen, and celebrated social shaper and Master of Ceremonies Richard ‘Beau’ Nash – together provided the impetus to start this social, economic, and physical rebirth, resulting in a city that played host to the social, political, and cultural leaders of the day (UNESCO, 2008).”11 The increasing population, employment opportunities, income and rising living standards of the people in the City of Bath have been possible through its flourishing heritage tourism industry. Today, the idea of sustainable urban tourism is also getting considerable attention because urban tourism is really providing great benefits to the cities. Boniface and Flower (1993, pp.150) describes the difference between old and new tourism situation. They explain that in addition to the sheer number of travellers, the formulation of heritage message and perforce of selected information for the purpose of education or entertainment has become a fashion. They also argue that a historic site was only a preserved monument in the previous days and it is no longer a case.12 Plans of Government And Other Tourism Organisations To provide strategic decision to the local tourism industry, the Tourism strategy is formulated. “The United Nations Educational Scientific & Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) identified the exceptional value of the historic and monumental ensemble of Bath and committed the City to a management plan that has been revised over time (John, 2008, pp.397).”13 The Initiative Organisation has argued that for making a positive contribution to the economy of the city, there is a need to attract visitors. Apart from that, to boost tourism in the city of Bath, the Initiative Organisation has also established close links with Bath Festivals Trust. It is interesting to note that there are various organisations like The Initiative, which are dedicated to enable the business community to play their full role in Bath development. The six key policy areas of The Initiative Organisation include economic development, tourism, transport, housing, education & skills and quality of life. 14 The promotion of heritage tourism of the Bath city is a major focus of the UK government’s tourism policy. The 2009 tourism policy of the government aims to support the rural economies to develop seaside destinations. In order to achieve the objectives of the current policies, DCMS15 has reduced the funding to the national tourism board of Britain, (Visit Britain) by 18 percent and £40m has been allocated to “Sea Change.”16 This report of Latest tourism trends 2009 in Britain shows that cities of the UK accounts for 64 percent of total tourism while seaside and rural areas tourism is really low. In short, the recent tourism policy of Government will reduce the focus from the urban cities like Bath. Although, the city of Bath was declared as a World Heritage City in 1987, however, the real boost in tourists’ number was seen when in October 2003, the Council worked with Commercial sector for the development of marketing campaign of the city of Bath. This organisation is recognised as Bath Tourism Plus, (BTP) and it is controlled by the tourism board as an independent entity. The Bath Tourism Plus closely works with VisitBritain and increase the international reputation of the city of Bath. Although South West Tourism also promotes the heritage tourism of the city however, through adequate funding, VisitBritain has a more important role (John, 2008, 401). Recent Statistics of Heritage Tourism of the City of Bath In the last few years, the city of Bath has outperformed the other major attractions of the UK in terms of scale of population. In 2005, 4,214,700 visits were made to the city. Since city is recognised as a world heritage destination therefore, it is argued that most of these visits are a result of heritage tourism. It is very interesting to note that for several years VisitBritain froze its funding to Bath Tourism Plus at 35.5 million pounds. As a result, the International Passenger Survey showed that growth in overseas visits was higher as compared to the growth in traditional heritage sites such as Bath. Obviously, the credit went to the significant larger marketing budgets allocated to urban cities. However, with the developments in the city of Bath, it appeared as one of the most beautiful destinations of Europe. The (Figure 1) in the appendix shows the top towns for staying visits in Britain and it shows the city of Bath has been among the twenty major cities of Britain in the last 10 years. Future Challenges There are various factors, which may influence the visits in a city such as domestic economy, travel demand, tourism industry etc.17 (Figure 2). “Bath is feted as a tourism destination – but it faces a challenge. How does it make its economy more balanced, creating high-wage, high-skilled jobs, while ensuring tourism and retail continue to flourish?”18 Therefore, as the number of visits to the city is increasing, the need of more development facilities is also rising. Apart from that, the tourism of the city is also suffering because of the financial global crisis, therefore, the challenge for the tourism organisations is to develop the heritage tourism products that may attract the visitors. Conclusion Therefore, based on the above discussion it can be concluded that increasing heritage tourism of the city of Bath is directly providing huge revenues to the UK tourism industry. However, the attention was given to the city of Bath after its recognition as a World Heritage Site. In the last few years, a major portion of budget has been allocated to the promotion of Bath City tourism industry, which has positively contributed to its tourism industry. This is also supported by the previous studies. The year 2009 is going to be an important year in the history of tourism industry of the UK because Government has brought various changes in its tourism policy. Although because of financial global crisis, the tourism industry of the UK has faced a decline however, it is expected that with new tourism strategy the situation would get better. Hence, the heritage tourism of the city of Bath and urban tourism of the other cities of the UK provide great opportunities to boost profits of UK tourism industry. Recommendations Since the city of Bath has been transformed into a modern city of England with various major developments, therefore, many changes have been brought to the heritage sites of the city. It is recommended that for the protection of World Heritage properties of the city, the government should develop processes and general methodologies, so that the impact of these developments could be considered more carefully. The developments, which have adverse effects, should be stopped. Second, apart from the management of the World Heritage Sites, a significant attention should be paid towards the other developments of the city. For example, there is a strong need to improve the transportation system of the city of Bath. Although an investment of £60m has been allocated for Bath Transportation Plan however, the work has yet to be started. Similarly, the other tourists’ facilities such as disabled tourists’ facilities should be also made better. Appendices Figure 1 Top towns for staying visits by inbound visitors Source: Visit Britain Organisation Figure 2: Factors Contributing to Tourism Trends in Britain, August 2009 Source: VisitBritain Bibliography Bath & North East Somerset Council, (n.d.). City of Bath World Heritage Site Management Plan. [Online] Available at: http://www.bathnes.gov.uk/worldheritage/1.Introduction.htm. [Accessed 7 November 2009 ]. Bath Somerset. Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bath,_Somerset. [Accessed 9 November 2009] Boniface, Priscilla & Fowler, P., J., 1993, Heritage and Tourism in the Global Village. [Online] Routledge. 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